Craig McCourry, Producer, Director, and Founder of Banyan Tree Movies, has spent over three decades working as a filmmaker in more than 70 countries. He studied film at the University of Oregon and Lane Community College before moving to Los Angeles in 1993. There, he worked as a cinematographer on TV commercials, documentaries, and image campaigns for American TV networks.

 

In 1997, Craig took his 16mm movie camera to India to film some of the last steam trains from the British era. In the sweeping deserts of Rajasthan, he captured the beauty of the people and architecture connected by the steel rails from Jaipur to Jaisalmer. The footage was not sufficient for a one-hour documentary, so in 1998, Craig traveled to Northeastern China, where steam locomotives still roamed the vast landscapes of Inner Mongolia. The resulting documentary, titled Empires of Steam, premiered at the Jules Verne Film Festival in Paris and was broadcast by numerous networks, including PBS (United States), TV Ontario (Canada), ZDF Television (Germany), La Cinquième (France), RAI Television (Italy), NOS-EO (The Netherlands), SF-DRS (Switzerland), and was released on DVD in the United States, Canada, Japan, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom.

 

From 2000 to 2005, Craig produced, directed, and filmed a series of documentaries, including The Great Bazaars, which showcased the mysteries and enchantments of bazaars in Cairo, Istanbul, Marrakesh, and Fez; Venice: Tides of Change, which explored Venice’s struggles with mass tourism and preservation of its traditional heritage; and Press Pass to the World, a whimsical and poignant look at the lifestyles of foreign correspondents working for major publications such as The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Time Magazine, The International Herald Tribune, The Times of India, The Jerusalem Post, Reuters, and Agence France-Presse.

 

From 2005 onwards, Craig founded and developed one of the world’s largest stock footage collections through his company Stock Footage World. This endeavor took him around the globe, capturing stock footage in major cities for the library. Imagery from this collection has appeared in tens of thousands of TV shows, movies, commercials, and other media productions, and is currently represented by Getty Images and Adobe.

 

In 2006, Craig worked as a cameraman with renowned film critic Richard Schickel on the documentary Bienvenue à Cannes (also known as Cannes: All Access). This film about the Cannes Film Festival includes interviews and behind-the-scenes footage with film personalities such as Steven Spielberg, Sydney Pollack, Oliver Stone, Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, Dino De Laurentiis, and Willem Dafoe. The film was broadcast on Turner Classic Movies.

 

Craig also worked as a cameraman on the documentary To Whom It May Concern: Ka Shen's Journey with Warner Brothers executive and director Brian Jamison. This film follows Hong Kong actress Nancy Kwan and her rise to fame in the 1960 feature film The World of Suzie Wong with William Holden. The film was primarily shot in Hong Kong and released by Redwind Productions in Los Angeles.

 

In 2010, Craig relocated to Hong Kong, where he was based for the next 12 years (with one year in South Korea). He produced a documentary TV series titled HongKonglicious, which explored the challenges faced by young Hongkongers in one of the most expensive cities in the world.

 

From 2017 to 2022, Craig wrote, directed and produced three feature films about Hong Kong’s World War II experience: Battlebox, Hong Kong 1942, and Christmas at the Royal Hotel. These films are currently streaming in over 120 countries on Amazon Prime, Tubi, Roku Channel, Plex, Cineverse, XUMO (Comcast), and other platforms.

 

In 2023, Craig returned to the United States, focusing on producing inspiring period drama films with Banyan Tree Movies.