Marquee Moment

Joseph “McG” Nichol maintained his Newport roots while finding success in Hollywood.

By Sharon Stello

It could be said that Joseph McGinty Nichol, who goes by “McG,” is a triple threat. He’s believed to be the only person in Hollywood history to have written a song, produced a TV show and directed a movie that all made it to No. 1.

McG co-wrote the No. 1 songs “Fly,” “Every Morning” and “Someday” for the band Sugar Ray, formed by his childhood friends. McG’s directorial debut for a feature film was the 2000 blockbuster “Charlie’s Angels,” starring Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore and Lucy Liu, which opened at No. 1 domestically and went on to become the biggest opening ever for a first-time director. And he produced TV show “The O.C.,” which was the highest-rated new drama of the 2003-2004 season for young adult viewers, and “Supernatural,” the longest running science fiction show in American TV history, which ended in 2020 after 15 seasons.

In addition to these accomplishments in the entertainment world, McG has made a name for himself in the local restaurant industry as well, with A Restaurant, A Crystal Cove, CdM Restaurant and others within the River Jetty Restaurant Group, a collaboration between McG and business partner Jordan Otterbein.

A Newport Beach native, McG moved to town with his family as a kid in the 1970s and attended school in Eastbluff before going to Corona del Mar High School. He went on to find success in Hollywood—now living in Beverly Hills—but has always kept one foot in Newport with frequent visits and a second home on the peninsula. He was honored as the grand marshal for the Newport Beach Christmas Boat Parade’s opening night last year. And he recently took over operation of the restored Lido Theater. Plenty of friends and memorable moments keep him tied to this beach town and investing in the community where he grew up.

“I like that it’s still a sleepy beach town in the ways that I enjoy, from the Crab Cooker to the Pavilion to the Wedge to Big Corona, and it’s my home,” he says. “It’s where my heart is. It’s where my family is and I just relate very, very deeply to, frankly, both sides of the bay. I’m not just Corona del Mar side, but, of course, the Newport Harbor side. It’s my stomping grounds.

“I used to ride on the bus down to Blackie’s to do my best to surf. I was never a good surfer, but that took me to Pier Records where I would discover my passion for rock ’n’ roll. And … I used to see ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show’ at the Balboa Cinema and go to Orange Julius and then, when the big movies came, I would go to Lido Theater and see them there. And I lived on 47th Street, I lived on 56th Street, I had the Lido Theater surrounded. It’s just in my blood. And that all manifested itself in ‘The O.C.’ ”

McG sees Lido Theater as a gathering place for the community, whether they come to see a film, grab some coffee and breakfast or lunch from the pop-up cafe inside, or hold an event there. “I really just want it to be the heartbeat and the center of the community,” he says.

He has screened free holiday movies, run a series of Academy Award-winning films leading up to this year’s Oscars ceremony and a curated selection in March, from Mel Brooks favorites like “Blazing Saddles,” “Young Frankenstein” and “Spaceballs” to Audrey Hepburn classics and golf-related movies such as “Caddyshack” and “Tin Cup” in honor of the Hoag Classic golf competition in town. He’s also working to bring some first-run movies to the theater. The Orange County Film Society has showed new films “The Brutalist,” “Gladiator II” and “Mickey 17,” but as private events for society members. McG also sees it as a space to present comedy shows, TED Talks and music concerts in the future.

When it comes to his own movie projects, “Charlie’s Angels” and “Terminator Salvation” grossed more than $1.2 billion at the box office. His other feature film directorial credits include “Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle,” “We Are Marshall,” “This Means War,” “3 Days to Kill,” “The Babysitter,” “The Babysitter: Killer Queen,” “Rim of the World,” “Family Switch” and “Uglies.” For TV, he directed the pilots for “Fastlane,” “Chuck,” “The Mysteries of Laura,” “Shadowhunters,” “Lethal Weapon” and “Turner & Hooch.” McG is also the executive producer of over 800 hours of primetime network television, including long-running hits “The O.C.” and “Supernatural.”

And he directed over 50 music videos for artists ranging from Sublime to Smash Mouth and Wyclef Jean. In 2001, McG founded his production company, Wonderland Sound and Vision, which produced the breakout-hit romantic comedies “Tall Girl,” “The DUFF,” “Holidate” and “Love Hard.” The company’s most recent release is the McG-directed feature, “Uglies,” starring Joey King.

Asked about his favorite projects, McG says he really liked “The O.C.” and “Supernatural” on the TV side as well as the “Charlie’s Angels” movies and “We Are Marshall” on the movie side. “And I really liked making those babysitter movies because they were my homage to Quentin Tarantino, who helped me when I was young,” he says. “I was making music videos and commercials for him in the ’90s at his company and he helped me get ‘Charlie’s Angels.’ I owe him huge.”

And, while McG may not get to Newport every weekend like he used to—thanks to his kids’ soccer games and other commitments in the LA area—he remains committed to investing in Newport and enjoys spending time here when he can. “I love riding bikes on the peninsula on the boardwalk with friends and family. And I’ve gone to the Crab Cooker every year for my birthday for 45 years, maybe 50,” he says.

McG and his wife, Alix, have three children, Harper, 8; Grace, 6; and Emmett, 2. Like something out a movie script, McG met his wife while filming in France.

“My wife, Alix, she’s French. … We’ve been married for about nine years, going on our 10th year. I met her in Paris, making a movie with Kevin Costner,” McG recalls. “I was this loud, obnoxious American. Kevin and I were these two sort of American, I don’t know, certainly in their eyes, they thought we were American cowboys. I was pursuing my wife. She wanted nothing to do with me for six months. But that American can-do spirit finally won out.”

And, back in California, McG’s continued involvement in Newport hasn’t gone unnoticed. In fact, he was honored as grand marshal on the opening night of the Newport Beach Christmas Boat Parade last year.

“It was awesome. I had such a great time,” he says. “… I was humbled and honored, there’s no doubt about it. My whole life growing up, fighting that traffic to get onto Balboa Island to watch the boat parade and we used to play guitars and sort of busk up and down Marine [Avenue] … and sing Christmas carols. It’s just a wonderful memory so to be a part of that was humbling and a big honor.”

Movie Magic

Like most kids, the movies always captivated McG. There’s something special about watching action unfold on a big screen and getting swept away from real life by a fantastical story for a few hours.

“I love that they take me to a world that’s larger than my own,” McG shares. “I immerse myself so deeply in movies. … My parents stayed married, but a lot of my friends’ parents got divorced in the ’70s and ’80s and movies were always a wonderful place for my friends and me to go. And whether it was ‘Star Wars’ or ‘Jurassic Park’ or ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’—take your pick—it was always an escapist opportunity that really activated my dream life. I used to see ‘The Song Remains the Same,’ all the time, the Led Zeppelin picture on the big screen. It was the perfect synthesis of music and film and just connected to the center of my soul and it’s been with me ever since.”

McG recalls going to Fashion Island as a kid to see his favorite movies at Edwards Big Newport and also at Balboa Cinema and The Lido Theater. “That was my passion and I would sleep in a sleeping bag waiting for ‘Star Wars.’ [I have] very good memories of ‘Midnight Run’ and ‘Trainspotting’ and so many other films [at Lido Theater]. … The peninsula is so very special to me.”

Years later, Lido Theater caught his attention again, the refurbished art deco building standing tall and proud—a landmark ready to welcome a new generation.

“When I saw that Fritz Duda did an immaculate job, sparing no expense to restore the theater to its original glory and they were looking for an operator, I … said, ‘I’d like to talk to him and share my passion for the property,’ ” McG says.

“I don’t have a rich uncle in Hollywood or anything. I’m a kid from Newport Beach with a very academic family. I was pre-med in college. I had no reason to believe I would be in rock ’n’ roll or film or anything like that. So being from Newport and then moving to LA in the ’90s and going on to do some films and make some records and make some TV shows, it just seemed like a natural fit and I felt compelled to approach and share my passion with Fritz. We got along great and here we are.”

Coming Soon

Wonderland is currently in post-production on the McG-directed feature “Way of the Warrior Kid,” starring Chris Pratt.

“It’s reminiscent of ‘The Karate Kid,’ ” McG explains. “He plays a Navy SEAL who gets hurt and has to return home to San Diego to help his widowed sister raise her 13-year-old son. And the son sort of cures him and he kind of helps the son and it’s a feel good movie that I hope is right for the moment we’re in.”

A partnership between Apple Studios and Skydance Media, the movie is expected to come out sometime this year. After editing the film, McG will move on to another project he has lined up. “I’m attached to a movie about the rock ’n’ roll band Kiss,” he says. “That should be fun. Back to the synthesis of my two favorite things: rock ’n’ roll and film.”

When it comes to McG’s restaurant enterprise, he says River Jetty Restaurant Group is entering into an agreement with Henry Samueli and his OC Vibe project to open a restaurant in the 100-acre immersive entertainment district planned to be built around the Honda Center in Anaheim.

McG also plans to open a restaurant next to The Lido Theater in the space to be vacated when Woody’s Diner closes. “We’ll be opening a new concept there this year,” he says. “… We’re hoping to make it easy to go down to Lido and have a wonderful dining experience and catch the show and then maybe wrap it up with a nightcap afterward.”

That concept will be developed by Shelly Register, who’s been with the company since day one as culinary director at A Market. “It will be a little beachier, a little more approachable,” McG says. “And it’s a little bit of a different concept that’s cognizant of westside Costa Mesa and all those influences of Volcom and RVCA and [the dining scene]—I love that restaurant, Trenta [Pizza & Cucina], and I just love the coffee shops over there.”