John Maclean studied BA drawing and painting at Edinburgh college of Art and MA at The Royal College of art in London. After graduating, he formed The Beta Band with friends, 1997 to 2004 and The Aliens 2005 to 2008. John made many of the band's music videos. In 2009 John made Man on a Motorcycle, a short film starring Michael Fassbender, filmed on a mobile phone, then Pitch Black Heist in 2011, which won the best short film Bafta. Maclean's first feature film Slow West will be released in 2015.