MacGillivray studied art and design at
NSCAD University and at
Concordia University. He then studied filmmaking at the
London Film School in England in 1972. In 1974, he was one of the founding members of the Atlantic Filmmakers Cooperative. In 1979, he directed his first film,
Aerial View. The following year he founded his own production company, Picture Plant, for which he wrote and directed four feature films over the coming years. In 2013, he received the
Governor General's Awards in Visual and Media Arts. ==Filmography==