John Pozer is a Canadian film director, screenwriter, producer and editor. He has had two independent features selected to the Cannes International Film Festival and directed a slate of episodic television, both live action and animation.

Biography

Pozer began his career in the 1960s as a stage actor, touring in musical theatre productions such as ''Camelot'', ''The King and I'', ''The Sound of Music'', and starring in the title roles of ''Oliver'' and ''Peter Pan''. He went on to star as Jim Hawkins in ''Treasure Island'', which opened the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. In 1970, Pozer was presented with the E.V. Young Memorial Award for Most Promising Actor. Born in

Kamloops Kamloops ( ) is a city in south-central British Columbia, Canada, at the confluence of the South flowing North Thompson River and the West flowing Thompson River, east of Kamloops Lake. It is located in the Thompson-Nicola Regional District, w ...

, British Columbia, Pozer studied filmmaking and creative writing at the University of British Columbia and graduated with a Masters of Fine Arts in Cinema from

Concordia University Concordia University ( French: ''Université Concordia'') is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1974 following the merger of Loyola College and Sir George Williams University, Concordia is one of the t ...

in Montreal. He received the UBC Film Society Award for his series of documentaries which profiled university life in the 1980s. In 2010, Pozer became Senior Directing Instructor for the Vancouver Film School and was acknowledged in 2012 for 'excellence in teaching' for his contribution to the film production program. Pozer authored his first book, 21st Century Film Student PRIMER - Everything You Need to Know and Do Before You Go to Film School, which was released in 2019.

Filmography

His first feature, '' The Grocer's Wife'', which he wrote, directed, and produced, garnered international awards at festivals around the world. In 1992, it was selected to open the Critic's Week at the Cannes Film Festival, and went on to win the critics' award, the Prix Georges Sadoul, for Best First Film. In Canada, Pozer was awarded the inaugural Claude Jutra Award for Best Direction of a First Feature Film at the 1993 Genie Awards.Claude Jutra Award
entry at The Canadian Encyclopedia. He next directed the dark comedy ''

The Michelle Apartments ''The Michelle Apartments'' is a 1995 Canadian black comedy film directed by John Pozer and written by Ross Weber. The film stars Henry Czerny as Alex Hartwell, a government auditor sent to the small town of Walton to review the books of a chemica ...

'', which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and was theatrically distributed by

Cineplex Odeon Cineplex Inc. (formerly Cineplex Galaxy) is a Canadian movie theatre and family entertainment centre chain headquartered in Toronto. The company was formed in 2003 via the acquisition of Loews Cineplex's Canadian operations (which included t ...

. Pozer also executive produced and edited the independent feature ''

Kissed ''Kissed'' is a 1996 Canadian romantic/erotic drama film directed and co-written by Lynne Stopkewich, based on Barbara Gowdy's short story "We So Seldom Look on Love". It premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 7, 1996. ...

'', which was selected for the Director's Fortnight at Cannes in 1997. The film earned eight Genie nominations and went on to critical and box-office success. He has directed episodic television such as Disney's '' So Weird'',

CTV CTV may refer to: Television * Connected TV, or Smart TV, a TV set with integrated internet North America and South America * CTV Television Network, a Canadian television network owned by Bell Media ** CTV 2, a secondary Canadian televisio ...

's '' Cold Squad'', CBC's '' These Arms of Mine'', Global’s '' Blackfly'', Fox Family's computer-animated ''

Beast Wars Beast most often refers to: * Non-human animal * Monster Beast or Beasts may also refer to: Bible * Beast (Revelation), two beasts described in the Book of Revelation Computing and gaming * Beast (card game), English name of historical Fren ...

'', and

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

's ''

2ge+her 2gether (usually stylized as 2ge+her, 2Ge+Her or 2GE+HER; pronounced "Together") was an American fictional boy band whose composition, songs, and formation story are a satirical approach to boy bands such as New Kids on the Block, 'N Sync and Bac ...

''. Pozer received a Leo Award for Best Director in May 2002 for his work on the MTV comedy series ''

Sausage Factory ''The Sausage Factory'', also known in the United States as ''MTV's Now What?'' or ''Much Ado About Whatever'', is a teen sitcom that followed the lives of four friends in their junior year at West Boulder High School. The four friends were Zack ...

''. In 2015, Pozer took on the role of executive producer for the feature film, After Eden, which was selected for the New Directors Competition at the San Sebastian International Film Festival.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pozer, John Living people Best First Feature Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners Canadian film educators Film producers from British Columbia Canadian male screenwriters Canadian television directors Concordia University alumni Film directors from British Columbia People from Kamloops University of British Columbia alumni Vancouver Film School faculty Writers from British Columbia 20th-century Canadian screenwriters Year of birth missing (living people)