John Longenecker (born 1947) is an American film producer,

Directors Guild of America The Directors Guild of America (DGA) is an entertainment guild that represents the interests of film and television directors in the United States motion picture industry and abroad. Founded as the Screen Directors Guild in 1936, the group merge ...

member, screenwriter and

cinematographer The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the photographing or recording of a film, television production, music video or other live action piece. The cinematographer is the ch ...

who produced the Academy Award-winning live-action short film, ''

The Resurrection of Broncho Billy ''The Resurrection of Broncho Billy'' is a 1970 live action short Western film directed by James R. Rokos and starring Johnny Crawford. It won an Oscar for Best Short Subject. It was one of John Carpenter's first works; he acted as editor, ...

'' (1970).

Biography

John Longenecker grew up in Southern California. His mother, MGM film actress

Ruth Hussey Ruth Carol Hussey (October 30, 1911 – April 19, 2005) was an American actress best known for her Academy Award-nominated role as photographer Elizabeth Imbrie in '' The Philadelphia Story''. Early life Hussey was born in Providence, Rhode I ...

(1911–2005), was

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology), ...

-nominated for her portrayal of Liz Imbrie, the cynical magazine photographer in '' The Philadelphia Story'' (1940). His father, C. Robert Bob Longenecker (1909–2002) worked as a producer at CBS Radio Network in Los Angeles and later established a motion picture and television talent agency.

Academy Award – Live Action Short Film

In 1967 Longenecker attended the

UCLA Film School The UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television (UCLA TFT), is one of the 12 schools within the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) located in Los Angeles, California. Its creation was groundbreaking in that it was the first time a leadi ...

. In 1968 he enrolled in film production classes at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

– USC Cinema Department. He produced ''The Resurrection of Broncho Billy'' (1970) at USC Cinema. For his film crew Longnecker invited now-noted film directors

Nick Castle Nicholas Castle is an American screenwriter, film director, and actor. He is known for playing Michael Myers in John Carpenter's horror film ''Halloween'' (1978). He reprised the role in ''Halloween'' (2018), and its sequels ''Halloween Kills'' ...

and

John Carpenter John Howard Carpenter (born January 16, 1948) is an American filmmaker, actor, and composer. Although he worked in various film genres, he is most commonly associated with horror, action, and science fiction films of the 1970s and 1980s. He ...

to work with him on the senior year project. The unusual spelling "Broncho" in the short's title was an homage to

Broncho Billy Anderson Gilbert M. "Broncho Billy" Anderson (born Maxwell Henry Aronson; March 21, 1880 – January 20, 1971) was an American actor, writer, film director, and film producer, who was the first star of the Western film genre. He was a founder and star ...

, considered filmdom's first cowboy star. Castle was the cinematographer for the short, Carpenter was the film editor and composed the music for the picture, and James Rokos directed the short film. All four of the filmmakers along with Trace Johnston made creative contributions to the story for the film. Produced on a $700 budget ($5,000 in 2013 dollars), ''The Resurrection of Broncho Billy'' received the 1970 Academy Award for best live action short film. At 23, Longenecker was the youngest producer in history to have a film win an Oscar.

Johnny Crawford John Ernest Crawford (March 26, 1946 – April 29, 2021) was an American actor, singer, and musician. He first performed before a national audience as a Mouseketeer. At age 12, Crawford rose to prominence playing Mark McCain in the series ' ...

and

Kristin Nelson Sharon Kristin Nelson (née Harmon; June 25, 1945 – April 27, 2018) was an American primitive painter, actress, and author. She was married to the actor and musician Ricky Nelson for nineteen years, and is the sister of actor Mark Harmon. Earl ...

played the lead roles in the movie short, a 20-minute film about a young guy who lives in a big city in the present-day but fantasizes about living in the old west. Universal Studios theatrically released the film for two years in the United States and Canada. In 1971 Longenecker produced and hosted an hour-long program, ''Student Film Festival: Take One'', which was broadcast on

KTLA KTLA (channel 5) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast flagship of The CW. It is the largest directly owned property of the network's majority owner, Nexstar Media Group, and is the seco ...

and featured screenings of ten short films chosen from Universal Studios' Student Film Library, including a portion of ''The Resurrection of Broncho Billy''.

Director/Cinematographer Work

John Longenecker has often worked as a cinematographer for music video director/recording artist

Dwight Yoakam Dwight David Yoakam (born October 23, 1956) is an American singer-songwriter, actor, and film director. He first achieved mainstream attention in 1986 with the release of his debut album '' Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc.''. Yoakam had considerab ...

, and as a second unit cinematographer on television commercials for director

Errol Morris Errol Mark Morris (born February 5, 1948) is an American film director known for documentaries that interrogate the epistemology of its subjects. In 2003, his documentary film '' The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara ...

. Longenecker encourages young filmmakers to shoot videos through his Picture America project started-up in 2008.

References

External links

*
BRONCHO BILLY - Academy Award - live-action short filmMaking Broncho Billy - a video clipJohn Longenecker - Second Unit Director - a video clip
{{DEFAULTSORT:Longenecker, John 1947 births Living people Producers who won the Live Action Short Film Academy Award American film producers American male screenwriters UCLA Film School alumni USC School of Cinematic Arts alumni