Patrick Read Johnson (born May 7, 1962) is an American

filmmaker Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, castin ...

, special effects artist and

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

. Born in

Wadsworth Wadsworth may refer to: People * Wadsworth (surname) * Wadsworth (given name) Places * Wadsworth, Illinois, United States, a village * Wadsworth, Kansas, United States * Wadsworth, Nevada, United States, a census-designated place * Wadswo ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

, he is best known for his directorial work on the films ''

Spaced Invaders ''Spaced Invaders'' is a 1990 American science fiction comedy directed by Patrick Read Johnson and starring Douglas Barr, Royal Dano, and Ariana Richards. The film’s title is a pun on the classic video game ''Space Invaders''. Plot The space ...

'', ''

Angus Angus may refer to: Media * ''Angus'' (film), a 1995 film * ''Angus Og'' (comics), in the ''Daily Record'' Places Australia * Angus, New South Wales Canada * Angus, Ontario, a community in Essa, Ontario * East Angus, Quebec Scotland * An ...

'', ''

Baby's Day Out ''Baby's Day Out'' is a 1994 American adventure comedy film directed by Patrick Read Johnson and written by John Hughes, who also produced the film. Starring Joe Mantegna, Lara Flynn Boyle, Joe Pantoliano, and Brian Haley. The plot centers on a ...

'', '' The Genesis Code'' and ''

5-25-77 ''5-25-77'' is a coming-of-age film written and directed by Patrick Read Johnson and produced by Fred Roos and Gary Kurtz. It stars John Francis Daley as a teen-age director living in Wadsworth, Illinois, and his excitement for the premiere of '' ...

''. He also has written and produced such films as ''

Dragonheart ''Dragonheart'' (stylized as ''DragonHeart'') is a 1996 fantasy adventure film directed by Rob Cohen and written by Charles Edward Pogue based on a story created by him and Patrick Read Johnson. The film stars Dennis Quaid, David Thewlis, Pete P ...

''.

Career

Starting out in the field of practical special effects and models, Johnson was one of the first people outside of

Industrial Light and Magic Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) is an American motion picture visual effects company that was founded on May 26, 1975 by George Lucas. It is a division of the film production company Lucasfilm, which Lucas founded, and was created when he began pro ...

to see ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...

'' (albeit in an incomplete form) as chronicled in his semi-autobiographical film ''

''. He first saw the film during Spring Break, sometime between late March and early April 1977, when ILM was scrambling to complete VFX shots. He had also visited the set of ''

Close Encounters of the Third Kind ''Close Encounters of the Third Kind'' is a 1977 American science fiction film written and directed by Steven Spielberg, starring Richard Dreyfuss, Melinda Dillon, Teri Garr, Bob Balaban, Cary Guffey, and François Truffaut. It tells the story ...

'' at Future General Corporation a few days before and found

Douglas Trumbull Douglas Hunt Trumbull (; April 8, 1942 – February 7, 2022) was an American film director and innovative visual effects supervisor. He pioneered methods in special effects and created scenes for '' 2001: A Space Odyssey'', ''Close Encounters o ...

's work to be "engineered, intimidating and mature" compared to

John Dykstra John Charles Dykstra, A.S.C. (; born June 3, 1947) is an American special effects artist, pioneer in the development of the use of computers in filmmaking and recipient of three Academy Awards, among many other awards and prizes. He was one of ...

's "shooting-from-the-hip" style. Johnson ascended into mainstream Hollywood filmmaking following the modest success of ''Spaced Invaders'', invited by John Hughes to work on his adaptation of '' Dennis the Menace'', and then later, the comedy ''

''. ''Baby's Day Out'' was tremendously popular in

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;;;;; ...

, including

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

and

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

. In India, it was played at the largest theater in

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

for over a year. He also wrote the fantasy film ''

'', which spawned a franchise. He proposed the idea for the film to producer

Raffaella De Laurentiis Raffaella De Laurentiis (born 28 June 1952) is an Italian film producer. Films that she has produced include ''Conan the Barbarian'', '' Conan the Destroyer'', ''Dune'', '' Prancer'', '' Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story'', all films in the ''Dragonhear ...

. Johnson described it as "''

The Skin Game The Skin Game may refer to: * ''The Skin Game'' (play), a play by John Galsworthy * ''The Skin Game'' (1921 film), a 1921 Dutch film, based on the play * ''The Skin Game'' (1931 film), a 1931 film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, also based on the ...

'' with a dragon in it...or '' Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Dragon''", and that he wanted "the idea of a dragon and a knight conning villages for money" because he thought that the concept was "not only funny, but kind of sweet". Up until 2021 Johnson served as a filmmaking instructor at the

University of North Carolina School of the Arts The University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) is an arts school in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. It grants high school, undergraduate, and graduate degrees. Founded in 1963 as the North Carolina School of the Arts by then-Governo ...

''5-25-77''

Johnson began developing ''

'' in 1999 after he met

Gary Kurtz Gary Douglas Kurtz (July 27, 1940 – September 23, 2018) was an American film producer whose list of credits includes ''American Graffiti'' (1973), ''Star Wars'' (1977), ''The Empire Strikes Back'' (1980), ''The Dark Crystal'' (1982) and ''Retu ...

. In 2001, Johnson began seeking funding for ''5-25-77'', and didn't start shooting the film until 2004. An incomplete "preview cut" was exhibited in 2007 at

Star Wars Celebration The ''Star Wars'' Celebration is a fan gathering to celebrate the ''Star Wars'' franchise. It began in 1999, when Lucasfilm held the ''Star Wars'' Celebration in Denver, Colorado to celebrate the upcoming release of '' Star Wars: Episode I � ...

IV and at the

Hamptons International Film Festival The Hamptons International Film Festival (HIFF) is an international film festival founded in 1992, by Joyce Robinson. The festival has since taken place every year in East Hampton, New York. It is usually an annual five-day event in mid-October a ...

in 2008, where ''5-25-77'' won the Heineken Red Star Award. On May 25, 2012, the 35th anniversary of the release of ''

'', Johnson began a cross-country road trip in his 1975 Ford Pinto to attract the funding needed to finish the film's remaining post-production work. Johnson spent the summer of 2012 test-screening ''5-25-77'', his trip also becoming the subject of a documentary called '' Hearts of Dorkness'', by filmmaker '' Morgan Flores''. In 2013, ''

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a permane ...

s Next Wave Film Festival invited Johnson to show ''5-25-77'' as a "work in progress", the attention from the festival Johnson attributed to the bid of his promotional tour the summer before. In 2017, it was announced Johnson had completed the film and that it would receive a limited theatrical release on May 25.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Patrick Read 1952 births Living people American directors American male screenwriters Film directors from Illinois Male screenwriters People from Wadsworth, Illinois Screenwriters from Illinois Writers from Chicago