Ryan Craig Johnson is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. In 1997, he directed his first feature film, Brick, and received a special jury prize at the Sundance Independent Film Festival. In 2018 he won the Saturn Award for Best Screenplay for Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
He wrote his first script in 1997, but waited more than 5 years for funding for the film. In 2003, his parents collected the necessary amount for the production of the picture. Two years later, the full-length film "Brick" was released.
Ryan wrote, directed and edited the film and presented it at the 2005 Independent Film Festival. The jury and film critics praised his work. The tape was nominated for the Grand Prix of the festival and received a special jury prize.
His creative biography includes 12 directorial works and 8 scripts for famous films: "The Bloom Brothers", "Time Loop", "Star Wars: The Last Jedi".
Biography facts
Ryan Craig was born in the United States in the winter of 1973. His childhood years were spent in the small town of San Clemente, California, where the family moved from Maryland.
Ryan has a brother, Aaron Howard Johnson, who works as a music producer. He owns a small production company, Little Big Time Productions, located in San Clemente. Aaron is the recipient of the Billboard Music Award. As well as the title of "Producer of the Year", which was awarded to him in 2012 at the annual New England Music Awards.
Ryan's cousin is Nathan Tyler Johnson, a film music composer, director and producer. It was he who composed the music for Ryan's first feature film "Brick".
Nowadays, the brothers sometimes perform with their own concerts. Their duo, performing mainly folk music, is called The Preserves.
After completing his primary education, the young man entered the USC's School of Cinema-Television at the University of Southern California, from which he graduated in 1996.
Creative way
Johnson made his first short film in 1990. It was called "Ninja Ko, the Origami Master" and told about the adventures of the protagonist in the rainforests of North Tennessee.
The next work of the young director was a short film, shot in the genre of a comedy thriller. It was called "Evil Demon from Hell !!!".
In 2005, Johnson presented the neo-noir detective thriller Brick. $ 500 thousand was spent on the production of the film, and the worldwide gross amounted to more than $ 3 million. The film was shown at the Sundance independent film festival, where it was highly appreciated by viewers and film critics.
In 2008 Ryan took part in the creation of the Breaking Bad project. The series received many awards and nominations: Golden Globe, Saturn, Emmy, Actors Guild, Georges.
In the same year, the Bloom Brothers adventure melodrama was released. Johnson wrote and directed the film, and his cousin wrote the music for it.
In 2014, Ryan began work on the movie Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Together with J. Lucas, he wrote and directed the film, which was released in 2017.
Viewers will be able to appreciate Johnson's next screenwriting and directorial work in November 2019. The detective thriller "Knives Out" with Daniel Craig in the title role will be released on the screens. The film also starred famous actors: Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon, Christopher Plummer.
Personal life
In 2018, Ryan became the husband of renowned journalist, writer and film critic Karina Longward.
