Gerard Johnstone | |
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Born | Invercargill, New Zealand |
Occupations |
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Years active | 2008–present |
Children | 2 |
Gerard Johnstone is a New Zealand screenwriter and director. He is known for the comedy sitcom series The Jaquie Brown Diaries and the horror films Housebound and M3GAN .
Johnstone was born in Invercargill, New Zealand, [1] where he attended Verdon College. [2]
In the early 2000s, Johnstone and Jaquie Brown worked together at C4. A few years later, they created a production company, Young, Gifted & Brown, to make the New Zealand sitcom The Jaquie Brown Diaries , based on a satirical fictionalised version of Brown. It began airing in 2008 with Johnstone serving as writer and director. [3] [4]
In March 2014, Johnstone made his directorial debut with Housebound at the South by Southwest festival. [5] The comedy horror film was released on 17 October 2014 in select theatres and VOD. [6] The following year, Johnstone approached New Zealand weightlifter Sonia Manaena, who set the world record in 2013 for deadlifting, about directing a film detailing her life being a competitive weightlifter. [7] Filming was scheduled to begin in 2016, [7] but as of 2023 Johnstone said, "It's been cooking in the background for a long time". [8]
In 2016, he released Terry Teo, a reboot of the 1985 television series, Terry and the Gunrunners . [9] By August 2017, Johnstone was reported to be in the running to direct Warner Bros.' Dark Universe , but instead was hired to polish the script. [10]
Johnstone directed episodes of the first season of The New Legends of Monkey , airing in 2018. [11] That same year, he signed on to direct the comedy horror film, M3GAN . [12] Producer James Wan chose Johnstone for the job after admiring his ability to balance horror and comedy elements in Housebound. [13] M3GAN was released on 6 January 2023 to commercial and critical success. It grossed over $30 million on its opening weekend and garnered positive reviews. [14] [15] He returned to direct the sequel, M3GAN 2.0 , scheduled for release June 27, 2025. [16]
Johnstone is married. [17] He has two sons, born in 2012 and 2014. [18]
Film
Television
Year | Title | Director | Writer | Executive Producer | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2008–2009 | The Jaquie Brown Diaries | Yes | Yes | No | 14 episodes |
2016 | Terry Teo | Yes | Yes | No | Directed 6 episodes, wrote 4 episodes |
2018 | The New Legends of Monkey | Yes | No | Yes | 6 episodes |
Taika David Cohen, known professionally as Taika Waititi, is a New Zealand filmmaker, actor and comedian. He is known for directing quirky comedy films and has expanded his career as a voice actor and producer on numerous projects. He has received numerous accolades including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award and a Grammy Award. Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2022.
The Jaquie Brown Diaries is a satirical New Zealand sitcom in which real-life television personality Jaquie Brown plays a fictionalised, over-ambitious, status-obsessed version of herself. The series was created by Gerard Johnstone, Jaquie Brown and Hayley Cunningham and premiered 25 July 2008 on TV3. The US cable television channel Logo began broadcasting the series' episodes to date 12 June 2010.
Allison Howell Williams is an American actress. For her work in horror films, she has been deemed a scream queen by some in the media. She first became known for starring as Marnie Michaels in the HBO comedy-drama series Girls (2012–2017), which earned her a Critics' Choice Award nomination. Her breakthrough came with the role of Rose Armitage in the horror film Get Out (2017), which earned her nominations from the MTV Movie Awards and the Screen Actors Guild Awards among other accolades. She went on to star in the horror films The Perfection (2018) and M3GAN (2022), the latter of which she also executive produced. Her latest on-screen appearance was for the role of Lucy Smith in Showtime's Peabody Award-winning miniseries Fellow Travelers (2023).
Blumhouse Productions, LLC, doing business as Blumhouse, is an American independent film and television production company founded in 2000 by Jason Blum and Amy Israel.
Housebound is a 2014 New Zealand horror comedy film written, edited, and directed by Gerard Johnstone, in his feature film directorial debut. The film had its world premiere on 10 March 2014, at South by Southwest and stars Morgana O'Reilly as a woman sentenced to house arrest in a potentially haunted house.
Monkeypaw Productions is an American independent film and television production company founded by Jordan Peele in 2012. It is known for producing horror films, such as Get Out, Us, Candyman, Nope, and Wendell & Wild, as well as other films, such as Keanu and Monkey Man.
House Party is a 2023 American comedy film directed by Calmatic from a screenplay by Jamal Olori and Stephen Glover. It serves as a reboot of the 1990 film of the same name. The film stars Tosin Cole, Jacob Latimore, Karen Obilom, D.C. Young Fly, and Scott Mescudi. Its plot follows two young aspiring club promoters working as house cleaners who throw a party at their latest job site: LeBron James' mansion.
M3GAN is a 2022 American science fiction horror film directed by Gerard Johnstone. It was written by Akela Cooper from a story by Cooper and James Wan. Allison Williams and Violet McGraw star, Amie Donald physically portrays M3GAN, and Jenna Davis voices the character. Its plot follows an artificially intelligent doll who develops self-awareness and becomes hostile toward anyone who comes between her and her human companion.
Plane is a 2023 American action thriller film directed by Jean-François Richet from a screenplay by Charles Cumming and J. P. Davis. The film stars Gerard Butler, Mike Colter, Yoson An, and Tony Goldwyn. The plot centers on a pilot (Butler) allying with a prisoner to save his passengers from a hostile territory in which they make an emergency landing.
Violet Elizabeth McGraw is an American child actress. She began acting at the age of five, with her debut credited role being a recurring role in the 2016 television series Love as Nina, and her first feature film being in 2018's Ready Player One. In 2019 she was nominated for an OFTA Television Award for Best Ensemble in a Motion Picture or Limited Series for The Haunting of Hill House. She is also known for her role as Cady in the 2022 horror film M3GAN.
M3GAN 2.0 is an upcoming American science fiction horror film directed by Gerard Johnstone and written by Akela Cooper. A sequel to M3GAN (2022), it sees Allison Williams and Violet McGraw return to star, alongside Ivanna Sakhno, Timm Sharp, Aristotle Athari and Jemaine Clement. Jason Blum and James Wan return as producers under their respective Blumhouse Productions and Atomic Monster companies, alongside Divide/Conquer.
M3GAN (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the soundtrack to the 2023 film M3GAN directed by Gerard Johnstone. Featuring musical score composed by Anthony Willis, the album consisted of 29 tracks were released by Back Lot Music on January 6, 2023. The soundtrack was further issued on vinyl LP by Waxwork Records on March 10, 2023.