John L'Ecuyer

John L'Ecuyer
L'Ecuyer in 2016
Born	(1964-11-15) November 15, 1964 (age 60) Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Education	Ryerson Polytechnical Institute (now Toronto Metropolitan University)

John L'Ecuyer (born November 15, 1964) is a Canadian film and television director.

Biography

Born in Montreal, L'Ecuyer later moved and studied at Ryerson Polytechnical Institute in Toronto, where his classmates included screenwriter Brad Abraham.^{[ citation needed ]} His brother Gerald L'Ecuyer is also a film and television director. ^[1]

L'Ecuyer's first feature, Curtis's Charm (1995), based on a short story by Jim Carroll, starred Maurice Dean Wint as Curtis, a paranoid drug addict who believes his mother-in-law has cast a voodoo spell on him, which has resulted in his being stalked by a killer squirrel. ^[2] It was shot on black and white 16 mm film. ^[3]

The film, executive produced by Atom Egoyan and Patricia Rozema, premiered at the 1995 Toronto International Film Festival, ^[4] where it received a special jury citation as Best Canadian Feature Film. ^[5]

Also at TIFF that year, L'Ecuyer's short film Use Once and Destroy (1995) received another special jury citation at the festival, for Best Canadian Short Film. ^[6] The short film was based on his own book, titled UseOnceAndDestroy, which was published in 1998 by Gutter Press. ^[7]

L'Ecuyer's other feature film credits include Saint Jude and On the Verge of a Fever , both of which premiered at TIFF. ^{[8] [9]} His feature documentary, Confessions of a Rabid Dog, won Best Social Documentary at HotDocs. ^[10]

In 1999, Playback called him "one of the country’s top dramatic directors." ^[11]

Since the 2000s, L'Ecuyer has worked primarily in television.^{[ citation needed ]} His television work includes dozens of popular series such as ReGenesis and Murdoch Mysteries , and he has also directed over a dozen made-for-television films.^{[ citation needed ]}

Filmography

Film

Short film

Year	Title	Director	Writer
1994	It's a Beautiful Day	Yes	Yes
	Low Life	Yes	Yes
1995	Use Once and Destroy	Yes	Yes

Feature film

Year	Title	Director	Writer
1995	Curtis's Charm	Yes	Yes
1997	Confessions of a Rabid Dog	Yes	Yes
2000	Saint Jude	Yes	No
2004	On the Verge of a Fever	Yes	No
2014	A Date with Miss Fortune	Yes	No

Television

Year	Title	Notes
1996	The Rez
1996–1997	Ready or Not	"Prince Charming" "Second Generation" "Saint Carla"
1997	The Hunger
1998	Da Vinci's Inquest	"Known to the Ministry" "The Stranger Inside"
1998–1999	Traders	"Meltdown" "End Games" "Reap the Whirlwind" "Killer Instinct" "This World ... Then the Fireworks"
1999	Cold Squad	"Deadly Games: Part I"
1999–2000	The City	"Shadows" "Obsessions" "Swing Your Partner" "Sweet Cherub: Part I" "Blindside!"
2000	Live Through This
2000	Queer as Folk
2001	Blue Murder	"Steel Drums" "Remington Park"
2001–2002	Nero Wolfe	"Eeny Meeny Murder Moe" "Disguise for Murder" "Too Many Clients" "Before I Die" "Help Wanted, Male"
2002	Tom Stone
2002–2003	Just Cause	"Tonia with a O" "Trial by Memory"
2006	11 Cameras
2004–2007	ReGenesis	"Baby Bomb" "The Oldest Virus" "Blackout" "The Secret War" "Resurrection" "The Longest Night" "Haze" "China" "The Cocktail" "Our Men in Havana" "Adrift"
2008	The Guard	"Fistful of Rain" "Body Parts"
2008–2011	Murdoch Mysteries	"Bad Medicine" "The Prince and the Rebel" "The Curse of Beaton Manor" "Monsieur Murdoch" "Confederate Treasure"
2012	The Listener	"Captain Nightfall"
2015	Blood and Water
2014	The Other world
2016	Gangland Undercover
2016	Real Detective
2017-2019	The Detectives

TV movies

• Tagged: The Jonathan Wamback Story (2001)
• Choice: The Henry Morgentaler Story (2003)
• Prom Queen: The Marc Hall Story (2004)
• Under the Dragon's Tail (2005)
• In God's Country (2007)
• The Good Times are Killing Me (2008)
• The Riverbank (2012)
• Sorority Surrogate (2013)
• My Daughter's Nightmare (2013)
• Early Release (2016)
• Gwen Shamblin: Starving for Salvation (2023) ^[12]

References

1. "Filmmaker Gerald L'Ecuyer". Toronto Star , August 15, 1999.
2. "The romance of junkie paranoia". The Globe and Mail , September 14, 1995.
3. Playback Staff (September 11, 1995). "Special Report: Toronto International Film Festival: Curtis's Charm". Playback . Retrieved December 14, 2022.
4. Leydon, Jim (September 25, 1995). "Curtis's Charm". Variety . Retrieved December 14, 2022.
5. "Film fest names winners". Edmonton Journal , September 18, 1995.
6. "Surprise winner for best Canadian film at Toronto Film Festival is Live Bait". Canadian Press, September 17, 1995.
7. Hal Niedzviecki, "Use Once and Destroy". Quill & Quire , Fall 1998.
8. Lazar, Dave (September 4, 2000). "St. Jude" . Retrieved 2024-01-17.
9. "African cinema's moment in the sun; Continent better represented at fest than ever: Pioneering movie in Zulu among noteworthy flicks". Toronto Star , September 10, 2004.
10. Swedko, Pam (April 6, 1998). "Hot Docs fetes winners" . Retrieved 2024-01-17.
11. Staff, Playback (April 5, 1999). "Spring prep for L'Ecuyer, Cote, Lord and Paramagian movies" . Retrieved 2024-01-17.
12. "OAZ's Vincent Walsh, Alain Goulem and Gabrielle Miller star in GWEN SHAMBLIN: STARVING FOR SALVATION, directed by OAZ's John L'Ecuyer! 👏👏👏 • The film centres on Gwen Shamblin who became known with her Christian diet program "Weigh Down Workshop", and was accused of exploitation and abuse by the church's alleged cult practices... • Catch the Canadian premiere TOMORROW @ 8:00 PM ET on CTV Life! 📺👀 • • • • • #VincentWalsh #AlainGoulem #GabrielleMiller #JohnLecuyer #GwenShamblinStarvingForSalvation #GwenShamblin #StarvingFor Salvation #JenniferGrey #remnantfellowshipchurch #lifetimetv #lifetimemovie #drama #basedontrueevents". instagram.com.

External links

• John L'Ecuyer at IMDb
• Northern Stars profile