Biography
George A. Johnson is an award-winning writer, director, and producer, best known for Pursuit of Freedom (2022), Thy Neighbor (2018), and Homeless for the Holidays (2009).
Johnson began filmmaking at an unusually young age. As a 3-year-old, he would create stories with toy action figures, and act them out, positioning various characters throughout the room. Rather than playing along, Johnson's childhood friends would often prefer to watch and see how the stories would unfold.
At age 7, Johnson purchased his first 8mm film camera at a yard sale, and began writing scripts, producing short films, and even experimenting with in-camera effects. Coming from humble beginnings, Johnson could not afford to purchase film for his camera, so his stories were never actually recorded. He just wound the camera up, and listened to it buzz as he shot his choreographed scenes with friends, as well as his little brother, Ben Johnson (who later starred in Johnson's first feature film, Dreamer: The Movie (2004)).
When he was 13, George purchased his first video camera with money that he had saved from 3 years of delivering newspapers, and he continued to write and shoot short films throughout high school, completing his first feature length screenplay at age 17.
After graduating from high school in 1993, Johnson began working in television and video & enrolled in the Hollywood Scriptwriting Institute, where he continued to excel as a writer, director, and producer, as well as a visual effects artist.
To date, Johnson has written, directed, and produced over 11,000 regional, national, and international TV programs, commercials, music videos, sports videos, and short films, and he is the founder & creator of GoStream Sports, one of the most watched high school sports channels on Youtube.
In 2000, he embarked upon his first feature length project, Dreamer: The Movie (2004), using nothing more than ordinary consumer video equipment. The goal of the experimental film was to prove that anybody with a video camera, a computer, and a basic editing program has a voice that can be heard around the world. (YouTube was not yet an Internet sensation at the time).
Dreamer: The Movie (2004) opened in select US theaters in Michigan, Indiana, Missouri, and Iowa. Over 600 people attended the world premier in Ionia, MI on New Year's Eve, 2004. Every theater that booked the movie extended their showings by as much as a week or more. The film won awards at two film festivals; one in the US & one in Scotland. It received positive reviews from both American & Canadian film critics, and in June 2005, it was picked up for worldwide distribution by Illuminare Entertainment.
After the release of Dreamer: The Movie (2004) (ultimately a "hobby project") Johnson returned to his position as Production Manager at a Television Station in Northern Ohio.
In 2009, Johnson wrote, produced, and directed his second feature, Homeless for the Holidays (2009).
In 2018, Johnson won his first NATAS LGL Emmy® Award for directing the music video "Haunted" by iconic Canadian rock band, The Guess Who.
Johnson and his wife, Kary Johnson co-produced the award-winning thriller, "Thy Neighbor", (written and directed by Johnson) which was released in 2018, and in 2019, they began development on their fifth feature film, "Pursuit of Freedom", which was released in 2022.
In 2024, Johnson's 6th feature film, Carol, a Christmas-themed musical, was released theatrically, and is available on numerous streaming platforms.
21 wins and 35 nominations
