Gerard Johnstone is a New Zealand screenwriter and director. He is known for the comedy sitcom series ''

The Jaquie Brown Diaries ''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 B ...

'' and the horror films '' Housebound'' and ''

M3GAN ''M3GAN'' (pronounced "Megan") is a 2022 American science fiction horror film directed by Gerard Johnstone from a screenplay by Akela Cooper, based on a story by Cooper and James Wan. Allison Williams and Violet McGraw star, Amie Donald phys ...

''.

Early life

Johnstone was born in

Invercargill Invercargill ( , ) is the southernmost and westernmost list of cities in New Zealand, city in New Zealand, and one of the Southernmost settlements, southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland Region, Southlan ...

, New Zealand, where he attended

Verdon College Verdon College is a co-educational Roman Catholic high school in Invercargill, New Zealand, teaching students from year 7 to 13 (ages 11–18). The College is named after Michael Verdon, Bishop Michael Verdon (1838–1918) who was the second Cat ...

Career

In the early 2000s, Johnstone and

Jaquie Brown Jaquie Brown is a New Zealand TV presenter, actress and radio presenter. Biography Brown was born in England in 1975 and moved to New Zealand when she was fifteen.

worked together at C4. A few years later, they created a production company, Young, Gifted & Brown, to make the New Zealand sitcom ''

'', based on a satirical fictionalised version of Brown. It began airing in 2008 with Johnstone serving as writer and director. In March 2014, Johnstone made his directorial debut with '' Housebound'' at the

South by Southwest South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

festival. The

comedy horror Comedy horror (also called horror comedy) is a literary, television and film genre that combines elements of comedy and horror fiction. Comedy horror has been described as having three types: "black comedy, parody and spoof." Comedy horror can a ...

film was released on 17 October 2014 in select theatres and VOD. The following year, Johnstone approached New Zealand weightlifter Sonia Manaena, who set the world record in 2013 for

deadlift The deadlift is a strength training exercise in which a weight-loaded barbell is lifted off the ground to the level of the hips, with the torso perpendicular to the floor, before being placed back on the ground. It is one of the three powerlifting ...

ing, about directing a film detailing her life being a competitive weightlifter. Filming was scheduled to begin in 2016, but as of 2023 Johnstone said, "It's been cooking in the background for a long time". In 2016, he released ''Terry Teo'', a reboot of the 1985 television series, '' Terry and the Gunrunners''. By August 2017, Johnstone was reported to be in the running to direct

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

' '' Dark Universe'', but instead was hired to polish the script. Johnstone directed episodes of the first season of ''

The New Legends of Monkey ''The New Legends of Monkey'' is a fantasy adventure television series inspired by ''Monkey'', a Japanese production from the 1970s and 1980s which garnered a cult following in New Zealand, Australia, the UK and South Africa. The Japanese produc ...

'', airing in 2018. That same year, he signed on to direct the comedy horror film, ''

''. Producer

James Wan James Wan (born 26 February 1977) is an Australian filmmaker. He has primarily worked in the horror fiction, horror genre as the co-creator of the ''Saw (franchise), Saw'' and Insidious (film series), ''Insidious'' franchises and the creator of ...

chose Johnstone for the job after admiring his ability to balance horror and comedy elements in ''Housebound''. ''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. He returned to direct the sequel, '' M3GAN 2.0'', scheduled for release June 27, 2025.

Personal life

Johnstone is married. He has two sons, born in 2012 and 2014.

Filmography

Film Television

References

External links

*
Gerard Johnstone
at NZ On Screen {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnstone, Gerard Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 21st-century New Zealand male writers English-language film directors People educated at Verdon College People from Invercargill New Zealand film directors New Zealand screenwriters New Zealand television directors New Zealand television writers New Zealand male screenwriters