John S. Harrison Jr. (born 1948) is an American
filmmaker
Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, castin ...
,
musician
A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who w ...
, and
composer best known for his collaborations with director
George A. Romero and for writing-directing the
miniseries adaptation of
''Dune''.
Early life and career
Harrison was born and raised in
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
,
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Ma ...
. He graduated from
Emerson College
Emerson College is a private college with its main campus in Boston, Massachusetts. It also maintains campuses in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California and Well, Limburg, Netherlands (Kasteel Well). Founded in 1880 by Charles Wesley Emerson as a ...
in Boston with a BS
in Theater Arts and is an
MFA graduate of
Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One of its predecessors was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools; it became the Carnegie Institute of Technology ...
's School of Drama.
For several years after that, he performed on the road with his band Homebrew before moving back to Pittsburgh to take a master's degree in film and television from
Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One of its predecessors was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools; it became the Carnegie Institute of Technology ...
. At the same time, he joined blues guitarist
Roy Buchanan, with whom he toured across the US and internationally for four years. He was also featured on several of Buchanan's albums, including ''That's What I'm Here For'' (1974), ''
Live Stock'' (1975), and ''
A Street Called Straight
''A Street Called Straight'' is an album by Roy Buchanan, released in 1976 on Atlantic Records. The album contains the instrumental, "My Friend, Jeff", in honour of British guitarist Jeff Beck. One year earlier Beck released '' Blow by Blow'', f ...
'' (1976).
In 1973, Harrison and his friends, Dusty Nelson and
Pasquale Buba, formed a film production company eventually named The Image Works to produce commercials and industrials in the Pittsburgh area. This partnership eventually led to the production of the film ''
Effects'' (1980), which Harrison produced and performed in as the character Lacey Bickle. In 1974, Harrison began a long collaboration and friendship with filmmaker
George A. Romero. Harrison performed as Sir Pelinore in Romero's ''
Knightriders
''Knightriders'' is a 1981 American drama film written and directed by George A. Romero and starring Ed Harris, Gary Lahti, Tom Savini, Amy Ingersoll, Patricia Tallman, and Christine Forrest. It was filmed entirely on location in the Pitts ...
'', then became his 1st Assistant Director for both Romero films ''
Creepshow'' (1982) and ''
Day of the Dead
The Day of the Dead ( es, Día de Muertos or ''Día de los Muertos'') is a holiday traditionally celebrated on November 1 and 2, though other days, such as October 31 or November 6, may be included depending on the locality. It is widely obser ...
'' (1985).
Harrison also composed the scores for ''Creepshow'' and ''Day of the Dead'' (1985). He also played the "Screwdriver Zombie" in Romero's classic ''
Dawn of the Dead'' (1978). The music that was composed for the score of ''Creepshow'' was also featured in the fake trailer for ''Thanksgiving'' in the film ''
Grindhouse
A grindhouse or action house is an American term for a theatre that mainly shows low-budget horror, splatter and exploitation films for adults. According to historian David Church, this theater type was named after the "grind policy", a fi ...
'' (2007), and the ''
South Park'' episode "
Tegridy Farms Halloween Special" (2019). Music from Harrison's ''Day of the Dead'' score was also featured in the premiere ''
Stranger Things
''Stranger Things'' is an American science fiction horror drama television series created by the Duffer Brothers, who also serve as showrunners and are executive producers along with Shawn Levy and Dan Cohen. Produced by Monkey Massacre Pr ...
'' Season 3, "
Suzie, Do You Copy" (2019).
After ''Creepshow'', Harrison moved to Los Angeles to continue his writing and directing career. He wrote, directed and composed the music for multiple episodes of the ''
Tales from the Darkside'' TV show. He was then tapped by producer
Richard P. Rubinstein to direct ''
Tales from the Darkside: The Movie'' (1990) for Paramount,
which won the Gran Prix du Festival at Avoriaz, France (1991).
Harrison's collaboration with Rubinstein culminated in the Emmy-winning TV miniseries, ''
Frank Herbert's Dune'' (2000), which Harrison wrote and directed,
[ and '']Frank Herbert's Children of Dune
''Frank Herbert's Children of Dune'' is a three-part science fiction miniseries written by John Harrison and directed by Greg Yaitanes, based on Frank Herbert's novels ''Dune Messiah'' (1969) and '' Children of Dune'' (1976). First broadcast in ...
'' (2003), which Harrison wrote and executive produced.
In 2001, Harrison receives a co-song writing credit, for the Gorillaz
Gorillaz are an English virtual band formed in 1998 by musician Damon Albarn and artist Jamie Hewlett, from London. The band primarily consists of four fictional members: 2-D (character), 2-D (Singing, vocals, Musical keyboard, keyboards), Murd ...
's track "M1 A1", from the album ''Gorillaz
Gorillaz are an English virtual band formed in 1998 by musician Damon Albarn and artist Jamie Hewlett, from London. The band primarily consists of four fictional members: 2-D (character), 2-D (Singing, vocals, Musical keyboard, keyboards), Murd ...
'', which samples music (along with dialogue), from the film ''Day of the Dead''. Gorillaz used samples from the same film for another song, "Hip Albatross", a B-side on the international hit "19-2000
"19-2000", sometimes written "19/2000", is a song from the British virtual band Gorillaz' self-titled debut album ''Gorillaz''. It was the second single from the album, released on 25 June 2001 in the United Kingdom. "19-2000" reached number s ...
".
In 2006, Harrison reunited with mentor Romero to co-produce Romero's film ''Diary of the Dead
''Diary of the Dead'' (promoted as ''George A. Romero's Diary of the Dead'') is a 2007 American found footage horror film written and directed by George A. Romero. Although independently produced, it was distributed theatrically by The Weinst ...
'' (2007). His action suspense thriller ''Blank Slate'' for producer Dean Devlin, which Harrison wrote and directed, aired as a twenty episode mini-series on TNT in the fall of 2008. In 2009, Harrison completed his adaptation of acclaimed horror novelist Clive Barker
Clive Barker (born 5 October 1952) is an English novelist, playwright, author, film director, and visual artist who came to prominence in the mid-1980s with a series of short stories, the ''Books of Blood'', which established him as a leading h ...
's '' Book of Blood'', which Harrison co-wrote and directed.
His paranormal thriller miniseries '' Residue'' (2015), which he created and wrote, was released on Netflix in April 2015.
Harrison has written and directed episodes of '' Creepshow'' on Shudder.
Filmography
Films
Television series
Soundtracks
*''Effects'' – LaLa Land Records (LLLCD1040), Los Angeles
*''Creepshow'' – LaLa Land Records (LLLCD1007), Los Angeles
*''Day of the Dead'' – Taurus Entertainment/Numenorean Music, Los Angeles
*''Tales from the Darkside: The Movie'' – GNP Crescendo (GNPD 8021), Los Angeles
*''Creepshow'' – Waxwork Records LP, New Orleans
*''Day of the Dead'' – Waxwork Records LP, New Orleans
*''Tales from the Darkside: The Movie'' – Waxwork Records LP, New Orleans
Books
*Carson, Phil. ''Roy Buchanan, American Axe'' (San Francisco: Backbeat Books 2001)
*Larson, Randall D. ''Musique Fantastique'' (London: The Scarecrow Press 1985)
*Gagne, Paul R. ''The Zombies That Ate Pittsburgh: the Films of George A. Romero '' (New York: Dodd, Mead 1987)
*Newman, Kim. ''Nightmare Movies: A Critical History of the Horror Film 1968–1988'' (1988)
*Harrison, John. ''Destiny Gardens, A Novel'' (Los Angeles: House Bean Boy 2013)
*Fischera, J. Blake. ''Scored to Death 2; More Conversations With Some of Horror's Greatest Composers (''Los Angeles: Silman-James Press 2020)
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harrison, John
American film producers
American film score composers
American television composers
American television directors
American television writers
American male television writers
Carnegie Mellon University College of Fine Arts alumni
Emerson College alumni
Living people
Artists from Pittsburgh
1948 births