John Longenecker (born 1947) is an American film producer,

Directors Guild of America The Directors Guild of America (DGA) is an entertainment guild that represents the interests of Film director, film and Television director, television directors in the United States motion picture industry and abroad. Founded as the Screen Dir ...

member, screenwriter and

cinematographer The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the recording of a film, television production, music video or other live-action piece. The cinematographer is the chief of the camera ...

who produced the Academy Award-winning live-action short film ''

The Resurrection of Broncho Billy ''The Resurrection of Broncho Billy'' is a 1970 live action short Western film directed by James R. Rokos and starring Johnny Crawford. It won an Oscar for Best Short Subject. It was one of John Carpenter's first works; he acted as editor, ...

'' (1970).

Biography

John Longenecker grew up in Southern California. His mother, actress

Ruth Hussey Ruth Carol Hussey (October 30, 1911 – April 19, 2005) was an American actress best known for her Academy Award-nominated role as photographer Elizabeth Imbrie in '' The Philadelphia Story''. Early life Hussey was born in Providence, Rho ...

(1911–2005), was

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People and fictional and mythical characters * Oscar (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters named Oscar, Óscar or Oskar * Oscar (footballer, born 1954), Brazilian footballer ...

-nominated for her portrayal of Liz Imbrie, the cynical magazine photographer in '' The Philadelphia Story'' (1940). His father, Bob Longenecker (1909–2002), worked as a producer at CBS Radio Network in Los Angeles and later established a motion picture and television talent agency.

Academy Award – live action short film

In 1967, Longenecker attended the UCLA Film School. In 1968 he enrolled in film production classes at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

– USC Cinema Department. He produced ''The Resurrection of Broncho Billy'' (1970) at USC Cinema. For his film crew Longnecker invited film directors

Nick Castle Nicholas Castle (born September 21, 1947 in Kingsport, Tennessee) is an American screenwriter, film director, and actor. He is known for playing Michael Myers (Halloween), Michael Myers in John Carpenter's horror film ''Halloween (1978 film), H ...

and

John Carpenter John Howard Carpenter (born January 16, 1948) is an American filmmaker, composer, and actor. Most commonly associated with horror film, horror, action film, action, and science fiction film, science fiction films of the 1970s and 1980s, he is ...

to work with him on the senior year project. The unusual spelling "Broncho" in the short's title was an homage to

Broncho Billy Anderson Gilbert M. "Broncho Billy" Anderson (born Maxwell Henry Aronson; March 21, 1880 – January 20, 1971) was an American actor, writer, film director, and film producer, who was the first star of the Western film genre. He was a founder and star ...

, considered filmdom's first cowboy star. Castle was the cinematographer for the short, Carpenter was the film editor and composed the music for the picture, and James Rokos directed the short film. All four of the filmmakers along with Trace Johnston made creative contributions to the story for the film. Produced on a $700 budget ($5,000 in 2013 dollars), ''The Resurrection of Broncho Billy'' received the 1970 Academy Award for best live action short film. At 23, Longenecker was the youngest producer in history to have a film win an Oscar.

Johnny Crawford John Ernest Crawford (March 26, 1946 – April 29, 2021) was an American actor and singer. He first performed before a national audience as a Mouseketeer. At age 12, Crawford rose to prominence playing Mark McCain in the series ''The Rifleman ...

and Kristin Nelson played the lead roles in the movie short, a 20-minute film about a young guy who lives in a big city in the modern day but fantasizes about living in the old west. Universal Studios theatrically released the film for two years in the United States and Canada. In 1971, Longenecker produced and hosted an hour-long program, ''Student Film Festival: Take One'', which was broadcast on

KTLA KTLA (channel 5) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast flagship station of The CW. It is the largest directly owned property of the network's majority owner, Nexstar Media Group, and is ...

and featured screenings of ten short films chosen from Universal Studios' Student Film Library, including a portion of ''The Resurrection of Broncho Billy''.

References

External links

*
BRONCHO BILLY - Academy Award - live-action short filmMaking Broncho Billy - a video clip
{{DEFAULTSORT:Longenecker, John 1947 births Living people Producers who won the Live Action Short Film Academy Award American film producers American male screenwriters UCLA Film School alumni USC School of Cinematic Arts alumni