John Pozer is a Canadian film director, screenwriter, producer and editor. He has had two independent films chosen for the Cannes International Film Festival and has directed a number of live action and animated television episodes.

Biography

Pozer began his career in the 1960s as a stage actor, touring in musical theatre productions such as ''Camelot'', ''The King and I'', ''The Sound of Music'', and starring in the title roles of ''Oliver'' and ''Peter Pan''. He went on to star as Jim Hawkins in ''Treasure Island'', which opened the

National Arts Centre The National Arts Centre (NAC) () is a Arts centre, performing arts organization in Ottawa, Ontario, along the Rideau Canal. It is based in the eponymous National Arts Centre (building), National Arts Centre building. History The NAC was one ...

in Ottawa. In 1970, Pozer was presented with the E.V. Young Memorial Award for Most Promising Actor. Born in

Kamloops Kamloops ( ) is a city in south-central British Columbia, Canada, at the confluence of the North Thompson River, North and South Thompson Rivers, which join to become the Thompson River in Kamloops, and east of Kamloops Lake. The city is the ad ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

, Pozer studied filmmaking and creative writing at the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...

and graduated with a Masters of Fine Arts in Cinema from

Concordia University Concordia University () is a Public university, public English-language research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1974 following the merger of Loyola College (Montreal), Loyola College and Sir George Williams Universit ...

in Montreal. He received the UBC Film Society Award for his series of documentaries which profiled university life in the 1980s. In 2010, Pozer became Senior Directing Instructor for the

Vancouver Film School Vancouver Film School (VFS) is a private entertainment arts school located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Founded in 1987, it has achieved international recognition. The Vancouver Film School has campus locations around Downtown Vancouve ...

and was acknowledged in 2012 for 'excellence in teaching' for his contribution to the film production program. Pozer authored his first book, 21st Century Film Student PRIMER - Everything You Need to Know and Do Before You Go to Film School, which was released in 2019.

Filmography

His first feature, '' The Grocer's Wife'', which he wrote, directed, and produced, garnered international awards at festivals around the world. In 1992, it was selected to open the Critic's Week at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...

, and went on to win the critics' award, the Prix Georges Sadoul, for Best First Film. In Canada, Pozer was awarded the inaugural

Claude Jutra Award The John Dunning Best First Feature Award is a special Canadian film award, presented by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to the year's best feature film by a first-time film director. Under the earlier names Claude Jutra Award and Ca ...

for Best Direction of a First Feature Film at the 1993

Genie Awards The Genie Awards were given out annually by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to recognize the best of Canadian cinema from 1980–2012. They succeeded the Canadian Film Awards (1949–1978), known as the "Etrog Awards" for sculpt ...

.Claude Jutra Award
entry at

The Canadian Encyclopedia ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' (TCE; ) is the national encyclopedia of Canada, published online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada, with financial support by the federal Department of Canadian Heritage and Society of Com ...

. He next directed the dark comedy ''

The Michelle Apartments ''The Michelle Apartments'' is a 1995 Canadian black comedy film directed by John Pozer and written by Ross Weber. The film stars Henry Czerny as Alex Hartwell, a government auditor sent to the small town of Walton to review the books of a chemic ...

'', which premiered at the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organi ...

and was theatrically distributed by

Cineplex Odeon Cineplex Odeon is a theatre brand owned by Cineplex Entertainment in Canada, after acquiring the Cineplex Odeon Corporation in 1998. As of 2023, there are 61 Cineplex Odeon locations in Canada. The former corporation was one of North America's ...

. Pozer also executive produced and edited the independent feature ''

Kissed ''Kissed'' is a 1996 Canadian romantic/erotic drama film directed and co-written by Lynne Stopkewich, based on Barbara Gowdy's short story "We So Seldom Look on Love". It premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 7, 1996 ...

'', which was selected for the

Director's Fortnight The Directors' Fortnight (, formerly ) is an independent section held in parallel to the Cannes Film Festival. It was started in 1969 by the French Directors Guild after the events of May 1968 resulted in cancellation of the Cannes festival as a ...

at Cannes in 1997. The film earned eight Genie nominations and went on to critical and box-office success. He has directed episodic television such as

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

's ''

So Weird ''So Weird'' is a television series that aired on Disney Channel as a mid-season replacement from January 18, 1999, to September 28, 2001. The series was shot in Vancouver, British Columbia. In the first two seasons, the series centered on the ...

'', CTV's ''

Cold Squad ''Cold Squad'' is a Canadian police procedural television series that premiered on CTV on January 23, 1998, at 10 p.m., and ran for seven seasons. Led by Sergeant Ali McCormick ( Julie Stewart), a team of homicide detectives from the Vancouver P ...

'',

CBC CBC may refer to: Media * Cadena Baja California or Grupo Cadena, a radio and television broadcaster in Mexico * Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada's radio and television public broadcaster ** CBC Television ** CBC Radio One ** CBC Music ** ...

's '' These Arms of Mine'',

Global Global may refer to: General *Globe, a spherical model of celestial bodies *Earth, the third planet from the Sun Entertainment * ''Global'' (Paul van Dyk album), 2003 * ''Global'' (Bunji Garlin album), 2007 * ''Global'' (Humanoid album), 198 ...

’s ''

Blackfly Blackfly, black-fly, or black fly may refer to: *Black fly, a fly of the family Simuliidae * ''Blackfly'' (TV series), a 2001 Canadian comedy series * ''Blackfly'' (film), a 1991 animated short based on the Wade Hemsworth song *Black bean aphid ('' ...

'',

Fox Family Fox Family or Fox family may refer to: Genealogy * Fox family (English aristocracy), a noble family * Robin Fox family, an extended family of actors * Fox sisters, three 19th century sisters involved in the creation of the religious movement Spirit ...

's animated ''

Beast Wars Beast most often refers to: * Animal, a multicellular, eukaryotic organism in the biological kingdom Animalia * The Beast (Revelation), one of three beasts described in the Book of Revelation * Monster, a type of creature found in fiction, folk ...

'', and

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

's ''

2ge+her General Electric Company (GE) was an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, incorporated in the state of New York and headquartered in Boston. Over the years, the company had multiple divisions, including aerospace, energy, ...

''. Pozer received a

Leo Award The Leo Awards are the awards program for the British Columbia film and television industry. Held each May or June in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, the Leo Awards were founded by the Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Foundation of British C ...

for Best Director in May 2002 for his work on the MTV comedy series '' Sausage Factory''. In 2015, Pozer took on the role of executive producer for the feature film, After Eden, which was selected for the New Directors Competition at the San Sebastian International Film Festival.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pozer, John Living people Best First Feature Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners Canadian film educators Film producers from British Columbia Canadian male screenwriters Canadian television directors Concordia University alumni Film directors from British Columbia People from Kamloops University of British Columbia alumni Academic staff of the Vancouver Film School 20th-century Canadian screenwriters Year of birth missing (living people) Screenwriters from British Columbia