Brian D. Johnson is a Canadian journalist and filmmaker, best known as an entertainment reporter and film critic for Maclean's.[1]
He first joined the magazine in 1985. In early 2014, Johnson announced his retirement as a full-time staff member of the magazine,[2] although he remains an occasional freelance contributor. He has also contributed to Rolling Stone and The Globe and Mail, and has won three National Magazine Awards for his writing.[3]
He was a founding member of the Toronto Film Critics Association, and served as the organization's president from 2009 to 2017.[4]
Johnson has also published the poetry book Marzipan Lies (1974), the novel Volcano Days (1994)[1] and the non-fiction book Brave Films, Wild Nights: 25 Years of Festival Fever (2000), a history of the Toronto International Film Festival.[5]
As a filmmaker, he directed the short films Tell Me Everything (2006)[6] and Yesno (2010).[7] His first feature film as a documentarian, Al Purdy Was Here, debuted at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival,[8] where it finished third in the voting for the Grolsch People's Choice Documentary Award.[9]
His documentary film The Colour of Ink premiered at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival.[10]
He is married to writer and broadcaster Marni Jackson.[5]
References
[edit]- ^ a b "Return of the '70s: not very far out". Montreal Gazette, November 19, 1994.
- ^ "Writing the stars: 28 years covering showbiz". Maclean's, January 25, 2014.
- ^ "Saturday Night wins 10 magazine awards". The Globe and Mail, May 18, 1984.
- ^ "T.O. FilmCritics Association calls for release of filmmakers; Jafar Panahi has been detained nearly two weeks". National Post, March 16, 2010.
- ^ a b "Boogie nights: For all its star worship, Brian Johnson's take on the Toronto International Film Festival's 25-year run amounts to two decent books in one." Toronto Star, September 3, 2000.
- ^ "Shorts on show". Toronto Star, September 8, 2006.
- ^ "Burton Cummings attacked!: . . . and other inspired TIFF shorts". Toronto Star, September 2, 2010.
- ^ "Patricia Rozema survival tale, Philippe Falardeau satire highlight TIFF's Canadian lineup". eTalk, August 5, 2015.
- ^ "Toronto International Film Festival Announces 2015 Award Winners" (PDF) (Press release). TIFF. 2015-09-20. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2015-09-21.
- ^ Pat Mullen, "TIFF Announces Canadian Films for 2022 Festival". That Shelf, August 10, 2022.