James M Johnston, from Fort Worth, Texas, is many things – Director, Producer, Writer, Husband, and even shared business owner of two successful Vegan restaurants, with his wife Amy McNutt. Johnston is part of the filmmaking collective known as ‘Sailor Bear’, where he produced the films ‘Ain’t Them Bodies Saints’ and ‘Pioneer’.
Just one of the many products of his numerous ventures include the fantastic short film ‘Melville’ – a fifteen minute short drama, centring around a man recently diagnosed with lung cancer (although it is not explicitly said the diagnosis was lung cancer, it is suggested at various points throughout the film). His diagnosis forces him to confront his inability to express his thoughts, and it’s through this that he attempts to come to terms with the outcome of his future.
‘Melville’ was written and directed by Johnston, and has so far won the Audience Award for Best Short Film at Dallas International Film Festival, and featured at both Maryland Film Festival and SXSW. There are even talks about the potential for ‘Melville’ to be adapted into a television show.
Previous works of his include a 12 minute anti-fracking film called ‘Knife’, made possible through a grant from Rooftop Films. Johnston states in interviews that he was drawn to the subject by the prevalence of the gas drilling and fracking industry in Fort worth. The film tells a story through various 16mm images, of a man struggling to understand why his life, and everything he knew, is being taken away from him.
Thematically ‘Knife’ and ‘Melville’ have some similarities, but the style is very different. Johnston has instead opted to tell the protagonists story in KNIFE through non-linear, zero dialogue footage.
He is currently in the process of opening Fort Worth’s (and quite possibly the worlds) first ever all-vegan art house cinema, called the Citizen Theatre. He’s also been busy preparing the pilot treatment for the TV series of ‘Melville’, and will be pitching it to networks soon. Hopefully we’ll get to see this on our screens in the not-too-distant future!
If you know of anyone whose work you believe needs a larger audience, or you’re a director, actor or producer looking to showcase your work, who would like to be considered for December’s Artist of the Month Post, please email contact@quandaryproductions.com
