Mark Johnson

Although executive producers Jon Peters and Peter Guber grabbed an Oscar the night "Rain Man" (1988) won Best Picture honors and posed for a widely-circulated picture, the real winner of the statuette was the film's producer Mark Johnson, longtime collaborator of its director Barry Levinson. The pair met on the set of the Mel Brooks comedy "High Anxiety" (1977) where Levinson was the screenwriter and Johnson an assistant director, and their partnership began in earnest when Johnson executive produced Levinson's acclaimed directorial debut, "Diner" (1982). After that, he served as producer on all 10 of Levinson's movies through "Jimmy Hollywood" (1994), as well as co-executive producing the short-lived ABC comedy series "Harry" (1987). Although the self-effacing Johnson does not attribute any of the artistic achievement of these films (including "The Natural" 1984, "Tin Men" 1987, "Avalon" 1990, and "Bugsy" 1991) to his efforts, he clearly showed a sensitive and supportive talent for opening creative spaces for Levinson, his actors and crew.

Johnson and Levinson were all set to make "Donnie Brasco" (1997) with Al Pacino and Tom Cruise when "GoodFellas" (1990) came out and "no one wanted to compete with Martin Scorsese," so they shelved the movie indefinitely, eventually casting Johnny Depp opposite Pacino. Away from Levinson, Johnson produced Clint Eastwood's "A Perfect World" (1993) and Alfonso Cuaron's remake of "The Little Princess" (1995), the third film adapted from Frances Hodgson Burnett's novel "Sarah Crewe". Don Parisot's "Home Fries" (1998), starring Drew Barrymore, reteamed him with Levinson (and Lawrence Kasdan and Charles Newirth) as producers, and he executive produced Rand Ravich's "The Astronaut's Wife" (1999). Among the numerous projects Johnson has in various stages of development are the TV pilot "Falcone", based on the same material that was the basis for "Donnie Brasco", and a screen version of Nicholas Sparks' best-seller "The Notebook" (lensed 1999).

• Born:
  December 27, 1945 in Washington, DC, USA
• Job Titles:
  Producer, Assistant director, Production assistant

Family

• Brother: David Johnson.
• Daughter: Rebecca Johnson.
• Father: Emory Johnson. divorced from Johnson s mother in the early 1950s; died in the 70s
• Mother: Dorothy King.
• Son: Jack Johnson.

Significant Others

• Wife: Lezlie Johnson.

Milestones

• 1953 Moved to Spain with mother, brother and sister at age seven
• 1964 Moved back to the United States at age 18 to enroll at the University of Virginia
• 1974 Moved to New York City; worked as a production assistant on TV commercials; began in editing, later assumed responsibilities related to producing
• 1976 Studies with DGA program led to first feature film credit as production assistant on Paul Mazursky s Next Stop, Greenwich Village
• 1977 Worked as an assistant director on Mel Brooks High Anxiety ; first met Barry Levinson, one of the film s writers
• 1980 Served as executive in charge of production on William Friedkin s controversial Cruising , starring Al Pacino
• 1982 First collaboration with director/screenwriter Levinson; executive produced Diner
• 1983 Produced Diner , a half-hour TV adaptation for CBS of the successful feature film; unsold pilot based on the successful film
• 1987 Co-executive produced (with Levinson and star Alan Arkin) short-lived ABC comedy series, Harry
• 1988 With Levinson, produced the Oscar-winning Best Picture Rain Man
• 1991 First film produced by Baltimore Pictures not directed by Levinson, Steven Soderbergh s Kafka
• 1991 Served as a producer (along with Levinson and star Warren Beatty) on the Academy Award nominated Best Picture Bugsy
• 1993 Reteamed with Clint Eastwood (who directed and co-starred) as producer of A Perfect World
• 1995 Produced Alfonso Cuaron s remake of The Little Princess
• 1996 Signed two-year production deal with DreamWorks
• 1997 Reunited with Levinson as producer on Donnie Brasco , helmed by Mike Newell and starring Pacino and Johnny Depp
• 1998 One of four producers (along with Levinson, Lawrence Kasdan and Charles Newirth) for Don Parisot s Home Fries , starring Drew Barrymore
• 1999 Executive produced The Astronaut s Wife , directed by Rand Ravich; project reuinted him with star Johnny Depp
• Formed Baltimore Pictures production company with Barry Levinson
• Worked as an extra and in bit roles as a child in several American and British films shot on location in Spain
• Worked his way up from second assistant director to first assistant director on such films as Movie Movie (1978), The Brink s Job (1978) and Escape from Alcatraz (1979); the latter marked first collaboration with Clint Eastwood
• Worked on several projects for 20th Century-Fox in the early 1990s