With the release of “Brick” (2005) – a stylistic teen film-noir in a uniquely morphed genre – writer-director-editor Rian Johnson became a seemingly overnight, fresh voice in independent film. In reality, after putting in a good eight years in the Hollywood trenches, Johnson was living proof of the old adage that in Hollywood, it takes a decade to become an overnight success.
Born Dec. 17, 1973 in Silver Spring, MD, Johnson moved from Colorado to San Clemente right after 6th grade. Like so many future directors, Johnson began making short films with Super 8 mm camera when he was only in seventh grade. What differentiated Johnson from others, however, was the sheer quantity of amateur films he produced. By his own reckoning, he made approximately 90 by the time he finished high school. By then, the family had moved to sunny San Clemente, CA – a beachside community in Orange County best known for its surfing and as the former home of President Richard Nixon.
A self-proclaimed “AV geek” in high school, Johnson actually commuted 20 minutes to a neighboring school 3 times a week, just so he could use their audio-visual equipment. Following his graduation from San Clemente High School in 1992, Johnson applied to, and was rejected (due to poor grades) by USC’s renowned School of Cinema-Television. He entered USC as a general studies student and applied to transfer into the film school, receiving five more rejections in the process. Asserting his disapproval with the school’s admissions procedures, he wrote a passionate essay decrying their policies as part of his final application for transfer his following sophomore year. Mostly out of admiration for his undeniable talent, possibly a little out of fear – USC admitted the go-getter.
While at USC film school, Johnson completed the horror comedy short, “Evil Demon Golfball From Hell!!!” (1996). While the film was relatively typical of a film school project made on virtually no budget, it still proved a significant project in Johnson’s development, as he not only wrote and directed the short, he also shared editing duties as well. More importantly, Johnson collaborated on the short with DP Steve Yedlin, who would later serve as cinematographer on “Brick.”
During film school, Johnson had grown particularly fond of the novels of Dashiell Hammett, on whose books many of the most famous film noirs had been based. The young filmmaker dreamed of updating the genre for contemporary audiences, many of whom knew nothing of the beauty of post-war film noir. Thus, shortly after his 1996 graduation from USC, he penned the screenplay for “Brick,” placing his modern detective tale in a high school setting and creating his own stylized slang for his teen characters to bandy about. Despite positive reactions to his writing, the subject matter scared off Hollywood producers, leaving Johnson no closer to making his dream film.
While spending the next six years trying to raise the money to make this film, Johnson continued working in film-related jobs. He produced promo spots for the Disney Channel and made videos for a deaf children’s preschool. He was also an editor on “May” (2002), a low budget horror film. Finally, Johnson was able to raise his half-million dollar budget, primarily from friends and family members and was ready to shoot.
The film, starring former “3rd Rock From the Sun” star, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Lukas Haas, was shot entirely in and around San Clemente, Johnson’s former hometown. After its debut at the Sundance Film Festival in 2005, “Brick” won Johnson a Special Jury Prize for Originality of Vision. Focus Features snapped up distribution rights and released the film theatrically the following year. It was also nominated for the John Cassavetes Award (best film made for less than $500,000) at the 2006 Independent Spirit Awards. The Film’s release and subsequent critical acclaim was a vindication for Johnson and opened some doors for him to potentially make his next film on a more substantial budget. But he still intended to remain a largely independent filmmaker in the vein of his idols, the Coen Brothers, whom he admitted were major influences on his budding film career.