Becky Johnston

American screenwriter

Becky Johnston (born in South Haven, Michigan) is an American screenwriter and No Wave filmmaker.

Early life

Johnston attended public school in South Haven, Michigan but graduated from the Interlochen Center for the Arts in Interlochen, Michigan in 1973.

Film

Johnston was a No Wave Cinema (aka New Cinema) co-founder as part of Collaborative Projects in New York City in the late-1970s.^[1] Her most noted No Wave film from the post-punk era is her 49 minute Super 8 film Sleepless Nights (1979), written by Johnston and Gary Indiana, starring René Ricard, John Lurie, Eric Mitchell and Maripol. Music was by John Lurie and Evan Lurie. In 2018 it was screened at MoMA where Johnston described her film as an East Village reinvention of the Otto Preminger movie Laura that plays fast and loose with the film noir detective genre.^[2]

She appeared on film in the Jean-Michel Basquiat documentary Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child (2010), directed by Tamra Davis.^[3]

Screenwriting

In the mid-1980s Johnston wrote the screenplays for Under the Cherry Moon, and in the 90s The Prince of Tides (with Pat Conroy),^[4] Seven Years in Tibet,^[5] Arthur Newman, and as yet unfilmed sequel to Salt.^[6] She lived in the Los Altos Apartments in Los Angeles while working on Under the Cherry Moon and The Prince of Tides.^[7] In 2021 she co-wrote the screenplay for the movie House of Gucci.

Awards and nominations

Johnston received Best Adapted Screenplay nominations at the Academy Awards and the WGA Awards for The Prince of Tides, having previously received a Razzie nomination for Worst Screenplay for Under the Cherry Moon.

References

^ [1]IN AND AROUND COLLABORATIVE PROJECTS INC.
^ [2] Sleepless Nights 1979 Directed by Becky Johnston at MoMA
^ Maneker, Marion (December 8, 2009). "Who Owns Basquiat's Legend?". Art Market Monitor.
^ O'Neill, Molly (December 22, 1991). "FILM; Pat Conroy's Tale: Of Time and 'Tides'". New York Times.
^ Travers, Peter (October 8, 1997). "Seven Years in Tibet (Review)". Rolling Stone.
^ Kit, Borys (10 December 2012). "Screenwriter for Arthur Newman (film) 2012". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
^ McKenna, Kristine (Apr 28, 2005). "Someone Left the Cake Out in the Rain". LA Weekly.