Steve Johnson (director)

Steve Johnson was born in Liverpool in England. At school, Johnson was a keen middle distance runner and set a Great Britain record for his age group in the 1,500 metre run. He took part in a student exchange programme which allowed him to study in Michigan in the United States. During his time here, he became a state champion and participated in many running events including the Athletic Congress national cross country meet at Purdue University and the Invitational Cross Country meet at Bullock Creek.[1][2]

Johnson's love for film first began after seeing Star Wars at the Futurist Theatre in Liverpool. In November 2005, Johnson established Futurist Online Ltd (later becoming Futurist Digital Ltd in 2013) in Glasgow, Scotland.[3] Over the years, Johnson developed his skills on the Red Digital Cinema Camera Company camera system and later became a freelance trainer for their REDucation courses and has taught in many cities across the globe including Berlin, London, Los Angeles, Moscow and Singapore. He has also held classes at Pinewood Studios and YouTube Space, London.[4][5]

In 2014, Futurist Digital teamed up with Production Attic and Quick Off The Mark Productions to film and produce three short children's films for a competition run by Vue Cinemas. The competition asked school children from Aultmore Park Primary School to draw a short storyboard for a film with the top three concepts being made into real short films and shown at their local cinema.[6]

The following year, Johnson served as a post production supervisor for the short film When The Tide Comes In which went on to receive a nomination for Best Composer at the 2015 British Academy Scotland New Talent Awards.[7] Following this, Johnson was invited by Chris Quick to be the cinematographer for the short puppet film Autumn Never Dies which was used as a campaign video to fund the film. In the same year he also became the 2nd unit cinematographer for the short film Fanatic opposite Alan C. McLaughlin.

In 2015, Johnson launched an online crowd funding campaign to raise money for what would become his directorial debut and his first feature film project. The Students of Springfield Street[8] follows twenty-four hours in the lives of six friends, examining interpersonal connections and the intricate weave of words, actions and emotions that unknowingly link and change the direction of their day. The crowd funding campaign for the film was successful and raise $6000 in just 4 weeks.[9]

The film was released on 26 June 2015 and was warmly received by critics both at home and abroad. Film review website Indyred wrote:

"The Students Of Springfield Street easily earns it's rating based on only two elements, clever writing and some damn fine acting. Mr. Johnson is a master of pretext, giving this movie a reason to "hit rewind" and see what you may have missed."[10]

On 23 October 2015, the film had its UK at the Aberdeen Film Festival.[11][12] The film proved to be a hit with the festival's jurors who awarded the film the Best Feature award. Speaking about his win to Creative Clyde, Johnson said:

"I am proud that our first full-length production has achieved ‘Best Picture’ recognition. I wanted a film that would spark some discussion over tone, style and the stereotypes surrounding Scottish movies. I wanted The Students of Springfield Street to bring a fresh look at young people and their lives in a very stylised way."[13]

Johnson is due to release his latest short film Day 29 in early 2016.

• Steve Johnson at IMDb
• Steve Johnson Official Website
• Futurist Digital Website