John Harrison (director)

Early years

Harrison was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Emerson College in Boston with a BS in Theater Arts and is an MFA graduate of Carnegie Mellon University's School of Drama. For several years after that, he performed on the road with his band Homebrew before moving back to Pittsburgh to take a master's degree in film and television from Carnegie Mellon University.

At the same time, he joined blues guitarist Roy Buchanan, with whom he toured across the US and internationally for four years. He was also featured on several of Buchanan's albums, including That's What I'm Here For (1974), Live Stock (1975), and A Street Called Straight (1976).

Career

In 1973, Harrison and his friends, Dusty Nelson and Pasquale Buba, formed a film production company eventually named The Image Works to produce commercials and industrials in the Pittsburgh area. This partnership eventually led to the production of the film Effects (1980), which Harrison produced and performed in as the character Lacey Bickel. In 1974, Harrison began a long collaboration and friendship with filmmaker George A. Romero. Harrison performed as Sir Pelinore in Romero's Knightriders, then became his 1st Assistant Director for both Romero films Creepshow (1982) and Day of the Dead (1985).

Harrison also composed the scores for Creepshow and Day of the Dead (1985). He also played the "Screwdriver Zombie" in Romero's classic Dawn of the Dead (1978). The music that was composed for the score of Creepshow was also featured in the fake trailer for Thanksgiving in the film Grindhouse (2007), and the South Park episode "Tegridy Farms Halloween Special" (2019). Music from Harrison's Day of the Dead score was also featured in the premiere Stranger Things Season 3, "Suzie, Do You Copy" (2019).

After Creepshow, Harrison moved to Los Angeles to continue his writing and directing career. He wrote, directed and composed the music for multiple episodes of the Tales from the Darkside TV show. He was then tapped by producer Richard P. Rubinstein to direct Tales from the Darkside: The Movie (1990) for Paramount, which won the Gran Prix du Festival at Avoriaz, France (1991). Harrison's collaboration with Rubinstein culminated in the Emmy-winning TV miniseries, Frank Herbert's Dune (2000), which Harrison wrote and directed, and Frank Herbert's Children of Dune (2003), which Harrison wrote and executive produced.

In 2001, Harrison receives a co-song writing credit, for the Gorillaz's track "M1 A1", from the album Gorillaz, which samples music (along with dialogue), from the film Day of the Dead. Gorillaz used samples from the same film for another song, "Hip Albatross", a B-side on the international hit "19-2000".

In 2006, Harrison reunited with mentor Romero to co-produce Romero's film Diary of the Dead (2007). His action suspense thriller Blank Slate for producer Dean Devlin, which Harrison wrote and directed, aired as a twenty episode mini-series on TNT in the fall of 2008. In 2009, Harrison completed his adaptation of acclaimed horror novelist Clive Barker's Book of Blood, which Harrison co-wrote and directed.

His paranormal thriller miniseries Residue (2015), which he created and wrote, was released on Netflix in April 2015.

Harrison has written and directed episodes of Creepshow on Shudder.

He has also written the novels. Destiny Gardens which was published in 2013, Passing Through Veils, published in 2023 and Residue, Paramentals Rising which was published in 2025.

Filmography

Film

Television

Soundtracks

• Effects – LaLa Land Records (LLLCD1040), Los Angeles
• Creepshow – LaLa Land Records (LLLCD1007), Los Angeles
• Day of the Dead – Taurus Entertainment/Numenorean Music, Los Angeles
• Tales from the Darkside: The Movie – GNP Crescendo (GNPD 8021), Los Angeles
• Creepshow – Waxwork Records LP, New Orleans
• Day of the Dead – Waxwork Records LP, New Orleans
• Tales from the Darkside: The Movie – Waxwork Records LP, New Orleans

Awards and nominations

References

References

1. Wertheimer, Ron. (December 2, 2000). "TELEVISION REVIEW; For the Spice of Life, Literally". [[The New York Times]].
2. "John Harrison". [[Heinz College]].
3. Alexander, Chris. (August 9, 2017). "John Harrison on Effects and George A. Romero". [[comingsoon.net]].
4. (November 22, 2005). "EFFECTS (DVD)". [[Film Threat]].
5. Williams, Tony. (2015). "The Cinema of George A. Romero: Knight of the Living Dead". [[Columbia University Press]].
6. Szpirglas, Jeff. (October 1, 2019). "Interview: Getting Creeped Out With John Harrison". [[Rue Morgue (magazine).
7. Karr, Lee. (February 28, 2008). "Interview with John Harrison, Executive Producer of Diary of the Dead". Homepage of the Dead.
8. Miller, Liz Shannon. (April 1, 2015). "How to Sell a TV Show to Netflix". [[IndieWire]].