John A. Kuri
- Producer
- Writer
- Director
Second generation Hollywood filmmaker John Kuri is the son of 8-time Oscar® nominated and twice Oscar® winner Emile Kuri. John's pedigree is shaped by his beginning years at Walt Disney Studios and Disneyland in design and production of movies and television, and theme park operations, maintenance and design. John is an award winning producer, director, screenwriter, production designer, published author in historical and fiction, journalist, commercial pilot, and jazz guitarist.
John's IMDB has over 140-screen credits. He is co-creator of the Warner Brothers/ABC police drama, "Ohara," starring Pat Morita and Catherine Keener. Through his company he co-wrote, produced and directed 2nd unit for the MGM movie, "Captive Hearts." Following that he wrote "Determined to Live: An American Epic," published in "Frontier Times" magazine. He then wrote a screenplay adaptation that became a motion picture he produced (and directed 2nd unit) for Disney/ ABC under the title, "One More Mountain." He has written, directed and edited several documentary shorts and music videos. He was nominated for an Emmy® for NBC's movie of John Steinbeck's, "The Red Pony," starring Henry Fonda. He produced Ron Howard's "Skyward," starring Bette Davis, as well directed its flying sequences for which he also piloted the camera plane. "NY Times" film critic John J. O'Connor called John's aerial work "Swoopingly beautiful." Also, he flew wingtip formation with a WWII P-51 Mustang and Hawker Sea Fury as well photographed the Blue Angels for the TV series "Airwolf." "Conagher," a film John produced with its star Sam Elliot, (debuting as TNT's highest-rated two-hour drama) was awarded the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum Bronze Wrangler.
John's documentary, "My Dad: His Remarkable Life" won Best International Film at the 2023 edition of the Lebanese Independent Film Festival in Beirut, where it had its world premiere. For the NARAS 50th Anniversary Grammy® celebration John directed and edited documentary shorts presenting the role of music for the Civil Rights Movement and Protest Movement, and a third short on the Birth of Rock & Roll. He directed the pilot for a music performance series titled "Stay Tuned," hosted by Peter Coyote. John produced, wrote, directed, edited, and operated one of the principal cameras during the production of concerts including the Lincoln Center North American Premiere of "Mongolia Concert" and Central Park Summer Concert's "Sudan Music and Dance Festival." A devotee of jazz guitar, John plays in Los Angeles with his jazz sextet, Elixir & Friends and was a member of the Steven Boyd Quintet.
John's Disney Studio experience includes his apprenticeship in art direction and encompassed work in areas of the company ranging from television/ motion picture production to theme park design and operations. Following the Disney years John gained experience with many studios on a variety of movies and television productions. He is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, nominated to the Board of Governors in June of 2022. A member of Writers Guild of America, the Directors Guild of America, and the Art Directors Guild, John has production experience in many U.S. states including Hawaii, in Canada's Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, and Montreal, as well as Ireland, England, Panama, Abu Dhabi in the UAE and Japan.
In addition to his screenplays, eleven of John's works have been published. His historical novel, "Cheyenne Rising Sun," arrived in bookstores in September of 2004 and rose to #1 on bestseller lists in several cities. In 2018 it was selected for inclusion in the archives of the American Philosophical Society, the first learned society in the U.S. and was founded by Benjamin Franklin. John's third novel, "Takin' It Back," previewed in June 2005 at Book Expo America in NYC and its hardcover edition was released in September of that year. Shaquille O'Neal, Bill Walton, NYPD Commissioner William J Bratton, and the NBA endorsed the book. A CBS one-hour special "Pride, Passion, and Power" introduced John and promoted the novel. His fourth book, "ROD," with the foreword by legendary sportscaster Keith Jackson, released June 2008 at Book Expo America.
In 2008 John was asked by Dr. Roy Godson, president of the Washington based NGO, National Strategy Information Center, to join its Culture of Lawfulness Project as a Senior Fellow. Sponsored by the US Dept. of State and Georgetown University's Center for Democracy and Civil Society, the NSIC conferences took John to Italy, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Bahrain, Jordan, Lebanon, Mexico, Panama and Colombia for challenging interactions and mentoring with government officials, journalists, television executives, producers, presenters, and writers.
With interest in the interactive video game space John designed, wrote and directed a multi-media CD-ROM science fiction game, "Dreggs" for Fathom Productions and Good Times Video during the mid '90s. John has guest lectured at UCLA, UCI, and Saddleback College. He moderated "Interactive Writing" for Media World, was a panelist for "Digital Dreams" at the Mill Valley Film Festival, and was a panelist on the subjects of "Feature Film Distribution" and "Screenwriting" for the Newport Beach Film Festival. His documentary "The Big T: Testosterone" was an official selection of the 2018 Directors Circle of Shorts International Film Festival. John participated in the Red Bull High Performance "Hacking Creativity" project, an exploration of human potential studying what creativity is, means, if it can be learned, and how to apply such knowledge.
John's IMDB has over 140-screen credits. He is co-creator of the Warner Brothers/ABC police drama, "Ohara," starring Pat Morita and Catherine Keener. Through his company he co-wrote, produced and directed 2nd unit for the MGM movie, "Captive Hearts." Following that he wrote "Determined to Live: An American Epic," published in "Frontier Times" magazine. He then wrote a screenplay adaptation that became a motion picture he produced (and directed 2nd unit) for Disney/ ABC under the title, "One More Mountain." He has written, directed and edited several documentary shorts and music videos. He was nominated for an Emmy® for NBC's movie of John Steinbeck's, "The Red Pony," starring Henry Fonda. He produced Ron Howard's "Skyward," starring Bette Davis, as well directed its flying sequences for which he also piloted the camera plane. "NY Times" film critic John J. O'Connor called John's aerial work "Swoopingly beautiful." Also, he flew wingtip formation with a WWII P-51 Mustang and Hawker Sea Fury as well photographed the Blue Angels for the TV series "Airwolf." "Conagher," a film John produced with its star Sam Elliot, (debuting as TNT's highest-rated two-hour drama) was awarded the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum Bronze Wrangler.
John's documentary, "My Dad: His Remarkable Life" won Best International Film at the 2023 edition of the Lebanese Independent Film Festival in Beirut, where it had its world premiere. For the NARAS 50th Anniversary Grammy® celebration John directed and edited documentary shorts presenting the role of music for the Civil Rights Movement and Protest Movement, and a third short on the Birth of Rock & Roll. He directed the pilot for a music performance series titled "Stay Tuned," hosted by Peter Coyote. John produced, wrote, directed, edited, and operated one of the principal cameras during the production of concerts including the Lincoln Center North American Premiere of "Mongolia Concert" and Central Park Summer Concert's "Sudan Music and Dance Festival." A devotee of jazz guitar, John plays in Los Angeles with his jazz sextet, Elixir & Friends and was a member of the Steven Boyd Quintet.
John's Disney Studio experience includes his apprenticeship in art direction and encompassed work in areas of the company ranging from television/ motion picture production to theme park design and operations. Following the Disney years John gained experience with many studios on a variety of movies and television productions. He is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, nominated to the Board of Governors in June of 2022. A member of Writers Guild of America, the Directors Guild of America, and the Art Directors Guild, John has production experience in many U.S. states including Hawaii, in Canada's Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, and Montreal, as well as Ireland, England, Panama, Abu Dhabi in the UAE and Japan.
In addition to his screenplays, eleven of John's works have been published. His historical novel, "Cheyenne Rising Sun," arrived in bookstores in September of 2004 and rose to #1 on bestseller lists in several cities. In 2018 it was selected for inclusion in the archives of the American Philosophical Society, the first learned society in the U.S. and was founded by Benjamin Franklin. John's third novel, "Takin' It Back," previewed in June 2005 at Book Expo America in NYC and its hardcover edition was released in September of that year. Shaquille O'Neal, Bill Walton, NYPD Commissioner William J Bratton, and the NBA endorsed the book. A CBS one-hour special "Pride, Passion, and Power" introduced John and promoted the novel. His fourth book, "ROD," with the foreword by legendary sportscaster Keith Jackson, released June 2008 at Book Expo America.
In 2008 John was asked by Dr. Roy Godson, president of the Washington based NGO, National Strategy Information Center, to join its Culture of Lawfulness Project as a Senior Fellow. Sponsored by the US Dept. of State and Georgetown University's Center for Democracy and Civil Society, the NSIC conferences took John to Italy, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Bahrain, Jordan, Lebanon, Mexico, Panama and Colombia for challenging interactions and mentoring with government officials, journalists, television executives, producers, presenters, and writers.
With interest in the interactive video game space John designed, wrote and directed a multi-media CD-ROM science fiction game, "Dreggs" for Fathom Productions and Good Times Video during the mid '90s. John has guest lectured at UCLA, UCI, and Saddleback College. He moderated "Interactive Writing" for Media World, was a panelist for "Digital Dreams" at the Mill Valley Film Festival, and was a panelist on the subjects of "Feature Film Distribution" and "Screenwriting" for the Newport Beach Film Festival. His documentary "The Big T: Testosterone" was an official selection of the 2018 Directors Circle of Shorts International Film Festival. John participated in the Red Bull High Performance "Hacking Creativity" project, an exploration of human potential studying what creativity is, means, if it can be learned, and how to apply such knowledge.