John Brice

John was born in Los Angeles, California, and grew up in a family ensconced in art and the American entertainment industry, including movies and television, going back to Vaudeville and turn-of-the-century Broadway.  

John received his BA and MFA from California Institute of the Arts, studying with British director Alexander Mackendrick ('Man in the White Suite', 'The Lady Killers', 'Sweet Smell of Success', etc), Australian experimental film director Don Levy (nominated for BAFT Film Award and Cannes' Golden Palm Award for Opus), two-time Academy Award winning American documentary film director/producer Terry Sanders, and Hungarian Animator Jules Engle (Academy Award Nominee and winner of the Venice Film Festival's Plate 'Lion of San Marco'). As part of his continuing education, John studied as a directing student for two years with Milton Katselas, who is a protégé of Elia Kazan and Joshua Logan.  Under Mr Katselas' direction, Blythe Danner won a Tony Award, Eileen Hackert an Academy Award and Betty Davis an Emmy Award.

Currently, John is living in London with his English family. He is teaching screenwriting and story structure at Southampton Solent University, writing a book on story structure and developing television and movie projects with his Los Angeles producing partner, who is a former Vice-President of Movies and Mini-Series at NBC television. 

John's particular interest in screenwriting is in developing "deep" characters, especially in the application of the Enneagram to character construction, and in experimenting with the non-traditional and creative use of the story building blocks. Teaching and working with students on their personal and creative journeys has become a rewarding addition to his other professional endeavours.

Upon graduation from university, John worked as an assistant film editor to Anne V Coats ('Lawrence of Arabia' etc.) on 'Listen to Me'; Margaret Booth (Academy Award for 'Mutiny on the Bounty', '1935', 'The Way We Were', etc) on 'Murder By Death'; Sidney Levin ('Nashville' etc) on 'The Cheap Detective' and 'Casey's Shadow'. He then became a producer/director with his two-hour television, film "clip" special programme, 'Sixty Years of Seduction', for ABC television, which surveyed American romantic movies and movies stars. 

John later moved into writing/producing for film and television. His mini-series for NBC Television, 'LBJ: The Early Years', was a ratings and critical success. John's productions have won Emmy and Peabody awards. He has also worked as a story consultant to a major feature film company.