John Michael Fasano (August 24, 1961 – July 19, 2014) was an American screenwriter, film producer and director.[1][2]

John Fasano
Born(1961-08-24)August 24, 1961
DiedJuly 19, 2014(2014-07-19) (aged 52)
Other namesJohn M. Fasano
Occupation(s)Screenwriter, film producer, film director
Years active1984–2014
Spouse
Edie King
(m. 2013)
Children2, including Lucia Fasano

In the length of his career, Fasano directed six films, produced twenty more, and wrote screenplays for at least eighteen others. Fasano spent much of his career working as a script doctor, working on numerous well-known blockbuster films including Tombstone, Die Hard with a Vengeance, and Judge Dredd. With novelist Roni Keller, he also wrote the book Evie and the Golem, published in 2011.[3] A weapons expert,[4] Fasano was a frequent writing contributor to such authoritative magazines as Combat Tactics,[4] and American Handgunner.[5][6] Fasano was also a prolific Halloween mask designer.[7]

Career

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After graduating SUNY College at Purchase in 1984, Fasano used his artistic talents art directing for magazines such as Muscle and Beauty, Race Car & Driver, Wrestling Power and OUI.[8] He also found work painting the one sheet posters for Grindhouse films such as Tenement (Slaughter in the South Bronx)[9] for legendary exploitation film producers Roberta Findlay and Walter Sear.[10] Fasano rewrote and acted in their film Blood Sisters.[8] His work impressed All in the Sex Family writer-producer-director Jack Bravman,[8] who hired Fasano to write Zombie Nightmare on which Fasano was also an actor and reportedly uncredited co-director,[11][12] starring Adam West and a young Tia Carrere.

A self-proclaimed metalhead, Fasano drew artwork for concert promotion material and heavy metal magazines, as well as directing the heavy metal-themed cult horror films Rock 'n' Roll Nightmare and Black Roses, the former of which starred Canadian singer Jon Mikl Thor.[13] Fasano relocated to Los Angeles in 1989, where he sold his first spec script, Tailgunner, to Morgan Creek.[8] He then co-wrote the screenplay for Another 48 Hrs. for director Walter Hill, which generated a series of script-writing offers from major studios.[8] Fasano became a script doctor contracted to Cinergi Pictures, making major contributions to the screenplays for numerous films produced by the company, including Die Hard with a Vengeance, Tombstone, Judge Dredd, and Color of Night. Fasano was among the many writers attached to Alien 3 during its long development. While Vincent Ward was still attached to the project, Fasano expanded the writer-director's story outline into a full screenplay that was ultimately unused. In 1997, he was nominated for a WGA Award for writing The Hunchback, a television adaptation of Victor Hugo's novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame which stylistically hearkened back to the previous 1923 adaptation. He also wrote several episodes of the television series F/X, the made-for-TV film The Hunley, and was a one-off guest writer on Profiler.

Fasano co-wrote Universal Soldier: The Return, a sequel to the original 1992 cult action film. In 2001, Fasano penned the screenplay to Megiddo: The Omega Code 2, a religious thriller film starring Michael York, and produced by the Trinity Broadcasting Network. Two years later, he returned to the horror genre as one of the writers and producers of Darkness Falls, an early outing for director Jonathan Liebesman.

Fasano wrote several television films, including Saving Jessica Lynch and Stone Cold. In 2009, he created Woke Up Dead, a horror comedy web series starring Jon Heder and Wayne Knight. His final outing as director was Kamen Rider: Dragon Knight, a tokusatsu TV series aired on The CW.

Filmography

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Year Title Director Writer Producer
1985 Shauna: Every Man's Fantasy No Yes No
1987 Rock 'n' Roll Nightmare Yes Yes No
Zombie Nightmare Uncredited Yes No
1988 Black Roses Yes No Yes
1989 The Jitters Yes No Yes
1990 Another 48 Hrs. No Yes No
1992 Rapid Fire No No executive
1993 Tombstone No No associate
1997 The Hunchback No Yes co-producer
1999 Mean Streak No Yes No
The Hunley No Yes No
Universal Soldier: The Return No Yes No
The Visit No Yes No
According to Occam's Razor No No co-producer
2001 Megiddo: The Omega Code 2 No Yes No
2002 Ginostra No No co-producer
2003 Darkness Falls No Yes Yes
Saving Jessica Lynch No Yes No
Romp No No executive
2005 Cool Money No No executive
Jesse Stone: Stone Cold No Yes No
Murder at the Presidio Yes No Yes
Intercessor: Another Rock 'N' Roll Nightmare No No executive
Ladies Night No No executive
2006 Firestorm: Last Stand at Yellowstone No Yes No
The Legend of Butch & Sundance Yes No co-executive
Rapid Fire No No executive
2007 A Family Lost Yes No executive
Holiday Switch No No executive
2010 Cargo: Les Hommes Perdus No No consulting
2011 Sniper: Reloaded No Yes No
2012 The Eleventh Victim No Yes No
The Lost Episode No No executive
2014 Sniper: Legacy No Yes No

Acting credits

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Year Film Role Notes
1987 Zombie Nightmare William Washington
Blood Sisters Larry
1988 Student Affairs Phillip/Moose
1995 Irving Big Orderly
2004 The Legend of Butch & Sundance Blacksmith
2012 Hannah's Law Marshal Deger

Television

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TV series

Year Title Writer Executive
producer
Creator Notes
1996-97 F/X: The Series Yes No No Wrote 2 episodes
2000 Profiler Yes No No Wrote 1 episode
2009 Woke Up Dead Yes Yes Yes Writer, Creator, Producer
Kamen Rider: Dragon Knight No No No Directed 10 episodes

Other credits

Year Title Role
1985 Tenement (Slaughter in the South Bronx) "Designed movie poster
1987 Rock 'n' Roll Nightmare creature design: child wolf creature
Blood Sisters Assistant Director
Zombie Nightmare Assistant Director
1997 Halloween...The Happy Haunting of America! Still Photographer
2009 Universal Soldier: Regeneration Special Costume Design (uncredited)
2011 Never Back Down 2: The Beatdown comic book art

Uncredited revisions

Death

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He died at his home in Los Angeles on July 19, 2014, of heart failure.[14] At the time of his passing, he was in the midst of developing a contemporary remake of Chariots of the Gods.[15][16]

References

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  1. ^ "Director for Feature Films and Television, John M. Fasano: Screenwriter, Director, Producer Home". Johnmfasano.com. Retrieved 2011-12-15.
  2. ^ "John Fasano Biography ((?)-)". Filmreference.com. Retrieved 2011-12-15.
  3. ^ "BARNES & NOBLE | Evie and the Golem by Roni Keller, Undie Press | Paperback". Barnesandnoble.com. 2011-07-19. Retrieved 2011-12-15.
  4. ^ a b "John Fasano". Tactical-Life.com. 2010-05-12. Archived from the original on 2011-08-24. Retrieved 2011-12-15.
  5. ^ "2009 Articles". American Handgunner. 2011-01-10. Archived from the original on 2012-04-25. Retrieved 2011-12-15.
  6. ^ "The Day The Earth Stood Still | American Handgunner". Find Articles. 2000-01-01. Archived from the original on 2006-05-03. Retrieved 2011-12-15.
  7. ^ "Fasano, John". Movieshive.com. Retrieved 2011-12-15.
  8. ^ a b c d e "John Fasano [Writer / Producer / Director]". constructinghorror.com. Retrieved 2011-12-15.
  9. ^ "Tenement (Game of Survival) (Slaughter in the South Bronx)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2011-12-15.
  10. ^ "Tenement (1985) - Horror Movies and Science Fiction Movies Database - Brimstone Pit - horrormovies.org - brimstone.org - 3111". horrormovies.org. Retrieved 2011-12-15.
  11. ^ "Zombie Nightmare". Dvddrive-in.com. Retrieved 2011-12-15.
  12. ^ "Canuxploitation Review: Zombie Nightmare". Canuxploitation.com. Retrieved 2011-12-15.
  13. ^ "The-Jitters - Cast, Crew, Director and Awards - NYTimes.com". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. 2010-11-01. Archived from the original on 2012-07-20. Retrieved 2011-12-15.
  14. ^ "Long Island filmmaker John Fasano, 52, dies". newsday.com. 2014-07-23. Retrieved 2015-07-30.
  15. ^ Chariots of the Gods by (2013) Archived 2012-04-25 at the Wayback Machine - Synopsis, Trailer, Photos, Poster, Reviews, Premiere, Latest News, Summary, Gallery, Images, Footage, Pictures, Pics, Plot, Argument, Buy, DV...
  16. ^ "Paradox Entertainment". Paradox Entertainment. 2011-08-19. Archived from the original on 2018-08-25. Retrieved 2011-12-15.
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