Christian Johnston

Christian Johnston is an American writer, producer, and director known for his work in feature documentaries, documentary television, and independent film.[1][2][3]

Early Life and Education

Christian Johnston was born in Colorado, United States. He developed an early interest in film making and won his first film festival award at age 17, an achievement that helped launch his career and later influenced his decision to study film at the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts.[4]

Career

Television and Early Work

Johnston has worked extensively in documentary television, writing and producing content that took him around the world. During this period he worked with Academy Award–winning filmmaker Brett Morgan and Anonymous Content to create the MTV documentary series project True Life: Trial By Fire.[5]

Documentaries and Feature Films

Johnston's first hybrid scripted film, September Tapes, shot on location in Afghanistan in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks and premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, later being distributed in more than 28 countries and screened at over 25 film festivals worldwide.[6] Chicago Tribune called it the riskiest production in the history of movies.[7]

Johnston's first hybrid scripted film “September Tapes”  is a faux-documentary feature film co-written and directed by Christian Johnston in his feature debut.[8][9] This led Johnston to be a regular contributor to CNN and to write across numerous print mediums on the subject of Afghanistan and Al-Qaeda.[10][11][12]

Johnston wrote, produced and directed Blackline The Beirut Contract one of the first western movies shot in Lebanon since the 1980”s. The production was caught up in the middle of real life political violence and uncertainty as covered by the NY Times.[13]

Along with the help of three Oscar Nominated producers, Johnston's highly anticipated feature doc “State of Control”.  Johnston went on to support monks, nuns as well as an elementary school for Tibetan refugees in Nepal and Dharamsala, India, in between production days on his feature documentary film. Also, at the same time in working with the State Department, Johnston and his documentary team secured political asylum for a Tibetan filmmaker and his family with one of the only successful Amnesty International campaigns that year.[14]

Johnston co-produced and co-directed the feature doc “This Cold Life" for Time Magazine that lensed in Svalbard Norway.[15]

Philanthropy and Innovation work

With a call to action from Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti, and Michael Rotondi, FAIA, (co-founder Morphosis and RoTo Architects, co-founded SCI-Arc) Johnston put the camera down when he was asked to work with the City of Los Angeles and other innovators and luminaries of design and architecture to help tackle homeless housing and the affordable housing crisis. Using hyper sustainability and pre-fab innovation to help design and build the affordable communities of the future. Johnston has been honored as the finalist in Fast Company's World Changing Ideas awards.[16]

Filmography

Films[17]

  • September Tapes (2004)
  • Almaz (2008)
  • Blackline; The Beirut Contract (2011)
  • State of Control (2014)
  • The Three Hikers (2015)
  • Rubicon; The Beginning (2016)
  • This Cold Life (2017)

Television and Other Work[18]

  • True Life: Trial By Fire
  • Winning Women [4]
  • Carpe Diem [19]

References

  1. ^ "Christian Johnston | Producer, Director, Writer". IMDb. Retrieved 2026-01-20.
  2. ^ Paul, Arielle (2019-06-21). "The beauty and affordability of modular living". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2026-01-20.
  3. ^ "Exclusive Interview With RUBICON Director Christian Johnston, Watch The First Episode Now". ComicBookMovie.com. 2014-03-13. Retrieved 2026-01-20.
  4. ^ a b "Christian Johnston, Documentary Filmmaker". floydsdvd.tripod.com. Retrieved 2026-01-20.
  5. ^ Johnston, Christian (2006-03-01), "I'm on Trial by Fire", True Life, retrieved 2026-01-20
  6. ^ "Shooting history". The Economist. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 2026-01-20.
  7. ^ "Lights, cameras, action in war zone". Chicago Tribune. 2004-09-30. Retrieved 2026-01-21.
  8. ^ "September Tapes | Rotten Tomatoes". www.rottentomatoes.com. Retrieved 2026-01-20.
  9. ^ Nesselson, Lisa (2004-09-16). "September Tapes". Variety. Retrieved 2026-01-20.
  10. ^ "Movie Marketing Blog - Movie Marketing Update: Indie Film 'September Tapes' upstages Recent Hollywood Efforts at Viral Marketing". www.indiescene.net. Archived from the original on 2012-02-22. Retrieved 2026-01-20.
  11. ^ "SEPTEMBER TAPES ACQUIRED AT SUNDANCE;". www.reeldv.com. Retrieved 2026-01-20.
  12. ^ Welkos, Robert W. (2004-09-22). "Some fact, some fake". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2026-01-20.
  13. ^ "Another Round of Explosions, but This Time It's Fake (Published 2008)". 2008-02-22. Archived from the original on 2022-11-26. Retrieved 2026-01-20.
  14. ^ Mann, Christian Johnston and Darren (2013-04-11). "Filmmakers: China Hackers Nearly Destroyed Our Movie (Guest Column)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2026-01-20.
  15. ^ Scheck, Frank (2017-05-10). "'This Cold Life': Film Review | Hot Docs". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2026-01-20.
  16. ^ Castenson, Jennifer. "Housing Concept Honored As Finalist In Fast Company's World Changing Ideas Awards". Forbes. Retrieved 2026-01-21.
  17. ^ "Christian Johnston Movies and Shows - Apple TV". Apple TV. Retrieved 2026-01-20.
  18. ^ "Christian Johnston". TVGuide.com. Retrieved 2026-01-20.
  19. ^ "Carpe Diem". TVGuide.com. Retrieved 2026-01-20.
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