Johnson first became involved in show business in 1965, as an actor playing the sheriff's deputy in the Spanish "
Spaghetti Western"
Brandy, directed by
Jose Luis Borau. He spent ten years of his youth in Spain, where he worked as a movie extra in films such as
Franklin Schaffner's
Nicholas and Alexandra and
David Lean's
Dr. Zhivago. His early experiences led to small acting roles in the European western
Ride and Kill and the 1964 drama
The Thin Red Line. After earning a Master's and Doctorate degree in Drama from the
University of Virginia and an
MA in Film Scholarship from the
University of Iowa, Johnson moved to New York. There he entered the Director's Guild training program. One of his first projects was
Paul Mazursky's autobiographical drama
Next Stop, Greenwich Village. Johnson relocated to Los Angeles and worked as an assistant director on such projects as
Movie Movie, ''
The Brink's Job, Escape from Alcatraz'' and
Mel Brooks's
High Anxiety, which was co-written by future business partner
Barry Levinson. As part of
Baltimore Pictures, his partnership with Levinson, Johnson produced all of the writer-director's films from 1982–1994. In addition to
Rain Man, their diverse slate of features includes
Good Morning, Vietnam,
The Natural,
Tin Men,
Toys,
Young Sherlock Holmes,
Avalon,
Diner (their 1982 debut project, for which Levinson's screenplay garnered an
Oscar nomination) and
Bugsy, which was nominated for ten
Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director.
Bugsy also captured a Best Picture
Golden Globe Award. In 1994, Johnson established his own independent production company, Gran Via Productions, and won the
Los Angeles Film Critics New Generation Award for his very first effort;
A Little Princess, directed by
Alfonso Cuarón. Under his new banner, Johnson produced the comedy
Home Fries, written by
Vince Gilligan and starring
Drew Barrymore, and the dramatic thriller
Donnie Brasco, starring
Al Pacino and
Johnny Depp. Gilligan won a screenwriting competition of which Johnson was a judge, subsequently had two of his screenplays produced by Johnson,
Home Fries and
Wilder Napalm. Johnson would later serve as a producer for Gilligan's television series
Breaking Bad. He also served as executive producer for
CBS-TV's
L.A. Doctors and
Falcone, and for the hit drama
The Guardian. Johnson's recent slate of motion pictures includes
The Alamo and
The Rookie, both directed by John Lee Hancock;
The Banger Sisters, with
Susan Sarandon and
Goldie Hawn;
Brad Silberling's drama
Moonlight Mile, with Sarandon and
Dustin Hoffman;
Tom Shadyac's supernatural thriller
Dragonfly, with
Kevin Costner and
Kathy Bates; Levinson's Irish satire
An Everlasting Piece;
Robert Zemeckis's spooky thriller
What Lies Beneath, starring
Harrison Ford and
Michelle Pfeiffer; the hit comedy
Galaxy Quest, with
Tim Allen,
Alan Rickman and
Sigourney Weaver; and
My Dog Skip, the acclaimed family drama (co-produced with
John Lee Hancock) starring
Frankie Muniz,
Diane Lane and
Kevin Bacon. In recent years, Johnson produced Nick Cassavetes's drama
The Notebook,
The Wendell Baker Story, which marked the directorial debuts of brothers
Luke and
Andrew Wilson, and
How to Eat Fried Worms. Johnson has either presented or executive produced
Luis Llosa's directorial debut,
Sniper,
Tim Robbins's directorial debut,
Bob Roberts,
Steven Soderbergh's
Kafka,
Robert Redford's
Oscar-nominated
Quiz Show and
Journey of Hope, winner of the 1999 Foreign Language
Academy Award. Recent projects include
The Hunting Party, starring
Richard Gere,
Lake City, starring
Sissy Spacek,
Ballast, the critically acclaimed debut of director Lance Hammer, and ''
My Sister's Keeper'', starring
Cameron Diaz,
Alec Baldwin and
Abigail Breslin. He is working with
Guillermo del Toro to produce the movie adaption of
David Moody's novel
Hater. In 2005, Johnson produced
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, directed by
Andrew Adamson and starring
Tilda Swinton. The film was nominated for three
Academy Awards and three
BAFTAs, winning one of each. In 2008 he produced a sequel,
Prince Caspian. The third film in the
Narnia series,
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, directed by
Michael Apted, was released December 10, 2010. Johnson released three feature films in 2012:
Not Fade Away, written and directed by
The Sopranos creator
David Chase and starring
James Gandolfini,
Chasing Mavericks directed by
Curtis Hanson and starring
Gerard Butler, and ''
Won't Back Down starring Viola Davis, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Holly Hunter. He produced the 2015 thriller Secret in Their Eyes'' starring
Julia Roberts,
Nicole Kidman and
Chiwetel Ejiofor. Johnson was an executive producer on
AMC's
Emmy Award-winning series
Breaking Bad. He was an executive producer on the
Sundance Channel original series
Rectify, and
AMC's
Breaking Bad spinoff,
Better Call Saul. In 2019 he produced
El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie for
Netflix. In 2021, he produced the thriller
The Little Things starring
Denzel Washington,
Rami Malek and
Jared Leto, written and directed by
John Lee Hancock. In 2021 he executive produced the
AMC+ series adaptation of
Anne Rice's
Interview with the Vampire. In 2023, he executive produced
Mayfair Witches, based on another
Anne Rice property. In late 2022 it was announced that Johnson would venture into his first-ever Spanish-language series, a Church scandal drama, "Amen" (a working title). Produced by Johnson, the 2023 release
The Holdovers reunited
Paul Giamatti with his
Sideways director
Alexander Payne. The film enjoyed widespread critical acclaim and garnered
Golden Globe wins for
Da'Vine Joy Randolph and
Paul Giamatti. From seven
BAFTA nominations it secured two awards, for Best Supporting Actress and Best Casting Director. It was nominated for five
Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Ultimately, it secured the Best Supporting Actress award for
Da'Vine Joy Randolph. Johnson served many years on the Board of Governors of the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (Producers Branch). For seventeen years, he headed the Best Foreign Language Film Committee. In 2020, the category was renamed Best International Feature Film. ==Filmography==