John Kent Harrison

1947

  • Director
  • writer

1980–present

CableACE Award
Canadian Screen Award
Christopher Award
Kidscreen Award
Toronto Sprockets International Film Festival for Children award
Bronze Wrangler award

Early life[edit]

Harrison was born in London, Ontario in 1947 and attended the private school Appleby College in Oakville, Ontario. After graduating in 1964, he attended Columbia University in New York, then briefly worked as a stock broker before returning to school. He earned a Master's degree at Montreal’s Concordia University, and stayed, becoming Assistant Professor of Film Studies at Concordia University. While there, he wrote and directed several films. He moved to Los Angeles in 1984.[1]

Career[edit]

Harrison has directed 32 projects, and written 21, most of which won, or were nominated for, numerous awards in acting and craft categories. Harrison has received several nominations for writing and directing.


His 1992 film The Sound and the Silence, which he wrote and directed, won the 1994 CableACE Award for best International Movie or Miniseries/Comedy or Dramatic Special or Series. His 1997 adaptation of William Faulkner’s Old Man won the 1997 Christopher Award for Best Film. You Know My Name won the Bronze Wrangler for Television Feature Film at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum’s 2000 Western Heritage Awards. At the 2003 Toronto Sprockets International Film Festival for Children, A Wrinkle in Time won the Audience Award for Best Feature Film. L.M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables won the award for Best One-Off, Special or TV Movie at the 2017 Kidscreen Awards. Harrison won the 2018 Canadian Screen Award for Best Direction, Children’s or Youth, for Anne of Green Gables: Fire and Dew.

Personal life[edit]

In 1969, following graduation from university, Harrison and a friend paddled an 18-foot canoe from their home town of London, Ontario, through the Canadian river systems to Lake Erie, then down the Mississippi to New Orleans, where Mayor Victor H. Schiro awarded them Honorary Citizenship and the Key to the City.[2][3]


Harrison is the father of Canadian author Sabrina Ward Harrison.


He holds dual Canadian-American citizenship. In 2013, he married his second wife, American producer Gretchen Miller and has since lived in Portland, Oregon.[4]

The Way of the Willow - short film, Catalyst Films 1981

Thanks for the Ride - short film, 1983[5]

National Film Board of Canada

- Best Shot – series episode, Chester/Perlmutter/Markowitz Productions 1987

The Hitchhiker

- feature, National Film Board of Canada 1990

Beautiful Dreamers

- TV Movie, Atlantis Films/South Pacific Pictures 1992

The Sound and the Silence

City Boy - TV Movie, et al 1992[6]

Western International Communications

Whose Child Is This? The War for Baby Jessica - TV Movie, et al 1993[7]

Western International Communications

- TV Movie, Patterdale Productions/The Storytellers Group 1994

For the Love of Aaron

Johnny’s Girl - TV Movie, Signboard Hill Productions 1995

[8]

The Ranger, the Cook and a Hole in the Sky - TV Movie, Signboard Hill Productions 1995

[9]

Old Man - TV Movie, 1997[10]

Hallmark Hall of Fame

- TV Movie, Hallmark Hall of Fame 1997

What the Deaf Man Heard

- TV Movie, Ancient Mariner Films 1999

You Know My Name

A House Divided – TV Movie, et al 2000[11]

Paramount Television

- TV Movie, Hallmark Hall of Fame 2001

In Love and War

- Mini-series, Fireworks Entertainment et al 2003

Helen of Troy

- TV Movie, Fireworks Entertainment et al 2003

A Wrinkle in Time

The Winning Season – TV Movie, /TNT et al 2004[12]

Viacom Productions

– TV Movie, Original Pictures/PowerCorp 2004

A Bear Named Winnie

– Revolutions Per Minute – TV episode, 20th Television et al 2005

Judging Amy

Faith: Pope John Paul II – Mini-series, et al 2005[13]

Rai Fiction

The Water Is Wide - TV Movie, 2006[14]

Hallmark Hall of Fame

Crossroads: A Story of Forgiveness - TV Movie, 2007[15]

Hallmark Hall of Fame

- TV Movie, Hallmark Hall of Fame 2009

The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler

- TV Movie, Hallmark Hall of Fame 2010

When Love Is Not Enough: The Lois Wilson Story

A Walk in My Shoes – TV Movie, Procter & Gamble Productions 2010

[16]

Change of Plans – TV Movie, 2011[17]

Muse Entertainment

Game of Your Life – TV Movie, Procter & Gamble Productions/Rosemont Productions 2011

[18]

- TV Movie, Hallmark Hall of Fame 2013

Christmas in Conway

Hattie’s Heist – short film, Ferns Productions 2014

[19]

- TV Movie, Breakthrough Entertainment 2016

L.M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables

Anne of Green Gables: Fire and Dew - TV Movie, 2017[20]

Breakthrough Entertainment

Anne of Green Gables: The Good Stars - TV Movie, 2017[21]

Breakthrough Entertainment

Director


Writer

at IMDb

John Kent Harrison