John Watson (film producer)


John Watson, the film producer and son of the Somerset cricketer of the same name, was born in the village of Poyntington in Dorset, in South West England.

Education

Watson was educated at Sherborne School, an independent school for boys in the town of Sherborne in Dorset, followed by Churchill College at the University of Cambridge.

Life and career

Watson's breakthrough came in 1991, when two films he produced were simultaneous hits: ', starring Kevin Costner and Morgan Freeman; and Backdraft, starring Kurt Russell and Robert De Niro, directed by Ron Howard.
Branching into television in the mid-1990s, Watson executive-produced over 300 hours of network and cable television; 7 seasons of The Outer Limits, 4 seasons of ', 1 season of Fame LA and 1 season of The Twilight Zone.
Watson developed the CBS series, The Magnificent Seven, on which he was the sole showrunner for 2 seasons, and co-created and executive-produced the TNT and Bravo series Breaking News. TV movies and mini-series he has executive-produced; Carrie, Houdini and Buffalo Soldiers, Brother's Keeper, Peter Benchley's Creature, Taking of Pelham 123, and Lifepod.
Watson produced the submarine thriller Phantom from RCR Media Group, Trilogy Entertainment Group and Solar Filmworks. Phantom was written and directed by Todd Robinson, and stars Ed Harris, David Duchovny and William Fichtner.
Watson is a tenured professor at The USC School of Cinematic Arts, and holder of the Cubby Broccoli Endowed Chair.

Writing credits