After starting his career at MTV in New York, Mike Johnston has written and directed commercials for some of the largest brands in the world. Over the last 20 years, he has led digital agencies, traditional agencies and production companies. His current agency, Family creates advertising campaigns for every screen.
Mike has been awarded Emmys, Tellys and the EPA campaign of the year twice for writing and directing. His articles on comedy have been featured on the homepage of Medium as an Editor’s Pick. Find scripts and lookbooks for his latest screenplays here:
Mike has studied screenwriting with Robert McKee "Story," John Vorhaus "Writing Comedy," Richard Walter "Dramatic Storytelling" and Richard Krevolin "Screenwriting from the Soul."
And he has completed the following MasterClasses:
Aaron Sorkin Screenwriting
David Mamet Dramatic Writing
Malcolm Gladwell Teaches Writing
Ron Howard Teaches Directing
Martin Scorsese Teaches Filmmaking
Ken Burns Teaches Documentary Filmmaking
Steve Martin Teaches Comedy
Judd Apatow Teaches Comedy
Unique traits: Calm.
Second Coming Budget: $100K - $1M | Comedy Jesus Christ becomes human again in order to prepare for the Second Coming. But he’s a fish outta water in the modern world. And the more time he spends as a human, the more susceptible to sin he becomes.
Lessons of Our Fathers Budget: $10M - $30M | Drama After a young man discovers a windfall of cash, he decides to leave a dying town in Middle America. But before he can, his abusive father shows him why that would be the biggest mistake of his life.
Every Man For Himself Budget: $100K - $1M | Comedy Using the metro bus system, a band of misfit commuters builds a sophisticated network of resources to take down corrupt city officials.
Held Back Budget: $1M - $5M | Comedy A child actor from a hit detective show has aged out of Hollywood. And now as an adult, he’s forced to confront actual criminals while he faces hard truths about his childhood.
All's Fair Budget: $10M - $30M | Comedy ⋄ Crime The best confidence man of his day returns to Seattle for the 1962 World’s Fair to set up the biggest con of his career. But instead, he gets conned by the same guy who ruined his father’s career. Now he’s looking for payback. LOOK BOOK https://www.familyseattle.com/...
A Girl Named Trouble Budget: $5M - $10M | Romance ⋄ Crime A tough guy falls for a woman who steals a bag of money from the wrong people. Now they’re both on the run. But as half the town is chasing the bag of money she stole, he's chasing a girl. LOOK BOOK https://www.familyseattle.com/...
Killer Therapy Budget: $1M - $5M | Comedy After a hitman has a complete mental breakdown, he starts therapy with a sociopathic therapist and other contract killers, only to discover they work for the people who killed his mother and father.
Capital Offense Budget: $1M - $5M | Crime ⋄ Thriller Just as a defendant is about to be found guilty in a home invasion murder case, the judge's granddaughter is kidnapped. The defendant knows where she’s being held because he’s robbed that house before. And wants to go free. LOOK BOOK https://www.familyseattle.com/...
Angry Driving School Budget: $100K - $1M | Comedy A NASCAR washout with anger issues is ordered by the court to work for the optimistic owner of a failing driving school.
Broken Toys Budget: $10M - $30M | Comedy A man is hired to save the biggest merger in corporate history. Just as he loses his secret ability to see the future, all because for the first time in his life, he falls in love.LOOK BOOK: https://www.familyseattle.com/brokentoys
Worldfest Houston - Silver "After School"
Worldfest Houston - Gold "How Far Would You Go?"
Silver Telly "Team Medicine"
Silver Telly "Thank You"
Emmy "Launch!"
Emmy "Green Power"