Phil Johnston (filmmaker)

Philip Johnston (born October 26, 1971) is an American screenwriter, director, film producer, and voice actor best known for writing the screenplay for Walt Disney Animation Studios' Wreck-It Ralph (2012) and Zootopia (2016).[1] He returned as the writer for the Wreck-It Ralph sequel, Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018) and as co-director of the film (in his directorial debut) alongside Rich Moore.

Phil Johnston
Born	October 26, 1971 Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
Nationality	American
Education	University of Wisconsin-Madison Columbia University (MFA)
Occupation	Screenwriter, director, film producer, voice actor
Years active	2004–present
Known for	Wreck-It Ralph Zootopia

Early life and career

Johnston was born in Minneapolis to Beverly & William Johnston.[2] He was raised in Neenah, Wisconsin.[3][4] His father was an episcopal priest.[4] When he was young, he received an annual pass that allowed him free entry into the Marcus Theatres, a Wisconsin-based theater chain, through a connection at his father's church.[4] Johnston is a graduate of Neenah High School.[2]

He graduated from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1994 with a degree in journalism.[5] After graduation he worked in regional news television for nine years.[3] His first job was as a weatherman in Rochester, Minnesota despite knowing nothing about meteorology.[6][3] He then worked as a bureau reporter at the Omaha, Nebraska, ABC affiliate, KETV.[7] Afterwards, he transferred to KARE station in Minneapolis.[8][4]

Johnston graduated with a MFA in film from Columbia University School of the Arts' Film Program in 2004.[9] He was classmates with Jennifer Lee, whom he later brought on to co-write Wreck-It Ralph with.[10]

His short, Flightless Birds, about a community of five trying to save their town was shot in South Dakota.[11]

After graduation, Johnston sold his first work to ABC.[12] The half hour comedy, Life is Super, is about a woman who adopts several children and subsequently turning her experience into a podcast.[12]

Johnston optioned his first feature script to ThinkFilm before it went bankrupt.[3] Jeremy Orm Is a Pervert is about the intersection of a preacher's career and his son's pornography business.[3] This was loosely based on his side hustle back in middle school selling pornographic magazines he acquired from upperclassmen to his classmates.[6] He managed to buy a pair of Air Jordans with the profits before eventually getting the operation shut down by his parents.[6]

His script for Cedar Rapids (2011) was included in the 2009 Black List (survey), a list voted by members of the entertainment industry for favorite, unproduced screenplays.[13]

Personal life

Johnston met his wife, Jill Cordes, while working as a reporter at KETV, Nebraska, where she was a morning anchor.[14]

While attending Columbia, he lived in Brooklyn with his wife, Jill.[4] He was neighbors with film critic Christy Lemire.[4]

Johnston and Cordes moved to LA in 2011.[15] They have two kids together, Fia and Emmett.[15] Their cat, Wayne Sanchez, has undergone feline gender reassignment surgery.[6][15]

Filmography

Feature Films

Year	Title	Director	Writer	Executive Producer	Other	Voice Role	Notes
2006	The Night Listener	No	No	No	Yes		Assistant to Patrick Stettner
2007	Savage Grace	No	No	No	Yes		Researcher
2010	Ghosts/Aliens	No	Yes	Yes	No		Television Film
2011	Cedar Rapids	No	Yes	No	No
2012	Wreck-It Ralph	No	Yes	No	Yes	Surge Protector
2014	A Merry Friggin' Christmas	No	Yes	No	No		Credited as "Michael Brown"
2016	Zootopia	No	Yes	No	Yes	Gideon Grey/ Annoyed Citizen
2017	The Brothers Grimsby	No	Yes	Yes	No
2018	Ralph Breaks the Internet	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Surge Protector	Song Lyricist: "A Place Called Slaughter Race", "In This Place" Creative Leadership

Short Films

Year	Title	Director	Writer	Producer	Film Editor	Role
2004	A Thousand Words	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
2005	Two Men	No	No	Yes	No
	Rupture	No	No	No	No	Chet Rimson (Radio Announcer)
	Flightless Birds	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
2007	Bomb	No	No	Yes	No
2013	Garlan Hulse: Where Potential Lives	No	No	Yes	No	Garlan Hulse

Other Credits

Year	Title	Role
2016	Moana	Creative Leadership
2019	Frozen II
2020	Borat Subsequent Moviefilm	Special Thanks

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Nominated work	Result	Ref.
2004	WorldFest Houston	Independent Student Film & Videos - Graduate Level Student Productions	A Thousand Words	Won
2012	Independent Spirit Awards	Best First Screenplay	Cedar Rapids	Nominated
2013	Annie Awards	Writing in an Animated Feature Production	Wreck-It Ralph	Won
2017	Annie Awards	Writing in an Animated Feature Production	Zootopia	Won	[16]
	Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America	Ray Bradbury Award	Zootopia	Nominated
2018	Chicago Film Critics Association Awards	Best Animated Feature	Ralph Breaks the Internet	Nominated
	Detroit Film Critics Society	Best Animated Feature	Ralph Breaks the Internet	Nominated
	Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Awards	Best Animated Feature	Ralph Breaks the Internet	Nominated
2019	Golden Globe Awards	Best Animated Feature Film	Ralph Breaks the Internet	Nominated
	Alliance of Women Film Journalists	Best Animated Feature Film	Ralph Breaks the Internet	Nominated
	Critics' Choice Awards	Best Animated Feature	Ralph Breaks the Internet	Nominated
	Annie Awards	Annie Award for Directing in a Feature Production	Ralph Breaks the Internet	Nominated
		Annie Award for Music in a Feature Production	Ralph Breaks the Internet	Nominated
		Annie Award for Writing in a Feature Production	Ralph Breaks the Internet	Nominated
	Satellite Awards	Best Animated or Mixed Media Feature	Ralph Breaks the Internet	Nominated
	Academy Awards	Best Animated Feature	Ralph Breaks the Internet	Nominated

References

1. "Welcome to Zootopia at D23 EXPO!". D23. August 15, 2015. Archived from the original on September 20, 2015. Retrieved August 30, 2015.
2. "COMMON COUNCIL MINUTES" (PDF). May 3, 2017. Retrieved December 9, 2019.
3. Kaufman, Anthony (July 28, 2009). "Phil Johnston - 10 Screenwriters to Watch". Variety. Retrieved December 8, 2019.
4. "Breakfast All Day: Episode 018: A La Carte With Phil Johnston". bfastallday.libsyn.com. Retrieved 2019-12-09.
5. "Badgerwood: Video series features UW-Madison alumni in Hollywood". news.wisc.edu. Retrieved 2019-11-08.
6. "Cartoon Pyramid With Phil Johnston And Mo Willems". NPR.org. Retrieved 2019-12-09.
7. Robinson, Laurann. "Oscars Preview: What goes in to making an Oscar-winning animated film?". Omaha, Nebraska: KETV. Archived from the original on February 28, 2018. Retrieved February 27, 2018.
8. "Former KARE reporter now an Oscar nominee". KARE. Retrieved 2019-12-10.
9. "'Green Book' by Writing Alumnus Peter Farrelly '86 Wins Three Golden Globes". Columbia - School of the Arts. Retrieved 2019-11-08.
10. Stewart, Jill (2013-05-15). "Jennifer Lee: Disney's New Animation Queen". LA Weekly. Retrieved 2019-12-08.
11. Taylor Rick, Lynn. "Big Dreams in a small town". Rapid City Journal Media Group. Retrieved 2019-12-09.
12. "The Bricks of Breaking In: 'Wreck-It Ralph's' Phil Johnston on Screenwriting as a Second Career". blog.finaldraft.com. Retrieved 2019-12-08.
13. Finke, Nikki (2009-12-11). "The Black List 2009: Full Roster". Deadline. Retrieved 2019-12-09.
14. "AN ATYPICAL LIFE AFTER TV NEWS – NewsBlues.com". Retrieved 2019-12-09.
15. "About Jill Cordes". Fearless Feisty Mama Blog. 2011-05-11. Retrieved 2019-12-09.
16. "44th Annie Award Nominees". International Animated Film Society. November 28, 2016. Archived from the original on July 17, 2017. Retrieved November 29, 2016.

External links

• Phil Johnston at IMDb