Dwayne Johnson-Cochran

Dwayne Johnson-Cochran is a writer, producer, director, and educator based in Los Angeles. Born and raised in Chicago, Johnson-Cochran trained as a geologist at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He found his true calling as a filmmaker and was accepted into the MFA program at the School of the Art Institute in Chicago where he learned filmmaking and film history. After working as a journalist and cameraman for local newspapers and television stations, he found a position as a writer/producer with Burrell Advertising producing numerous commercials and short films. A few years later, Johnson-Cochran joined the local PBS station WTTW-Chicago producing, writing, and directing documentaries including "Going Home to Gospel with Patti LaBelle (producer), "Babies at Risk", on infant mortality in Chicago (producer) and "School Reform-Power to the Parents", (associate producer) along with the nightly news show 'Chicago Tonight.' With the award-winning novelist An Chee Min (Red Azala, Katherine), Mr. Johnson- Cochran was invited to The People's Republic of China to create and produce "Stories from America," a 20-part television series, focused on the lives of Chinese-American students, scholars, and professionals living and working in the United States returning home for the first time. Johnson-Cochran transitioned into screenwriting and moved to Los Angeles after his very first spec screenplay 'My Tribe is Lost' sold to Steven Spielberg and Dreamworks. Johnson-Cochran is the co-creator of NBC hit series "Minor Adjustments" and also wrote and produced on "Angel Street", executive produced by John Wells. Johnson-Cochran's directing debut, "Love and Action in Chicago" (HBO) featured Kathleen Turner, Courtney B.Vance, Jason Alexander, Regina King, and Ed Asner remains in rotation on HBO. The film has sold to sixty countries around the world. He continues to write screenplays and documentaries through his company Johnson-Cochran Films. Johnson-Cochran's documentary 'Story of a Village', starring actress/producer Regina King, is in film festivals. The film 'Side by Side', a documentary about the 50/50 group of Sierra Leone, executive produced by former Secretary of State Madeline K. Albright is on National Democratic Institutes' YouTube channel. His latest documentary "Be Known", about jazz percussionist Kahil El-Zabar, executive produced by Angela Bassett and Courtney B. Vance, was widely released in 2016. Mr. Johnson-Cochran taught screenwriting for eleven years as an instructor at USC's Guy Hanks and Marvin Miller Screenwriting Fellowship. His passion for teaching took him to UNESCO as a lecturer/trainer, concentrating on screenwriting, directing, and documentary film making throughout Asia, Africa, and Europe. In 2012-13, he also taught a month-long screenwriting workshop in Kenya, Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, South Africa, and Russia. Johnson-Cochran, committed to giving back to the Los Angeles community, was twice recognized as the 'Mentor of the Year" for the Fulfillment Fund of Los Angeles. He also lent his creative services to lift up racial and social justice issues in collaboration with Oxfam, Save the Children, the National Democratic Institute, and Doctor's without Borders. In 2016, his documentary, "Be Known," was nominated by the Black Reel Awards for Best Independent Documentary. "White Water," produced by Dwayne Johnson-Cochran was also nominated for two NAACP Image Awards for Best Screenplay and Director. In 2019, Johnson-Cochran collaborated with Kanye West to create the libretto and book for "Nebuchadnezzar, a Kanye West Opera," which premiered in Los Angeles at the Hollywood Bowl.