Olympia Pictures was incorporated in March
1989 by Gordon Eriksen, Heather Johnston, & John O'Brien in order
to cash the first check they received for work in the film industry: payment
for a (never produced) first draft of an HBO sitcom teleplay called "Wild
In The 'Burbs," a very loose adaptation of The Big Dis.
In addition to serving as the loan-out corporation for Heather and Gordon
for the various scripts-for-hire they have done over the years, Olympia
Pictures owns the negatives of each of the films that the two of them
have completed.
John has set up his own film company in Vermont, Bellwether Films, and produced three features.
Back in the Day
Heather Johnston and Gordon Eriksen promoting
The Big Dis on Boston's Inner City Beat (1990).
Heather Johnston & Gordon Eriksen
Heather Johnston and Gordon Eriksen began making films together at Harvard University, where, as students, with co-director John O'Brien, they made The Big Dis, a festival and art house hit that was released in 1990 by First Run Features.
Picked as one of the ten independent filmmaking teams to watch by Movieline magazine, they have been the subject of profiles in the New York Times, Newsday, The Village Voice, New Word, and Egg Magazine.
They are the recipients of grants from The Ford Foundation, The National Endowment for the Arts, The New York State Council for the Arts, The Jerome Foundation, and The Donnet Foundation.
They have written screenplays for HBO and Samuel Goldwyn Films, and children's teleplays for Concorde Films, Vlada Animation, and Northstar Entertainment, among others.
On occasion they have taught acting for film, improvisory technique, and film production seminars. Gordon has taught film directing at Columbia University's School of Fine Arts, the MFA program.
They live in Brooklyn with their two daughters, Erika and Margo Johnston.
Interview with Gordon Eriksen, Summer
2004, from the DVD
Extras included on The Love Machine.
Heather and Gordon
in 2004.
Gordon, John, and Heather
in 1989.
Links
Please Visit Heather's Video Blog!
So Good: Food and Wine with Heather Johnston
