PRESS NOTES
Contacts:
Marlea Willis- EPIX: (212) 846-6748/ mwillis@epixhd.com
Danielle Manning-EPIX: (212) 846-7966/ dmanning@epixhd.com
ClareAnne Darragh- Frank PR: (646) 861-0843/ clareanne@frankpublicity.com
SYNOPSIS
John Frederick Milius was born in St. Louis, Missouri on April 11, 1944 to parents Elizabeth and
William Milius, a shoe manufacturer. From his youngest memories growing up, he dreamed of
being a great military leader just like his idol, Teddy Roosevelt. At eighteen, he immediately ran
to enlist in the Marines but was rejected due to chronic asthma. His lifelong ambition was over
before it had even begun. But out of the ashes of his old dream a new one emerged. If he
wasn’t allowed to follow in the footsteps of his hero and become a great general, he would be
the next best thing… a Hollywood movie director.
Thus began the journey of the man who would become known simply as “Milius.” A legendary
director, writer, NRA spokesman, shit-stirrer, and the self-proclaimed “Barbarian of
Hollywood.”
And it all started at a little shack - The USC Film School…
At USC, John quickly made a name for himself. One of his instructors called him the best
storyteller he had ever seen. It was there that Milius met and formed lifelong friendships with
future filmmakers Francis Ford Coppola, George Lucas, and a kid named Steven Spielberg.
John became a mentor to Lucas and Spielberg. Lucas was so taken with Milius that he based the
character of Han Solo, in Star Wars, after John. While filming Jaws, Spielberg called John in the
middle of the night for his expertise on a scene. Over the phone, John wrote the “Indianapolis
speech” for Robert Shaw.
Immediately upon graduating, John found early success with his screenplays Jeremiah Johnson
and The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean. They sold for more money than any other script in
Hollywood up to that point. He formed strong friendships with filmmakers John Huston and
Orson Welles. With their help, John was able to direct his first film, Dillinger, and had big box
office success with The Wind and the Lion. With these achievements in hand, John was offered
a four picture contract with MGM Studios.
John has felt a deep responsibility to help young filmmakers, just as Huston and Welles had
helped him, so he hired two unknown screenwriters from USC to pen 1941. Their names were
Bob Gale and Robert Zemeckis.
While most people in Hollywood are liberal democrats, John is the rare conservative. He
developed a persona within the industry as a “macho manly man”. John loves the image, and
plays it up whenever possible. When Industry types were driving Italian sports cars or new
Cadillacs, John was tooling around in a beat up pickup truck with a gun rack in the back window.
Milius was an outspoken member of the NRA, and belonged to the exclusive Oak Ridge Gun
Club. Milius would have “meetings” on Thursday nights with industry veterans like John Huston
and Steve McQueen. At the same time, he would be “teaching” his “students” - Zemeckis, Gale
and Spielberg. Shooting skeet became listening to John tell stories about Hollywood or WWII. A
self-described zen anarchist, Milius brought his Colt 1911 45-caliber handgun to meetings at the
studios. If the meetings weren’t providing the positive results he wanted, he’d pull the gun
from his waistband and place it on the studio executive’s desk. Milius would then say, “Okay.
Now we can negotiate.”
In 1982, John wrote and directed Conan The Barbarian. He knew it was going to be a major
success. Conan became the movie that John would be known for. It made Arnold
Schwarzenegger a household name, and put John at the top with his peers - Lucas, Spielberg,
and Coppola. That changed when John’s next film, Red Dawn, was released 2 years later. Its
success was overshadowed by controversy. The film was released in the middle of the Reagan
era. The Cold War was still being fought, and there was a growing fear in the nation over
nuclear war. Red Dawn became the first film to be released with a PG-13 rating. The critics
called it “too violent”, and said, “Milius takes it too far.” The Guinness Book of World Records
branded it the most violent film of all time when it was released in theaters. The backlash hit
John so hard that he didn’t direct another movie for 5 years.
John was finding it hard to get projects green-lit, but it might not have been because of his
violent movies and screenplays. One day, John provided studio passes to the Hells Angels biker
gang, so that they could have lunch with him at the studio commissary. Film executives were
terrified of the biker gang, and were furious at Milius for thinking this was acceptable. Milius
loved to antagonize “the suits”, but it led to him being kicked out of his offices on the Warner
Bros. lot that he had occupied for many years.
John isn’t in the spotlight as much as he has been in the past, but the “Legend of Milius” still
resonates with his peers - So much so that Joel and Ethan Coen based the war-obsessed
troublemaker Walter Sobcheck in The Big Lebowski, on their good friend. The hardcore
conservative / outlaw image that John used to relish in his youth, and spent years crafting, isn’t
the same man that he is today. He rarely hunts anymore, but to this day, he carries a copy of
the United States Constitution in his wallet. Regarding the Occupy Wall Street movement he
stated: “I would have Rush Limbaugh drawn and quartered. He was sticking up for these Wall
Street pigs. There should be public show trials, mass denunciations and executions."
The stories about Milius are legendary, so how is it that John hasn’t directed a movie in fifteen
years? Did the persona of “Milius” - the gunslinging, anti-Hollywood conservative - completely
overshadow “John,” the acclaimed writer and director? Did he become just “Too much
trouble…”? Are his best years behind him? Or is his final chapter going to redefine what the
world, and the movie industry, think of John Frederick Milius?
Photos for press use available at:
http://press.epixhd.com/programming/milius/
For Publicity Inquiries:
Marlea Willis – EPIX: (212) 846-6748 / mwillis@epixhd.com
Danielle Manning – EPIX: (212) 846-7966 / dmanning@epixhd.com
ClareAnne Darragh – Frank PR: (646) 861-0843 / clareanne@frankpublicity.com
MILIUS
AN EPIX ORIGINAL DOCUMENTARY- CREDITS
President, EPIX
Mark Greenberg
Executive Producers
Scott Mosier
Matthew Perniciaro
Kevin Mann
Cinematographer
Zak Knutson
Joey Figueroa
Austin Nordell
Editor
Zak Knutson
Executive in Charge of Production for EPIX
Jill Burkhart
Sound Designer
Zach Martin
Producers
Zak Knutson
Joey Figueroa
Kenneth Plume
Music
Danny Sternbaum
Co-Producers
Chase Gilomen
Michael Sherman
Rick Matros
Zachery Ty Bryan
Directors
Zak Knutson
Joey Figueroa
Directors
Zak Knutson
Joey Figueroa
Interview List
Harrison Ford
Francis Ford Coppola
George Lucas
Amanda Milius
Ethan Milius
John Milius
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Martin Scorsese
Steven Spielberg
Robert Zemeckis
FILMMAKER BIOGRAPHIES
DIRECTORS
Zak Knutson and Joey Figueroa
Zak Knutson and Joey Figueroa make their feature debut with "Milius," after a long career
creating behind the scenes documentaries for companies such as Miramax, EPIX, Sony, The
Weinstein Company, Disney, Hulu and more through their company Chop Shop Entertainment.
Knutson decided to be a filmmaker at the age of four when his mother said he couldn't be The
Six Million Dollar Man because "only movie people get to do that." Bypassing film school, Zak
worked on various productions around Los Angeles until 2000 when he landed an assistant job
with Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier at View Askew. In 2005, with encouragement from Scott
and Kevin, Zak formed Chop Shop Entertainment with his friend from the old neighborhood,
Joey Figueroa. Under the Chop Shop banner, Zak and Joey specialized in creating, shooting and
cutting promotional materials, webisodes, DVD extra features and live events for clients. Zak
lives in beautiful Burbank, California with his wife, Molly and their dog, Ruh-Roh.
Figueroa is a native a Southern California. He made his commitment to Hollywood in 2002 by
making the short trip from Orange County to Los Angeles with the aspirations to make his mark
in this competitive industry. Not taking any opportunity for granted, Joey
established working relationships that have grown solid through the years. In late 2005, Joey
co-founded Chop Shop Entertainment with long time friend Zak Knutson.
Knutson
Figueroa
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
Scott Mosier
Scott Mosier produced his first movie “Clerks” at age twenty one with writer-director Kevin
Smith. He then Produced “Mallrats,” “Chasing Amy,” “Dogma,” “Jay and Silent Bob Strike
Back,” “Jersey Girl,” “Clerks II,” and “Zack and Miri Make a Porno.” Mosier also Co-Executive
produced, with Smith, the Academy Award winning film ‘Good Will Hunting.’ He also was
Executive Producer/Developer of ”Clerks the Animated Series”.
Mosier is currently Exec Producing four documentaries. “A Band Called Death,” the story of the
greatest band no one has ever heard of; “Milius,” the story of legendary writer/director John
Milius that is in production now; “Best Kept Secret,” the story of a school in Newark that takes
care of kids with severe autism which is in post-production and “MuXin: Notes from the
Underground,” a short documentary on the legendary Chinese Artist. Muxin brings Scott back
together with the team that made the short doc “Salim Baba” which received both an Oscar
and Emmy nomination.
Mosier’s editing credits include actor James Franco’s directorial debut “The Ape;” the
documentary “Small Town Gay Bar,” a Sundance film festival hit; and Smith’s “Clerks,” “Chasing
Amy,” “Dogma,” “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back,” “Jersey Girl.” He also worked as a Ghost
Editor on various features, the crown jewel being the much under appreciated - “Who’s your
Caddy?” (That is a joke in case you are wondering.)
Scott’s writing credits include six episodes of the upcoming “Ultimate Spider-man” for Disney
XD/Marvel with more in the pipeline. He has a feature animated script with Shadowmachine
and is currently rewriting a feature comedy for Strangeweather Films, the Production Company
of Aron Warner and Andrew Adamson.
He is currently also the ‘M’ in SModcast – the popular podcast that he does with his friend
Kevin Smith. After four years, almost 200 shows and over 12 million downloads the show just
won an award for best ‘mature’ podcast.
PRODUCERS
Matthew Perniciaro and Kevin Mann, Haven Entertainment
Haven Entertainment is a dynamic entertainment company that has gained recognition by producing
award winning documentary and narrative feature films; representing top writers, directors, animators
and improvisers; and working with brands to develop cutting-edge digital content.
Previous projects include LeBron James starrer MORE THAN A GAME (First Runner-Up 2008 Toronto Film
Festival); HAPPYTHANKYOUMOREPLEASE by writer/director Josh Radnor
(Audience Award 2010 Sundance Film Festival); Summit’s THE COLD LIGHT OF DAY starring Henry Cavill,
Bruce Willis and Sigourney Weaver; LIBERAL ARTS starring Elizabeth Olsen, Richard Jennings and Radnor;
FANBOYS for The Weinstein Company starring Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel and Kristen Bell; the Germs
biopic WHAT WE DO IS SECRET starring Shane West and Bijou Phillips; FIFTY PILLS starring Lou Taylor
Pucci, Michael Pena and Jane Lynch and the tv series “The Gentlemen’s League” with Jerry Ferrara and
Max Greenfield.
Upcoming films include documentaries MILIUS featuring interviews with Steven Spielberg, George Lucas,
Harrison Ford and Arnold Schwarzanegger and A BAND CALLED DEATH, both of which will be seen at the
2013 South By Southwest Film Festival.
Haven partners are Mauricio Betancur, Matthew Perniciaro, Kevin Mann, Rachel Miller and Jesse Hara.