John Edathattil

Career

John was born in Allepey, in the southern Indian state of Kerala to Simon Antony and Marykutty Antony. Though graduated in commerce, his accounting career did not last long. Very early in his career he discovered his interest in screenwriting and authored the script for the notable Malayalam film Chanakyan, a Kamal Haasan starrer.

During a professional screenwriting career spanning over 2 decades, John has written about 30 filmed screenplays. To name a few of his very successful films are: Gunaa, Vyooham, Gandhari, Soorya Manasam, Highway, Sillunu Oru Kaadhal, Mayilpeelikkavu, Priyam, Kuruthipunal and Chanakyan. Gunaa starring Kamal Haasan is about a mentally affected person's unadulterated love for a fictitious character named Abirami. The film was not only successful commercially, but also had an excellent blend of Kamal's acting, Ilayaraja's music and John's screenplay. It surely became a milestone project for everyone involved.

In addition to being a screenwriter John has also donned other roles in film making like acting, directing and production management. He was cast in a pivotal role in the much-acclaimed film Kuruthippunal as "Narasimhan" and won critical appreciation. The film was produced by Kamal Haasan and directed by P. C. Sreeram. He worked as the Executive Producer for Kamal's Hindi feature film Chachi 420.

Documentaries

John has written and directed documentaries for ROTARY CENTRAL VHS-TTK BLOOD BANK (2006), VCRC and Dengue fever (1995). "SMOKELESS HOMES" (Tamil) – promoting smokeless burners in the villages of Tamil Nadu for British Petroleum and "THE WAR" (English) for Vector Control Research Centre (VCRC), a unit of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), India were docu-dramas, both written and directed by him.

Television

John wrote the teleplay Venalinte Ozhivu for the National Doordarshan directed by Shyama Prasad. The teleplay received the best short feature award for the year in 1989. He also wrote and produced DECEMBERILE ATHITHI for Asianet TV (2001) directed by Roshaan Andrrews. NAKSHTRAKKANNU a 52-episode weekly serial (2002) was also written by him for Asianet TV. He was also seen in a very popular TV series, Shamanathalam, in Asianet TV, directed by the National Award Winning Director Shyamaprasad, as "George Panicker" (2001).

AD films

John has worked on a wide range of television commercials as a director and producer. Some of them include Gold Winner Oil, Save Tamils in Sri Lanka Campaign, Sreerosh Builders (English), Sunidra Mattress (Malayalam), Eastern Sambar (Malayalam), Eastern Appam [concept – Malayalam], Eastern Rasam [concept – Malayalam], Eastern Masala, Sheenlac Wood Polish [Malayalam], Alukkas Jewelers, Kaveri Fairness Cream, Pankajkasturi, Malabar Gold, Produced/Directed 40 sec spot Jokes Biscuit.

Workshops

Not only for screenwriting for aspiring writers, John also conduct various Workshops for IT companies, Corporates and Educational Institutions of repute to realize the need for dramatic story-telling to achieve greater rewards.

Others

Apart from mainstream filmmaking, he has organised a curriculum, class models and assessment criteria for the Screenwriting Course for the film school SAE, and Manipal University in addition to conducting many classes and crash courses for aspiring screenwriters.[1]

John is the Founder chairman and Mentor at Cheeseflicks Pvt Ltd, an organised production house for feature movies and shorts.

Also mentors aspiring screenwriters the professional skills of writing a script for the screen through a brand – ScreenWrite.In – India's only Screenwriters' Studio.

John was Jury Member for the FICCI BAF Awards 2008,2 009, 2010, 2012 and 2013 Mumbai.

Chief Mentor for IIT Workshop (2012 )on screenwriting.

John shares his knowledge with second year direction students and heads the screenwriting program at L. V. Prasad Film and Television Academy, Chennai on a regular basis.

He volunteers in "Transactional Analysis" propagation group, conducts opening level classes for school and college students.