John Fusco

'John Fusco' (qv) dropped out of high school at 16 to travel the American south as a blues musician and factory worker. In his early 20s, he went back to night school where he achieved a GED diploma and was later accepted into NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. At Tisch, his screenwriting mentors were Waldo Salt and Ring Lardner Jr. His first two student screenplays won the national Nissan-Focus Award two years in a row and the second, _Crossroads (1986)_ (qv), based on his traveling blues experience, was directed by 'Walter Hill' (qv) in 1986. Now considered a cult film, _Crossroads (1986)_ (qv) inspired the music video game _Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (2007)_ (qv). In 1988, Fusco wrote and produced the iconic box office hit _Young Guns (1988)_ (qv) and its equally-popular sequel _Young Guns II (1990)_ (qv). His research experiences on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation led to the controversial _Thunderheart (1992)_ (qv) in 1992, an acclaimed expose of federal abuses in contemporary Native American communities. Fusco also went on to write the Native-themed ABC mini-series _DreamKeeper (2003)_ (qv) and the popular Disney epic _Hidalgo (2004)_ (qv). His first and only animated script _Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002)_ (qv), was nominated for an Academy Award in 2003. From 2014-2017 Fusco was the creator and show runner of the Netflix Original Series 'Marco Polo' . In 2017, he also adapted the 'The Shack' which over performed at the box office. Most recently, Fusco wrote the original screenplay 'The Highwaymen' which stars Kevin Costner and Woody Harrelson and is directed by John Lee Hancock. The Netflix Original Movie is scheduled to launch in October 2018. Fusco is currently at work adapting the bestselling young reader's novel 'Pax' for SKE, creating a new dramatic series for History, and writing and producing multiple US-China co-productions under his Nomad production banner.::Jen Ellison