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 and was editor of the college newspaper. He worked for an oil company briefly until he found his true calling as a filmmaker. Accepted into the MFA program at the School of the Art Institute in Chicago, his concentration was filmmaking and film history. After working as a journalist/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). He also was a field producer for the nightly news show 'Chicago Tonight featuring John Calloway.' 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. As a writer, Johnson-Cochran transitioned into screenwriting. He moved to Hollywood after his very first spec screenplay 'My Tribe is Lost' sold to Steven Spielberg and Dreamworks. Johnson-Cochran was the co-creator of NBC hit series"Minor Adjustments" and wrote and produced on "Angel Street," executed produced by John Wells (The West Wing, ER). Johnson-Cochran's directing debut, "Love and Action in Chicago" (HBO) featuring Kathleen Turner, Courtney B. Vance, Jason Alexander, Regina King and Ed Asner was purchased by HBO and sold to sixty countries around the world. He also makes documentaries through his company Johnson-Cochran Films; “Story of a Village”, starring actor/director/producer Regina King and “Side by Side”, executive produced by Secretary of State Madeline K. Albright is on National Democratic Institutes' YouTube channel. In 2015, he directed "BeKnown" exec. produced by Angela Bassett and Courtney B. Vance and nominated for Best Indie Documentary by The Black Reel Awards; also produced "White Water" a period drama nominated for two NAACP Image awards.