John Fusco


I'm a huge fan of John Fusco! An American award-winning screenwriter and producer of motion pictures. His film credits include Crossroads, Young Guns, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, Hidalgo, The Highwaymen and The Wind & The Reckoning. He is also the creator of Netflix original series Marco Polo. He lives on a horse farm in Morristown, Vermont.

Date of Birth: March 21, 1959 (66 years old)
Birthplace: Waterbury, Connecticut, USA
Citizenship: United States and Italy
Education: New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts (BFA; Bachelor of Fine Arts)
Occupation
  • Screenwriter
  • Film producer
  • Spanish Mustang conservationist
  • Novelist
  • Martial artist
  • Blues musician
  • Founder of Rocket 88 Records
Relatives
  • Giovanni Fusco (father)
  • Richela Renkun (wife)
  • Giovanni Fusco (son; after his father)
  • Frank Fools Crow (adoptive grandfather; the Oglala Lakota tribe)
  • Buddy Red Bow (adoptive brother; the Oglala Lakota tribe)

Biography
John Fusco was born on March 21, 1959 in Waterbury, Connecticut, United States of America. Known for his stories of epic Americana; In 1975, Fusco dropped out of high school (Wilby High School) when he was 16 years old to travel the American Southeast as a blues musician and factory worker.

Career
At 21 years of age, he went back to night school where he achieved a GED diploma and was later accepted into New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. At Tisch School of the Arts, his screenwriting mentors were Waldo Salt, Ring Lardner, Jr. and Lorenzo Semple, Jr. His first two student scripts won the national Nissan-FOCUS (Films of College and University Students) Award two years in a row and the second, Crossroads, based on his traveling blues experience, was directed by Walter Hill in 1986. In 1988, Fusco scripted and produced the iconic box office hit Young Guns and its equally-popular sequel Young Guns II in 1990. His research experiences on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation (South Dakota) led to the controversial of the film Thunderheart in 1992, an acclaimed exposes federal abuses in contemporary Native American communities. In 2002, his first and only animated film script Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, was nominated for an Academy Award in 2003. Fusco also went on to script the Native American miniseries Dreamkeeper (on ABC) in 2003 and the popular western epic film Hidalgo in 2004. From 2014 to 2016 Fusco was the creator and executive producer of the Netflix original series Marco Polo. In 2019, Fusco scripted the original screenplay The Highwaymen which stars Kevin Costner and Woody Harrelson and is directed by John Lee Hancock. Most recently, Fusco’s 2022 original screenplay The Wind & The Reckoning was the source for the indigenous Hawaiian historical drama that won for best film at multiple indie festivals. His latest spec script The Rescue has been purchased by Skydance and will be helmed by Potsy Ponciroli, starring Brandon Sklenar.

Motion Pictures (My List)
Writer
1986: Crossroads
1988: Young Guns
1990: Young Guns II — also Based on Characters
1992: Thunderheart
2002: Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron
2004: Hidalgo
2008: The Forbidden Kingdom
2019: The Highwaymen
2022: The Wind & The Reckoning

Producer
1988: Young Guns — Executive Producer
1990: Young Guns II — Executive Producer
1992: Thunderheart
2022: The Wind & The Reckoning

Actor
1990: Young Guns II — Branded Man

Himself
1994: The Legend of Billy the Kid (documentary)
2004: Sand & Celluloid — the behind-the-scenes of Hidalgo on DVD
2008: The Kung Fu Dream Team — the behind-the-scenes of The Forbidden Kingdom on Blu-ray

Upcoming
Last Train to Memphis
Spirit Animals
Phantom
Hollywood Horseman (documentary) (In production)
The Rescue (In production)
Young Guns III: Dead or Alive (In production)

Publications (My List)
2002: Paradise Salvage
2014: Dog Beach
2024: Blue Christmas (short story) [https://indd.adobe.com]

Television
Himself
2002: Spirit of the Wild Mustang (special documentary) (on Animal Planet)

Writer
2003: Dreamkeeper (miniseries) (on ABC)
2014–16: Marco Polo (4 Episodes) (on Netflix)
2015: Marco Polo: One Hundred Eyes (special) (on Netflix)

Producer
2003: Dreamkeeper — Associate Producer
2004: America’s First Horse: Hidalgo and the Spanish Mustang (documentary) — Executive Producer (on ABC or on DVD)
2006: Silent Thunder (documentary) — Executive Producer (on PBS)
2014–16: Marco Polo — Executive Producer (3 Episodes)
2015: Marco Polo: One Hundred Eyes — Executive Producer

Creator
2014–16: Marco Polo

Upcoming
Hispaniola (series, miniseries or film)

Albums
2018: Drink Takes the Man (single)
2018: Poutine (single)
2018: Hello, Highway (single)
2018: I Got Soul (single)
2018: John Fusco and the X-Road Riders
2020: John the Revelator
2022: Borderlands

Collaboration (My List)
Buddy Red Bow (R.I.P.)
Emilio Estevez
Nils C. Jensen
Viggo Mortensen
Lou Diamond Phillips
James G. Robinson
Joe Roth
Casey Silver
Anna Stackpole
Kiefer Sutherland
John Trudell
Michelle Yeoh

Awards
Films of College and University Students (FOCUS)
1983: Winner for Best Screenplay (Untitled script)
1984: Winner for Best Screenplay (Crossroads)

Western Heritage Awards
1989: Winner for Theatrical Motion Picture (Young Guns)
2003: Winner for Theatrical Motion Picture (Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron)

Western Writers of America, Inc. (WWA)
2005: Spur Award — Winner for Best Western Drama Script (Hidalgo)
2020: Spur Award — Winner for Best Western Drama Script (The Highwaymen)
2023: Spur Award — Finalist for Best Western Song (Cowboy Picture)

Independent Blues Awards
2021: Independent Blues Artist Award — Nominated for Best Modern Roots
2021: Independent Blues CD Award — Nominated for Best Modern Roots (John the Revelator)
2021: Independent Blues Song Award — Nominated for Best Modern Roots (The Hottest Part of the Flame)

Others
2001: New Blood Dagger Award — Shortlisted for Best Novel (Paradise Salvage)
2004: Humanitarian Award — Winner (Dreamkeeper)
2019: True Westerner Award — Winner
2019: Former Texas Rangers Foundation — Captain
2020: Governor’s Award — Winner for Excellence in the Arts
2022: Festival Prize Award — Winner for Best Screenplay (The Wind & The Reckoning)

The Crime Writers’ Association (CWA)
First Americans in the Arts
True West Magazine
Former Texas Rangers Foundation

Trivia
  • At age 12, Fusco studied and earned a black belt of Shaolin Kung Fu.
  • In 1977, aged 18; he returned home to New England and co-founded the Travis McComb Band, a Southern rock outfit that was composed of several friends from his past in New Haven, Connecticut.
  • In 1986, Fusco graduates and earned a BFA (Bachelor of Fine Arts) degree at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts.
  • In Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, South Dakota, Fusco was an adopted of the Oglala-Lakota tribe by Chief Frank Fools Crow.
  • Fusco scripted the American Revolutionary War epic film Rebels, but the production was cancelled.
  • In 2018, Fusco returned to his blues music background and has been recording original songs with members of the North Mississippi All-Stars. He also plays Hammond B3 organ on the third album released by the southern band Hill Country Revue.

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