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Lost the Lead

After witnessing a violent swatting prank, a disgraced video game champion recruits a diverse group of nerds to take down his former corporate sponsor.

  • Michael Hyon Johnson
    Writer
    Axios
  • Michael Hyon Johnson
    Director
    This Will Destroy You
  • Project Type:
    Television, Web / New Media
  • Genres:
    Comedy, Drama, sports, gaming, gamer, esports, heist
  • Runtime:
    35 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    October 16, 2022
  • Production Budget:
    25,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Michael Hyon Johnson

Michael Hyon Johnson is a half black, half South Korean Air Force veteran and writer/director. He's produced award winning narrative short films, music videos, and branded content for BuzzFeed, Machinima Inc, and is the co-founder of the video production company Story Mode. His first web-series, PreGame Lobby was distributed by Machinima, Inc and has garnered a cult following.

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Michael earned a MFA from Chapman University and is the winner of the M Film Lab 2022 Spring program.
His winning short screenplay, Black Metal tackles a coming-of-age story of a African-American pre-teen and his desire to perform as a metal musician in a conservative town in Colorado. Black Metal is currently in production with support of Open Screenplay.

He was also selected as a mentee the Netflix Animation Foundation's writing program, the Writer’s Guild Foundation’s: Veteran’s Writing Project; and is a VME - AT&T Veterans Media Fellow.

Michael is currently developing his first feature film, The Art of the Kill: a coming of age family drama about military cadets romanticizing war on the eve of the September 11th attacks. He is also a showrunner in post-production for the TV pilot: Lost the Lead, an absurdist comedy about police swatting and video-game influencers.
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You can contact Michael directly at MHJohnsonDP@gmail.com.

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Director Statement

It's my mission in life to tell difficult stories. All art is political. If an artist opts not to tell a political story then they have had the privilege of never being affected by the world around them - which is itself is a political message.