Brian D. Johnson

{{Short description|Canadian journalist and filmmaker}}

Brian D. Johnson is a Canadian journalist and filmmaker, best known as an entertainment reporter and film critic for Maclean's."Return of the '70s: not very far out". Montreal Gazette, November 19, 1994.

He first joined the magazine in 1985. In early 2014, Johnson announced his retirement as a full-time staff member of the magazine,[http://www.macleans.ca/authors/brian-d-johnson/written-on-the-stars/ "Writing the stars: 28 years covering showbiz"]. Maclean's, January 25, 2014. although he remains an occasional freelance contributor. He has also contributed to Rolling Stone and The Globe and Mail, and has won three National Magazine Awards for his writing."Saturday Night wins 10 magazine awards". The Globe and Mail, May 18, 1984.

He was a founding member of the Toronto Film Critics Association, and served as the organization's president from 2009 to 2017."T.O. FilmCritics Association calls for release of filmmakers; Jafar Panahi has been detained nearly two weeks". National Post, March 16, 2010.

Johnson has also published the poetry book Marzipan Lies (1974), the novel Volcano Days (1994) and the non-fiction book Brave Films, Wild Nights: 25 Years of Festival Fever (2000), a history of the Toronto International Film Festival."Boogie nights: For all its star worship, Brian Johnson's take on the Toronto International Film Festival's 25-year run amounts to two decent books in one." Toronto Star, September 3, 2000.

As a filmmaker, he directed the short films Tell Me Everything (2006)"Shorts on show". Toronto Star, September 8, 2006. and Yesno (2010)."Burton Cummings attacked!: . . . and other inspired TIFF shorts". Toronto Star, September 2, 2010. His first feature film as a documentarian, Al Purdy Was Here, debuted at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival,[http://www.etalk.ca/news/tiff-2015-canadian-lineup-announced "Patricia Rozema survival tale, Philippe Falardeau satire highlight TIFF's Canadian lineup"]. eTalk, August 5, 2015. where it finished third in the voting for the Grolsch People's Choice Documentary Award.{{cite press release |date=2015-09-20 |accessdate=2015-09-21 |title=Toronto International Film Festival Announces 2015 Award Winners |url=https://s3.amazonaws.com/presscontent.tiff.net/docs/48vk20_Festival_Awards_2015__8877337_1442771061.pdf |publisher=TIFF |archive-date=2016-03-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303175312/https://s3.amazonaws.com/presscontent.tiff.net/docs/48vk20_Festival_Awards_2015__8877337_1442771061.pdf |url-status=dead }}

His documentary film The Colour of Ink premiered at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival.Pat Mullen, [https://thatshelf.com/tiff-announces-canadian-films-for-2022-festival/ "TIFF Announces Canadian Films for 2022 Festival"]. That Shelf, August 10, 2022.

He is married to writer and broadcaster Marni Jackson.