‘Jurassic Park III’ Director Joe Johnston to Speak at Anacapa

Anacapa School dad to share his passion for film at First Thursday Open Breakfast Club

February 20, 2012 — Santa Barbara, Calif.

Academy Award-winning film director and Anacapa parent Joe Johnston will be at Anacapa School at 7:50 a.m. on Thursday, March 1 as part of Anacapa’s First Thursday Open Breakfast Club speaker series.

Johnston is best known for his directing work on such effects-driven hits as “Jumanji,” “Jurassic Park III,” and “Captain America: The First Avenger” as well as the critically acclaimed drama “October Sky.”

“Anacapa has produced many talented alumni who have gone on to careers in film and television,” said Anacapa’s headmaster Gordon Sichi. “I’m sure our current crop of artistically inclined students and families will find Joe’s stories to be fascinating.”

Johnston attended California State University, Long Beach. While in school there, he answered a bulletin board advertisement seeking artists, designers and model builders for a science fiction film. The ad had been posted by George Lucas and the film was “Star Wars.”

After Johnston worked at Lucasfilm’s Industrial Light and Magic as a sequence designer and conceptual artist for ten years, Lucas encouraged him to attend USC’s School of Cinema-Television, which eventually led to his directing career.

“What I love about film is how it can tell us stories and entertain us in ways unique among art forms,” said Johnston. “No matter how many films we make in the course of our careers, every film is like the first day of school, waiting to teach us something new and exciting about the world, our audience and ourselves.”

Anacapa School hosts dozens of expert guest presenters each year. Each month, the school opens its doors to the wider community to honor a special guest lecturer as part of its First Thursday Open Breakfast Club speaker series. Prospective parents who are interested in Anacapa School for their students are welcome to attend to see a Breakfast Club in action. After the presentation, guests are invited to join a conversation with the speaker.

Anacapa School is an independent, co-educational, WASC–accredited, college preparatory day school for students in grades 7-12. Founded in 1981 by Headmaster Gordon Sichi, Anacapa enjoys the best student-teacher ratio of any school, public or private, in Santa Barbara at its historic campus located in the heart of the Santa Barbara civic center.

Media Contact:
Levi C. Maaia
805-604-5384 • levi@anacapaschool.org
www.anacapaschool.org • facebook.com/anacapaschool