John Burgess

John Burgess is an award-winning filmmaker and graduate of USC's prestigious School of Cinematic Arts. While at USC he earned a Master of Fine Arts in producing and directing. His undergraduate studies were completed at Illinois State University with honors degrees in Communications, Business, Philosophy, and Cinema. His career began as an intern in the marketing & publicity department of Lucasfilm Ltd. (ranked by the Princeton Review as one of the top 10 internships in America). While at Lucasfilm, he helped to prepare for the release of Star Wars - Episode I: The Phantom Menace. Mr. Burgess founded Principle Entertainment named after his USC graduate thesis film, The Powder Puff Principle, starring Clint Howard, Richard Gilliland, Kevin Kilner, Art Lafleur, and Linda Blair. His graduate short was the $10,000 Grand Prize Winner of Haydenfilms On-line Film Festival. He received Accolade Awards for Excellence in Production & Direction on the film. For his efforts he was written up in American Cinematographer and MovieMaker Magazine. Burgess marked his feature film debut in both the directing and producing realms with the romantic comedy, One Small Hitch. The film premiered on Valentine's Day, 2015 in the US, and has won numerous awards on the festival circuit, including: "Best Picture Comedy" at Cinequest, "Best Picture Comedy" at the California Independent Film Festival, "Best Picture Comedy" at the Sedona International Film Festival, "Best Feature Film" at the Omaha Film Festival, "Best Screenplay" at the Los Angeles Comedy Film Festival, "Best Ensemble Cast" at the Chicago Comedy Film Festival, "Best Director" at the Stony Brook Film Festival, "Best Director" at the Laugh Or Die Comedy Festival, "Rising Star" at the Naples International Film Festival, the "Audience Award" at the Durango Film Festival, the "Audience Award" at the Real To Reel Film Festival, and the "Audience Award" at the Bahamas International Film Festival. Next up, Mr. Burgess will direct and produce, The Catch, an unlikely buddy comedy that pairs uptight society girl, Holly Claire, with foul-mouthed hotel maid, Parker Bailey, on a hilarious adventure in the City of Chicago to lift a curse.