John Alan Simon

John Alan Simon is president and chief executive officer of Discovery Films. He has been involved with the financing, production, sales, and marketing of many successful independent features including The Wicker Man (1973) (starring Edward Woodward), The Haunting of Julia (1977) (with Mia Farrow and Tom Conti), and Out of the Blue (1980) (starring and directed by Dennis Hopper). In partnership with Rosenbloom Entertainment, Discovery has acquired film rights to three novels by renowned science-fiction writer, Philip K. Dick, whose works have formed the basis for such successful science-fiction films as "Blade Runner" and "Total Recall". Simon wrote the screenplay and developed Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said, based on Dick's novel of the same name, for Paramount Pictures in conjunction with Tom Cruise/Paula Wagner Productions and Oliver Stone's production company Illusion Entertainment. Prior to his entry in the film industry, Simon was a successful journalist and film critic, both as staff writer for the New Orleans Times Picayune and as editor-in-chief of New Orleans Magazine. A graduate of Harvard College with honors in History and Literature, he served as an editor of the Harvard Crimson. He later taught film and writing at Tulane University, Loyola University, and the University of Illinois. During this same period, Simon also wrote featured articles and film/music reviews for such magazines as Downbeat and American Film, and for newspapers such as the Chicago Sun-Times.