Biography

John was born in Calcutta, India to a Russian mother and English father. His much travelled childhood was spent during major social upheavals in India, China, Japan, and Kenya. In England he received a formal education. He received further education at the All-Union State Institute of Cinematography in Moscow, U.S.S.R. (1969) during the Cold War years of the Brezhnev regime. Here he was influenced by the works of film directors Grigory Kozintsev, Sergei Paradzhanov, and Andrei Tarkovsky. In 1971 he became the very first student to be registered with Britain's then brand new National Film School where he made the award winning short drama 'The Reprieve' (shot in 35mm Cinemascope); and the longer drama 'Matushka', also on 35mm. His personally selected script mentor was Robert Bolt (Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago etc.). His apprenticeship years were spent in the cutting rooms. John has lived and worked in London, L.A., N.Y. and Sydney. Many of his completed screenplays, either original works or commissioned as development deals, have been high-end romantic dramas set within grand canvases. 'Return to Russia', adapted from William Gerhardie's Penguin Classic 'Futility' was set in the Russian Civil War; 'Burning Gold' ,the proposed sequel to 'Chariots of Fire' was set in the Chinese Civil War; 'The Angel Maker' (Hungarian Civil War); 'Till the Sun Grows Cold' ,adapted from Maggie McCune's biog. of the same title about her daughter Emma McCune (Sudan Civil War); Odysea (futuristic battle of survival by an undersea farming community); and 'Starbjorn the Viking - 911 A.D.' ("Brave Heart meets Lord of the Rings"). John Lind is also a Script Editor and teacher of Narrative Drama.

- IMDb mini biography by: John Lind