Biography

Known for his stories of epic Americana, John Fusco dropped out of high school at 16 to travel the American south as a blues musician and factory worker. In his early 20s, he went back to night school where he achieved a GED diploma and was later accepted into NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. At Tisch, his screenwriting mentors were Waldo Salt and Ring Lardner Jr. His first two student screenplays won the national Nissan-Focus Award two years in a row and the second, Crossroads (1986), based on his traveling blues experience, was directed by Walter Hill in 1986. Now considered a cult film, Crossroads (1986) inspired the music video game Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (2007). In 1988, Fusco wrote and produced the iconic box office hit Young Guns (1988) and its equally-popular sequel Young Guns II (1990). His research experiences on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation led to the controversial Thunderheart (1992) in 1992, an acclaimed expose of federal abuses in contemporary Native American communities. Fusco also went on to write the Native-themed ABC mini-series DreamKeeper (2003) and the popular Disney epic Hidalgo (2004). His first and only animated script Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002), was nominated for an Academy Award in 2003. From 2014-2017 Fusco was the creator and show runner of the Netflix Original Series 'Marco Polo' . Fusco has been recognized as a creative ally by the Native American community for nearly 4 decades. . In 2020, Fusco wrote the original screenplay 'The Highwaymen' which stars Kevin Costner and Woody Harrelson and is directed by John Lee Hancock. Most recently, Fusco's 2023 original screenplay 'The Wind and the Reckoning' was the source for the indigenous Hawaiian historical drama that won Best Film at multiple indie festivals. His latest spec script 'The Rescue' has been purchased by Skydance and will be helmed by Potsy Ponciroli, starring Brandon Sklenar.