C. COURTNEY JOYNER is an award-winning writer of fiction, comics, and screenplays, with over 25 produced movies to his credit, including the cult films PRISON starring Viggo Mortensen, CLASS OF 1999 directed by Mark Lester, and the new 3-D CAPTAIN NEMO for Page Four Productions, starring Hugh Bonneville as Nemo, Hailey Atwell, and David Morrisey. A graduate of USC, Courtney’s first produced screenplay was THE OFFSPRING starring the legendary Vincent Price. His other scripts have included TV movies for CBS, (DISTANT COUSINS), the USA Network (BETRAYAL, GUILTY AS CHARGED), and Showtime (WHITE RUSH, THE DEVIL'S PREY). He has written action films (VIETNAM - TEXAS. INSTINCT TO KILL, NAUTILUS) and horror, as well as a number of films for Charles Band's Full Moon company, released by Paramount, including installments in the very successful PUPPET MASTER series and TRANCERS 3 starring Academy Award winner Helen Hunt and Tim Thomerson. He also directed this film, as well as the H.P. Lovecraft adaptation, THE LURKING FEAR. Staying in the horror vein, Courtney co-wrote all 13 episodes of the series WILLIAM SHATNER'S FRIGHT NIGHT for the SyFy Channel. Courtney's newest screenplay is the violent biography of the most notorious woman of the West, THE LEGEND OF BELLE STARR.
As a film journalist, his articles have appeared in TRUE WEST, WILDEST WESTERNS, ROUND-UP, FANGORIA, THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND, and others. He has written chapters for a number of movie books, including LON CHANEY, JR., THE CINEMA OF H.P. LOVECRAFT, THE BOOK OF LISTS: HORROR, and DUKE: WE’RE GLAD WE KNEW YOU.
His movie book, THE WESTERNERS – INTERVIEWS WITH ACTORS, DIRECTORS AND WRITERS, was published by McFarland in November 2010 to excellent reviews, and a second volume is in the works. He is currently writing WARNER BROTHERS FANTASTIC: A HISTORY OF THE STUDIO'S HORROR, SCIENCE-FICTION AND FANTASY FILMS, also for McFarland. As a film historian, Courtney has appeared in the special features on a number of DVD's and documentaries, including THE COMANCHEROS, THE BRUTE MAN, THE BIG TRAIL, APACHE RIFLES, CHARLIE CHAN AT THE OPERA, THE WONDER WORLD OF K. GORDON MURRAY, SHOCK CINEMA, and a slew of upcoming Universal horror titles.
In the world of fiction, his western short stories have been anthologized in the just released THE TRADITIONAL WEST, A FISTFUL OF LEGENDS LAW OF THE GUN, and the upcoming SIX GUNS AND SLAY BELLS. His crime and horror stories are featured in the new collections HOLLYWOOD HELL and BEAT TO A PULP, ROUND 2. His LAW OF THE GUN short story “Two-Bit Kill” was nominated for a Peacemaker Award as Best Short Story of 2010 by The Western Fictioneers and his new western series SHOTGUN will be published by Kensington in 2013. Courtney's young adult western series, THE DEPUTY DIARIES, will be made available as an e-book, downloadable from this site and other venues. Courtney has also written for comics, developing projects for the estate of comic legend Jack Kirby, as well as writing stories for Image Comics' THE WICKED WEST 2, and penning the script for the large graphic novel, THE SAGA OF BILLY THE KID with noted artist Mike Gagnon. Aside from screenwriting, film journalism, comics, and his fiction writing, Courtney also lectures on breaking into the western genre, in the "traditional print" and e-book markets.
Courtney is a member of the Western Writers of America, and was honored this year as the recipient of their President's Award. He is also a member of the Horror Writers Association, and The International Thriller Writers. He lives in Los Angeles.
As a film journalist, his articles have appeared in TRUE WEST, WILDEST WESTERNS, ROUND-UP, FANGORIA, THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND, and others. He has written chapters for a number of movie books, including LON CHANEY, JR., THE CINEMA OF H.P. LOVECRAFT, THE BOOK OF LISTS: HORROR, and DUKE: WE’RE GLAD WE KNEW YOU.
His movie book, THE WESTERNERS – INTERVIEWS WITH ACTORS, DIRECTORS AND WRITERS, was published by McFarland in November 2010 to excellent reviews, and a second volume is in the works. He is currently writing WARNER BROTHERS FANTASTIC: A HISTORY OF THE STUDIO'S HORROR, SCIENCE-FICTION AND FANTASY FILMS, also for McFarland. As a film historian, Courtney has appeared in the special features on a number of DVD's and documentaries, including THE COMANCHEROS, THE BRUTE MAN, THE BIG TRAIL, APACHE RIFLES, CHARLIE CHAN AT THE OPERA, THE WONDER WORLD OF K. GORDON MURRAY, SHOCK CINEMA, and a slew of upcoming Universal horror titles.
In the world of fiction, his western short stories have been anthologized in the just released THE TRADITIONAL WEST, A FISTFUL OF LEGENDS LAW OF THE GUN, and the upcoming SIX GUNS AND SLAY BELLS. His crime and horror stories are featured in the new collections HOLLYWOOD HELL and BEAT TO A PULP, ROUND 2. His LAW OF THE GUN short story “Two-Bit Kill” was nominated for a Peacemaker Award as Best Short Story of 2010 by The Western Fictioneers and his new western series SHOTGUN will be published by Kensington in 2013. Courtney's young adult western series, THE DEPUTY DIARIES, will be made available as an e-book, downloadable from this site and other venues. Courtney has also written for comics, developing projects for the estate of comic legend Jack Kirby, as well as writing stories for Image Comics' THE WICKED WEST 2, and penning the script for the large graphic novel, THE SAGA OF BILLY THE KID with noted artist Mike Gagnon. Aside from screenwriting, film journalism, comics, and his fiction writing, Courtney also lectures on breaking into the western genre, in the "traditional print" and e-book markets.
Courtney is a member of the Western Writers of America, and was honored this year as the recipient of their President's Award. He is also a member of the Horror Writers Association, and The International Thriller Writers. He lives in Los Angeles.
NEW BOOK NEWS! THREE NEW ANTHOLOGIES AND A NOVEL SERIES WITH KENSINGTON!
I'm very pleased to be able to announce that BEAT TO A PULP, ROUND TWO is now out! It's available in print and e-book formats, and I 'm really proud to be included among these great writers. My story is "A GOOD KILL IS WORTH REPEATING," and it asks the burning question: what do you do when an extra working on ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE gets blown away by an assassin? If you're rookie security cop Jack Pearl, you get Richard Conte, Lee Marvin and Don Siegel to help you catch the killer!
RONDO HATTON DOC WINS RONDO AWARD! ALSO, MORE DVD DOCS RELEASED AND IN THE WORKS!
I'm always pleased when asked to add my two (three, five?) cents in the dvd docs that have come my way, many of them thanks to Daniel Griffith and Ballyhoo Pictures. This documentary, TRAIL OF THE CREEPER, is featured on the MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER DVD SET XXII. Daniel did a wonderful job tracing Hatton's tragic life and career, and I am very proud to have been able to contribute what I could. The doc won horror-dom's prestigious RONDO AWARD for "Best DVD Supplement" of 2012, and is featured with the film THE BRUTE MAN.
I am also a talking head in THE INCREDIBLE MR. LIPPERT, a very detailed documentary about the life and career of film producer Robert Lippert, including background on such films as the Sam Fuller classics STEEL HELMET, BARON OF ARIZONA as well as THE FLY. This is one of the bonus features included in MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER DVD SET XXIII, with Bert I. Gordon's KING DINOSAUR. Click on the Amazon links to order! Upcoming are a whole slew of documentaries to accompany some great Universal sci-fi releases, including THE DEADLY MANTIS, REVENGE OF THE CREATURE, THIS ISLAND EARTH and THE MOLE PEOPLE where I get to pay tribute to my great friend, Virgil Vogel. |
HELL COMES TO HOLLYWOOD FOR US ALL!
Next up will be HELL COMES TO HOLLYWOOD from Big Time Books, and then SIX GUNS AND SLAY BELLS from The Western Fictioneers; these are both great anthologies featuring terrific stories from fine writers. "ONE NIGHT IN THE VALLEY" is the sweet take of a washed-out actor who takes revenge against a porn producer with the help of Charles Bronson's ghost. SLAY BELLS is a story of two bank robbers eaten up with guilt about a Christmas Eve robbery gone bloody wrong. HOLLYWOOD is available now, and SLAY BELLS will be available this November, 2012.
HAVE A GOOD FUNERAL MY FRIEND, SHOTGUN WILL PAY!
It's very exciting to ring in the news that editor Gary Goldstein at Kensington Books has bought TWO novels based on my old television pitch (and comic book pitch, and graphic novel pitch) SHOTGUN. The books will be mass market paperbacks through their Pinnacle Books line, and introducing a brand new character to western readers. It will be available at Target, K-Mart and other large outlets. I put this idea together fifteen years ago, and now it's coming to life on paper - I guess all it takes is time! It's shaping up to be a pretty wild and wooly tale, with a very high body count! The first novel will be released in November, 2013! (The artwork was created by the great Gerald Forton as part of the package for the original SHOTGUN comic book pitch.)
FULL MOON AND EMPIRE FLICKS ON BLU-RAY
Director David DeCoteau and I just recorded a commentary for the Blu Ray release of PUPPETMASTER 3. All of the old Full Moon/Paramount titles will be getting the Blu-Ray treatment, including DR. MORDRID (a personal favorite), TRANCERS and LURKING FEAR. Additionally, Shout Factory is releasing PRISON in a new, restoired transfer on Blu-Ray this October. This is great news, since we were never distributed in the U.S. on DVD. Producer Irwin Yablans just did an interview for the disc. And speaking of Irwin, his book THE MAN WHO RE-INVENTED HALLOWEEN will be available in October, and there is a nice chapter detailing the making of our little horror epic.
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