Actor seeks Chapter 11 over ranch

Don Johnson aims to keep property in Pitkin County

By John Accola, Rocky Mountain News
April 24, 2004

Actor Don Johnson is seeking bankruptcy protection to hold on to his Pitkin County ranch, effectively thwarting a lender's efforts to auction the property to collect $1 million.

Timber Doodle Glade Equity Venture LLC, a company controlled by the former Miami Vice star, filed for Chapter 11 on April 14 in Denver Bankruptcy Court.

LAS VEGAS REVIEW JOURNAL ARTICLE -

COLUMN: Norm!

Don Johnson production has 'Eye' on Las Vegas actors, extras

Closed auditions for about 100 local actors start this week for a Don Johnson-backed NBC pilot about a Las Vegas-based surveillance expert.

If the series takes off, it would be a bonanza for the local acting community as well as a potential prime-time promotion for Las Vegas, reminiscent of "VEGA$" two decades ago.

Johnson, who starred in "Miami Vice" and "Nash Bridges," is behind the project with partner/producer Scott Steindorff.

Tentatively titled "Casino Eye," the drama is being written by Gary Scott Thompson, who collaborated on "The Fast and the Furious," starring Vin Diesel.

"They're giving seasoned local actors the opportunity to read for the producer and the director," said Jaki Baskow, who is coordinator and liaison with the Hollywood contingent. "We're hoping it can be another 'VEGA$,' " Baskow said.

The late Robert Urich became a symbol of Las Vegas hipness as private eye Dan Tanna, with his flashy 1957 T-Bird and drive-through apartment. The series ran on ABC from 1978 to 1981.

All the interviews have been pre-arranged. Shooting is scheduled for mid-March, with work for hundreds of extras anticipated.
 

PRESS RELEASE -

....NBC has given the green light to the pilot about a Las Vegas-set drama that will revolve around a casino security expert. Don Johnson is involved in the project with executive producers Scott Steindorff and Gary Scott Thompson.

Johnson waxes eloquent

Powerful in Viet drama

The original TNT film "Word of Honor" focuses on topics related to the Vietnam War, but its issues and themes resonate today. Airing tonight at 8, "Word of Honor" is a challenging, multilayered drama featuring an outstanding performance by Don Johnson. The former "Miami Vice" star plays a Vietnam veteran who, along with the remaining members of his platoon, has carried a secret for 30 years. It's a courtroom drama, but one with this added element of a mystery. The film is also timely because it raises questions about war, such as some of those being asked now about U.S. involvement in Iraq. Based on a Nelson DeMille novel of the same title, the film manages to illuminate the moral conflicts men can face in combat - as well as the price of exorcising those demons. Former Army Lt. Benjamin Tyson (Johnson), now a successful executive with a wife, Marcy (Sharon Lawrence), and son David (James Kirk), is suddenly called to account. A dying member of his old platoon, Dr. Steven Brandt (John Heard), who has a vendetta against him, has spit out a story to the newspapers about a hospital massacre similar to My Lai. Tyson, with his men, took an oath never to talk about it. Now he's being investigated by an Army major (Jeanne Tripplehorn), who is trying to find out what happened and possibly establish grounds for a military tribunal. Meanwhile, his wife, now a high school principal, has become a target of the local newspaper, which has splashed pictures from her promiscuous years over the front page. Tyson is aware of her past, but having her indiscretions in print can't help his case. Yet he soldiers on, at one point secretly rendezvousing with his former platoon members, who are anxious to solidify their position. Tyson, still steadfast and loyal, keeps silent, almost destroying his marriage and making it difficult for his attorney (Arliss Howard) to defend him. His inner strength and resolve lead to Johnson's finest acting moment in the film, when he addresses the military tribunal. It's a speech that digs deep into the heart of war and its consequences. The cast of "Word of Honor" is excellent, especially Heard as the accuser. This is one film worthy of viewers' time. Originally published on December 6, 2003 New York Daily News

Johnson Digs Deep for Word of  Honor
By David Martindale

The main thing many people remember about Sonny Crockett, the TV character that made Don Johnson famous in the mid-1980s, is the classic Miami Vice look: a European sports jacket with pushed-up sleeves worn over a T-shirt and baggy pants, pastel color schemes, no socks, no belt, three-day beard. Johnson in this get-up launched a widely copied fashion craze, although most of the men who tried to capture Crockett's tropical tough guy aura wound up looking rather silly. The reason it worked for Johnson, but for so few others? It was attitude. It was charisma. It was Johnson's know-how at developing an inimitable character. It so happens that Johnson had considered every detail of his appearance, no matter how seemingly superficial, and came up with a look that allowed instant insight into his character. "There wasn't anyone saying, 'Hey, we'll make this guy a fashion icon,'" Johnson explained to one interviewer a few years ago. "The character was a very loose, hard-partying, hard-crime-fighting guy. The fact that he wore no socks? Well, it's too hot in Miami for socks. And the stubble came out of the fact that he hadn't been to bed in three days."

That's an audacious claim, one that can probably never be satisfyingly proven. But Johnson's latest -- a quietly dignified and emotionally charged performance in the TNT original movie Word of Honor -- might win him some believers. He plays Ben Tyson, a corporate giant and family man whose involvement 30 years earlier in a Vietnam war crime comes back to haunt him. It's not the flashy kind of role he's known for. "I think people have a preconceived notion that I only play heroes like Nash Bridges and Sonny Crockett." But this movie allows him to flex an entirely different set of acting muscles.

"Don's performance will be a revelation to some, but it was not to me," director Robert Markowitz says. "I don't think I've worked with an actor who knows as much and is as skilled at film acting as Don. In the tradition of William Holden and Harrison Ford, Don digs pretty damn deep in finding the performance he gives at his court-martial. If it is possible to manifest a demon and put it on the screen, Don does it."

Johnson's life in show business began somewhat by accident. He was a senior in high school, needing one more course credit to graduate, and the only class left open to him after his being booted from business administration was drama. Not expecting much, he signed up and soon discovered he had a knack for this stuff, landing the male lead in a production of West Side Story.

Johnson then endured a requisite struggling-actor period of about 15 years (during which he appeared in more than a dozen movies, most of them forgettable, and five failed TV series pilots). Then Miami Vice made him an "overnight" success in 1984. A decade later, Johnson scored with another long-running TV cop show, Nash Bridges, a show perhaps best characterized as an under-the-radar hit. Johnson was not only the star, but also a hands-on executive producer, involved in virtually every aspect of the show's production -- although he never made a big to-do about it, unconcerned with impressing others with his multi-tasking ways. Perhaps it's because Johnson, who often has been unflatteringly portrayed in the celebrity-gossip-fueled tabloid media, doesn't especially care what most people think of him. Like a true artist, he professes to find his self worth in areas that have nothing to do with popularity. "What people think about me is none of my business. If (public acclaim) is what you do this for, you're going to end up pretty unhappy. I stay with the work."

Johnson dons new hat as TV producer

By Michael Fleming

NEW YORK (Variety) - Actor Don Johnson (news) has co-founded a TV production company that is developing a miniseries, a reality show and several pilots, including a drama in which he might star.

DJS Prods., which the "Miami Vice" and "Nash Bridges" star launched with producer Scott Steindorff, has optioned the Jeff Shaara novels "The Glorious Cause" and "Rise to Rebellion," which will form the basis for a miniseries or movie about the American Revolution.

Johnson and Steindorff are in talks to option the Mark Victor Hansen/Robert Allen bestseller "The One Minute Millionaire," which they hope will propel a reality show they are describing as "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (news - Y! TV)" meets "Survivor."

Their pilot projects include "Border Patrol," a New Mexico-based drama that will be developed as a potential star vehicle for Johnson. He said he will wait for a pilot script before committing to it as an actor.

DJS also will include the pilot "Casino Eye," a drama about a Las Vegas-based surveillance expert being written by Gary Scott Thompson (news) ("The Fast and the Furious") for NBC and DreamWorks.

Another potential series the producers are about to shop is "Can't Get Arrested." Penned by Jeff Kahn ("The Ben Stiller (news) Show"), the sitcom revolves around an unemployed actor and thief whose arrest leads to undercover FBI (news - web sites) work. Johnson also has brought Steindorff in on the HBO picture "The Education of Ron Morris," a drama about gambling in college football, and a CBS TV movie "Lombardi in Love," which is about to cast.

"I've been fortunate enough to make enough money to fund this personally," Johnson said. "I've had private offers, and we could lay it off, but right now I don't have to.

"I've known Scott since he first got into the business -- in fact, I gave him his first job," said Johnson, who hired Steindorff to write the TV movie "Lessons of Love."

Steindorff is a film producer who specializes in turning books into movies. Among them is the recently completed Robert Benton (news)-directed adaptation of Philip Roth's "The Human Stain," starring Anthony Hopkins (news) and Nicole Kidman (news), and the Howard Hughes biopic Christopher Nolan (news) is writing and will direct with Jim Carrey (news) starring.

Johnson's film venture, Don Johnson Prods., will remain separate. Its development slate includes the Disney-based animated film "The Mysterious Tadpole," which Johnson is developing with "Stuart Little" director Rob Minkoff.

Reuters/Variety