Callum Andrew Johnston
- Producer
- Director
- Writer
Callum Andrew Johnston was born in 1991 in Crawley, West Sussex, to Natasha (Vincent), a homemaker, and Paul Johnston an Engineer. He grew up in the town he was born and began film making on the local streets at 17.
Callum had already written and directed RH11 & Crossed Paths before he was 20 and received a full scholarship to attend the NYFA (New York film academy), but failed to graduate because he had to leave early for family reasons.
Upon returning to the UK he began writing and directing Little District which premiered at the Cannes Film festival. Beginning his career in front of the camera it is at this stage he started to understand his passions burned to be behind the camera moving onto producing, writing & directing full time.
In 2014 Callum finished writing The Forbidden Note which was a controversial romance drama about a Muslim girl falling in love with a Non-Muslim. This film premiered at Cannes 2015 before releasing on AmazonVOD in 2017.
A year after The Forbidden Note was released on Amazon, Callum started to work as Head of Production at Red Face Film which is a company that produces Islamic films. At Red Face, he helped work on One Day in the Haram (A film by Abrar Hussain) which is a feature documentary about Mecca. This is regarded as the most successful film ever made on The Haram. One day in the Haram has now been viewed in over 195 countries and has massed an audience of 40 million. This is still growing today and has recently been re-released in cinemas in Canada, USA, South Africa, Pakistan and the UK.
Shortly after the success of One day in the Haram for Red Face Films, Callum and Abrar collaborated again on One Night in Al-Aqsa which is a feature documentary about the inner workings of Masjid Aqsa in East Jerusalem. This film premiered at Leicester Square in 2018 before a successful cinema tour in late 2019 and early 2020. Recently, this film was pulled from Cinemas around the world due to the Covid19 outbreak.
During the pandemic Callum helped produce and film another Documentary called The Balance which features many important and influential mainstream Muslims from the entertainment industry. The powerful narrative films highlights how important it is for a Muslim to balance their fame & faith. The film is due for selected worldwide cinema release in 2022.
Post Covid, Callum set up a cultural film hub in his home town called Crawley Film Initiative which helps mentor and train young people between 16 - 24 years of age. Crawley Film Initiative is in production with a 4 part drama series called Romeo. Hotel. Eleven which will be filmed in Spring 2022. During his time working with Crawley Film Initiative, Callum has helped launch Crawley's very first film festival called Crawley Film Fest which launches late August 2022 and this is where Romeo. Hotel. Eleven will be first screened.
Callum had already written and directed RH11 & Crossed Paths before he was 20 and received a full scholarship to attend the NYFA (New York film academy), but failed to graduate because he had to leave early for family reasons.
Upon returning to the UK he began writing and directing Little District which premiered at the Cannes Film festival. Beginning his career in front of the camera it is at this stage he started to understand his passions burned to be behind the camera moving onto producing, writing & directing full time.
In 2014 Callum finished writing The Forbidden Note which was a controversial romance drama about a Muslim girl falling in love with a Non-Muslim. This film premiered at Cannes 2015 before releasing on AmazonVOD in 2017.
A year after The Forbidden Note was released on Amazon, Callum started to work as Head of Production at Red Face Film which is a company that produces Islamic films. At Red Face, he helped work on One Day in the Haram (A film by Abrar Hussain) which is a feature documentary about Mecca. This is regarded as the most successful film ever made on The Haram. One day in the Haram has now been viewed in over 195 countries and has massed an audience of 40 million. This is still growing today and has recently been re-released in cinemas in Canada, USA, South Africa, Pakistan and the UK.
Shortly after the success of One day in the Haram for Red Face Films, Callum and Abrar collaborated again on One Night in Al-Aqsa which is a feature documentary about the inner workings of Masjid Aqsa in East Jerusalem. This film premiered at Leicester Square in 2018 before a successful cinema tour in late 2019 and early 2020. Recently, this film was pulled from Cinemas around the world due to the Covid19 outbreak.
During the pandemic Callum helped produce and film another Documentary called The Balance which features many important and influential mainstream Muslims from the entertainment industry. The powerful narrative films highlights how important it is for a Muslim to balance their fame & faith. The film is due for selected worldwide cinema release in 2022.
Post Covid, Callum set up a cultural film hub in his home town called Crawley Film Initiative which helps mentor and train young people between 16 - 24 years of age. Crawley Film Initiative is in production with a 4 part drama series called Romeo. Hotel. Eleven which will be filmed in Spring 2022. During his time working with Crawley Film Initiative, Callum has helped launch Crawley's very first film festival called Crawley Film Fest which launches late August 2022 and this is where Romeo. Hotel. Eleven will be first screened.
