Kenneth Johnson is the writer/director of V: The Original Miniseries. When V was released on DVD, KJ had recorded a wonderful, insightful commentary track on the miniseries and gave out his email address, enouraging fans to write to him with their thoughts. We, like many others, did so and he wrote back with thanks. He would also, if asked, sign pictures and mail them to fans – at his own cost – how cool is that?
A few years later, we participated in a couple of online Q & A sessions, set up by his friend and ours, Martin. KJ is so accessible, humble, and generous with his time for his fans and extremely grateful for all the love we all show for this great work of his.
We’ve gotten to know him and his wife Susie more through social media and she’s just as lovely, humble, and funny as her husband. Their activism is also very inspiring to us.
He’s also recorded special messages for the group – did we mention how generous he is?
Regardless of how anyone feels about the sequel and follow-up series, Kenny’s original V miniseries stands the test of time with strong story and characters (many of which are women and minorities) and a message that still resonates (perhaps even moreso) today!
What drives us as a group is the passion for his work and helping it to stay in the public consciousness where it deserves to be.
Currently, Kenny is trying to get funding to film a remake of the original V miniseries as well as his own sequels! When we look at the current state of the movie landscape, you have to wonder why someone hasn’t jumped on this opportunity to retell the story yet – but there is still hope and we will support that effort in any way that we can!
Thank you for sharing your work and your lives with us, KJ and Susie – we are eternally grateful!!!
Visit Kenneth Johnson on Facebook!
UPDATE: September 27, 2024
We decided to make a whirlwind trip to LA in the fall of 2024 to meet up with some of our friends that we’ve made through our V experiences. Our first stop was to see the man himself, THE Kenneth Johnson and his lovely wife Susie.
He welcomed us to his office, showed us all kinds of props and memorabilia from V and his other productions and shared many stories with us. Susie joined us shortly after and they took us to Mel’s Diner for a long, lovely lunch and it felt like chatting with old friends. We then returned to the office to hang out a bit longer before saying our goodbyes. It’s wonderful to meet the artist who created a work that has meant so much to us for so long and have the experience be everything we could have hoped for. Thank you KJ & Susie for everything!
