John Fasano was a writer, director and producer who worked in both film and television. In 1998 he received a Writers Guild Award nomination for his script for the made-for-TV movie The Hunchback.
Born in Bethpage, Long Island, Fasano grew up in the nearby community of Port Washington. He began making Super-8 movies as a child after visiting the set of the 1970 film Husbands, written and directed by John Cassavetes, a longtime friend of Fasano's father. While still in high school he began making industrial films for IBM.
As a student at SUNY Purchase, he worked as film research editor for TV Cable Week magazine. Fasano was also a telented artist, and after graduation he illustrated and art directed for magazines and created artwork for the low-budget movie Tenement, also known as Slaughter in the South Bronx.
He eventually moved to Los Angeles, where he wrote screenplays while trying to break into the entertainment industry. After just four months, he sold his first spec script, Tailgunners, to Morgan Creek Productions. This breakthrough led to other writing assignments and, in time, directing and producing opportunities.
His film credits as a writer included Another 48 Hours with Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy, and Universal Soldier with Jean-Claude Van Damme. In addition, he directed such films as Rock 'n' Roll Nightmare and Black Roses.
Television provided many opportunities as well, and in addition to The Hunchback, he wrote several other made-for-TV movies, including Mean Streak, Saving Jessica Lynch, The Legend of Butch and Sundance, Hannah's Law and The Eleventh Victim. He also wrote Jesse Stone: Stone Cold, which launched a series of successful films starring Tom Selleck as New England police chief Jesse Stone.
In addition, he directed the telefilms Murder at the Presidio and A Family Lost.
More recently, he created and wrote the horror comedy Woke Up Dead, a digital series for Sony/Crackle starring Jon Heder, Josh Gad and Krysten Ritter.
In addition to his work as a filmmaker, Fasano was a guest lecturer at the American Film Institute and the Writers Boot Camp.
Fasano died July 19, 2014, in Studio City, California. He was 52.