James Gunn Parents: Meet James Gunn, and Leota Gunn
James Gunn Parents: Meet James Gunn, and Leota Gunn – Low-budget films like Night of the Living Dead and Friday the 13th influenced James Gunn as a child.
He read Fangoria and went to genre film screenings, including the original Dawn of the Dead at St. Louis’ Tivoli Theatre.
He began making 8 mm zombie films with his brothers in the woods near their home when he was 12 years old.
James Gunn and his brothers all graduated from Jesuit St. Louis University High School in 1984. He later earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Saint Louis University.
Gunn created political cartoons for The University News, the student newspaper at Saint Louis University. In 1995, he received a Master of Fine Arts from Columbia University.
Gunn founded The Icons in 1989 while living in St. Louis, and served as lead vocalist. Mom, We Like It Here on Earth was released in 1994, and its songs “Sunday” and “Walking Naked” were featured in the film Tromeo and Juliet.
Gunn began his filmmaking career in 1995 with Troma Entertainment, for whom he wrote the independent film Tromeo and Juliet.
Gunn learned how to write screenplays, produce films, scout locations, direct actors, distribute films, and create his own poster art while working alongside his mentor, Troma co-founder Lloyd Kaufman.
After working on several other Troma films, Gunn wrote, produced, and starred in Craig Mazin’s superhero comedy The Specials, which starred Rob Lowe, Thomas Haden Church, Paget Brewster, Judy Greer, and Jamie Kennedy.
In 2000, Gunn published The Toy Collector, a novel about a hospital orderly who steals drugs from the hospital and sells them to support his toy collection.
In 1998, he and Troma President Lloyd Kaufman co-wrote All I Need to Know About Filmmaking I Learned from The Toxic Avenger, a book about his experiences working with Kaufman at Troma.
He collaborated with Suda 51, the game designer, to write the story for Grasshopper Manufacture’s video game Lollipop Chainsaw.
During his search for a new head of DC Films, Gunn and Peter Safran advised David Zaslav, the CEO of the newly formed Warner Bros. Discovery.
James Gunn Parents: Meet James Gunn, and Leota Gunn
James Gunn is the son of attorney James F. Gunn and Leota “Lee” Gunn. His father came from a family of Irish immigrants. Gunn has stated that his surname was derived from the Irish name MacGilgunn, which means “sons to the servants of the god of the dead”; it actually means “son of the brown youth.”
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