John L’Ecuyer

John L’Ecuyer was born in Montreal where he spent the majority of his teenage years struggling with heroine addiction. In his early twenties he (along with the cajoling of the Montreal police) decided that “lock-down” treatment would be his last chance at turning his life around. He spent a successful year at the James Street Recovery Program in Ottawa. Subsequent to his treatment, he worked in an AIDS hospice, a youth drop-in centre, and for the Ottawa needle exchange/prostitution outreach program. In 1994 John moved to Toronto to enroll in Ryerson University’s film program. His short films have won numerous awards including the Jay Scott Award for Best Overall Production, Best Short Experimental and Best Writing (TVO), as well as First Place at the International University Film Festival. John has published short stories in “MATRIX – A Literary Review,” “Venue” and Seattle’s “Pills-A-Go-Go.” His articles have appeared in “The Montreal Gazette,” “The Ottawa Sun,” “Venue,” “Pathways” and numerous other publications. John’s first feature,“Curtis’ Charm,” and his short, “UseOnceAndDestroy,” both won Jury Citation Awards at the 1995 Toronto International Film Festival. He has since directed a number of shows for TV, including two episodes of the CBC/Bruce McDonald TV show “The Rez,” and four episodes of the Disney/Insight teen TV series, “Ready or Not.” John’s first feature documentary, “Confessions of a Rabid Dog,” (produced for TVOntario) won Best Social Issues Documentary at the 1998 Hot Docs! Festival. He has been writing a book chronicling Montreal’s crime scene from 1945 to1995 in conjunction with Montreal’s crime tabloid “Allo Police,” and he has recorded a jazz/spoken word album, released in March 1997.