John Byrum

John Byrum is an American film director, and writer known for The Razor's Edge, Heart Beat, Duets and Inserts. Early life Raised in Winnetka, Illinois, on the North Shore of Chicago, Byrum attended New Trier High School, and later studied at New York University in the late 1960s. His instructors included Haig P. Manoogian and graduate student Martin Scorsese, and classmates Oliver Stone and Eric Jenkins. At NYU, he co-wrote Item 72-D, The Adventures of Spa and Fon with director Edward Summer. Career As a student, Byrum interned with Jim Henson on early appearances of The Muppets and was later hired by Henson as one of the original writers of Sesame Street. Henson took a special interest in Byrum's talent, and hired him to write freelance projects. Byrum left New York for Hollywood after Byrum's original script Inserts received positive reaction, and he was tapped to write the script Harry and Walter Go to New York by producers and mentors Don Devlin, Tony Bill, and Harry Gittes. After that script was sold for a then-record-breaking amount, Byrum was hired to write the Diana Ross vehicle Mahogany. He passed on the chance to write the script for Jaws to work on Mahogany with one of his idols, director Tony Richardson, only to have Richardson leave the film midproduction after clashing with producer Berry Gordy of Motown fame. Berry took over directing chores, and the true drama of Mahogany was said to be the behind-the-camera relationship between Gordy and Ross.