J. F. Lawton

Jonathan Frederick Lawton (born August 11, 1960) is an American screenwriter, producer, and director. His screen credits include the box office hits Pretty Woman, Mistress, Blankman, Under Siege, Under Siege 2: Dark Territory, The Hunted, Chain Reaction, DOA: Dead or Alive, Jackson, and the series V.I.P. (on American TV). Under the pseudonym J.D. Athens, Lawton wrote and directed the films Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death and Pizza Man. Early life J.F.Lawton is the son of author and novelist Harry Lawton and pianist Georgeann Leona Lawton. The couple met in Berkeley, California while attending the University of California. The couple later moved to Riverside, where Harry was hired as a reporter for The Press-Enterprise, and where J.F. was born. As a child, J.F. Lawton had severe dyslexia, which made school life difficult. It took him many years of practice and hard work to manage his learning disability.