John Lafia

John Lafia (April 2, 1957 – April 29, 2020) was an American filmmaker and musician. He was best known for co-writing the 1988 film Child's Play and directing its 1990 sequel Child's Play 2. Career Lafia's first feature film was The Blue Iguana, which he wrote and directed as well as producing the soundtrack. It was selected to screen at a special midnight showing in the Palais des Festivals at the 1988 Cannes Film Festival. Lafia co-wrote the screenplay for Child's Play (1988). As a credited screenwriter, he was responsible for coining the name "Chucky" and contributing trademark dialog such as "Hi, I'm Chucky, wanna play?" Upon its release, Child's Play was number one at the North American box office. The film won a Saturn Award for Best Horror Film, as well as a nomination for best writing. The film was also an Official Selection at the Festival International du Film Fantastique d'Avoriaz. Lafia went on to direct Child's Play 2 (1990). The film debuted at number one on the North American box office charts. It was nominated for a Saturn Award, and was an Official Selection at the Festival International du Film Fantastique d'Avoriaz. Lafia followed Child's Play 2 with Man's Best Friend (1993), which he both wrote and directed for New Line Cinema. The film debuted at number two on the North American box office charts and was selected for the Special Prize at the Festival international du film fantastique de Gérardmer by a panel of judges led by Terry Gilliam and Walter Hill. Man's Best Friend also garnered a Saturn Award nomination in the science fiction category. The film was an Official Selection at the Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival, as well as the Beauvais Film Festival Cinemalia. In the mid-1990s, Lafia became an early pioneer of new media. He directed the live-action video game Corpse Killer (1994) for Digital Pictures/Sega, and an interactive featurette, Bombmeister (1995), for Sony/Interfilm. Both works married computer technology with live-action imagery and digital graphics to present the audience with an interactive world that was just beginning to emerge. Lafia also became active in episodic and long-form television, directing multiple episodes of Babylon 5 and TV movies: The Rats, Chameleon 3: Dark Angel, Monster, Firestorm: Last Stand at Yellowstone and Code 1114 for Paramount, Fox, A&E and CBS. This culminated in the NBC miniseries 10.5 (2004) and its sequel 10.5: Apocalypse (2006), which Lafia wrote, directed and produced.