John Maybury (born 25 March 1958) is an English filmmaker and artist. In 2005 he was named as one of the 100 most influential gay and lesbian people in Britain. Maybury is particularly known for his underground aesthetics and his experimental editing and directorial choices.
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Early life and education
John Maybury grew up in North London, England. He has described his own upbringing as challenging, growing up around abusive and alcoholic parents. He studied at North East London Polytechnic and later went to St. Martin's College to study painting. While studying, in the late 1970s, he began to experiment with film and filmmaking. Influenced primarily by filmmakers such as Kenneth Anger, Maya Deren and Stan Brakhage, as well as artists such as Andy Warhol and John Cocteau, Maybury began experimenting with video art. This led him to the beginning of his relationship with artist Derek Jarman: Jarman, who he'd met at St. Martin's, asked Maybury to work with him on his film Jubilee in set design and in costume work. Following Jubilee's completion, Maybury continued to work with Jarman in the creation of video art and short films, which he describes as pivotal to his later filmmaking.
