John Alan Grable (born on July 30, 1957 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana; died on May 11, 2016 in Grapevine, Texas) was formerly known as the first director and producer of the Barney and the Backyard Gang video series as well as helping in early development of the character.
Career[]
Shortly after graduating from Baylor University in 1975, John began his career as a director and producer for ministry media within the Dallas Fort Worth area. He worked for organizations such as ACTS Network, Prestonwood Baptist Church, International Mission Board, The Richard's Group, and First Baptist of Dallas[1]. Later on in his career, John made over one hundred documentaries for the United Nations.
Sunshine Factory[]
In the early 1980s, John was hired to be the director and producer of the Sunshine Factory, a Christian based children's series filmed in Fort Worth.
Barney the Dinosaur[]
In early 1988 co-director on the Sunshine Factory, Dwin Towell (studio manager for Color Dynamics) was assembling a team to produce a children's show based around a friendly dinosaur. Dwin instantly thought John could bring years of expertise and knowledge to the project and hired him as the director and producer for the first three videos in the miniseries.
John hired several individuals from his own personal contact list to help put the video series together, including art director, Jamie Ruth Conner.
When John started as the director, Barney was still a fierce looking t-rex with fangs and claws. He and Jamie came up with a softer, plushy looking dinosaur. John was adamant that Barney needed to be friendly and approachable and that even a toddler would feel comfortable embracing.