Howard Brookner (April 30, 1954 – April 27, 1989) was an American film director. He produced and directed the documentary Burroughs: the Movie about William S. Burroughs (1983), Robert Wilson and the Civil Wars on theatre director Robert Wilson (1986), and directed, co-produced and co-wrote Bloodhounds of Broadway (1989).

Biography

Howard Brookner was born April 30, 1954 in New York City and grew up in Great Neck, Long Island. He studied at Exeter prep school, earned his B.A. from Columbia University in political science, and his M.A. in art history and film at New York University, where for his senior thesis he began what would go on to be the highly acclaimed feature documentary on William S. Burroughs. His film crew consisted of his NYU classmates Tom DiCillo (camera) and Jim Jarmusch (sound.)

Begun in 1978, Burroughs: the Movie was aired on BBC Arena and premiered at the 1983 New York Film Festival. Janet Maslin of the New York Times wrote: “The quality of discovery about ‘Burroughs’ was very much the director’s doing, and Mr. Brookner demonstrates an unusual degree of liveliness and curiosity in exploring his subject.”

Brookner followed up Burroughs: The Movie with a feature documentary on Robert Wilson, documenting Wilson's failed Civil Wars project, offering a closeness to the avant-garde theatre director similar to that in Burroughs: the Movie. Robert Wilson and the Civil Wars was released on public television in 1986.

In 1987 Brookner began production on the American Playhouse/Columbia Studios feature he had written and was directing, Bloodhounds of Broadway starring Madonna, Matt Dillon, Jennifer Grey, Rutger Hauer, and many other notable actors of the day.

Secretly, Brookner was battling AIDS, which became exacerbated when he decided to go off his AZT medication to have the strength to finish shooting. The New York Times wrote it "was a race against the clock" as Brookner was gravely ill while fighting the studio for final cut and holding readings for his next film Scary Kisses (with new acting talent that included Sean Penn and Tilda Swinton).

He died before Bloodhounds of Broadway was released and was buried on his thirty-fifth birthday, 1989. Surrounded by friends and family, he left this quote taped to his refrigerator door: “There’s so much beauty in the world. That’s what got me into trouble in the first place.”