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Dwayne Johnson-Cochran on the True Story That Inspired Heist 88
The writer and producer shares how covering a notorious Chicago bank heist early in his journalism career ultimately inspired the Courtney B. Vance film Heist 88.
With 1.3 million views across platforms, Heist 88, starring Courtney B. Vance, became Showtime’s highest-ranking original film of 2023.
Soulivity spent time talking with multi-talented writer and producer Dwayne Johnson-Cochran. The Chicago-born writer and producer wrote and executive produced the Paramount+ and Showtime film Heist 88, starring multi-award-winning actor Courtney B. Vance. The film was produced by Vance and his wife, multi-award-winning actress Angela Bassett, under their Bassett Vance Productions banner.
Interestingly, Johnson-Cochran worked as a cameraman and journalist for WTTW-Chicago local news during the early stages of his career. While there, he covered the story of a major Chicago bank heist involving four young Black bank employees who were enticed by robber and con man Jeremy Horne to rob the bank where they worked. Johnson-Cochran became so engrossed in the story that he eventually wrote the screenplay for Heist 88, which was loosely inspired by those events rather than conceived as a nonfiction account.
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Johnson-Cochran’s past projects include co-creating the NBC series Minor Adjustments. His feature-film directing debut, the independently produced Love and Action in Chicago, featured Kathleen Turner, Courtney B. Vance, Jason Alexander, Regina King, and Ed Asner. The film debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival and was later sold to HBO.
Johnson-Cochran’s documentary, Side by Side: The Story of the 50/50 Group of Sierra Leone, was executive produced by former Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright and actress and director Regina King. The documentary is available through the National Democratic Institute’s YouTube channel.
