OBIE Award-winning theater director John Hancock used a grant from the American Film Institute to produce, direct and co-author his first film, the short "Sticky My Fingers . . . Fleet My Feet" (1970), for which he received an Oscar nomination. He directed his first feature "Let's Scare Jessica to Death" (1971), a creepy little tale of murder and deception, and followed with his most critically acclaimed work, "Bang the Drum Slowly" (1973), which advanced the careers of stars Robert De Niro and Michael Moriarty. He acquitted himself well with "Baby Blue Marine" (1976) and "California Dreaming"
