Billy Ray (born 1962)[1] is an American screenwriter and film director. He began writing for television and movies in 1994 with Color of Night.[2] He has written numerous films including the first Hunger Games film (2012), Richard Jewell (2019), and Captain Phillips (2013) earning an Oscar nomination for the latter.
Billy Ray | |
|---|---|
 Ray in 2007 | |
| Born | 1962 (age 61–62) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Film director, screenwriter |
| Spouse | Stacy Sherman |
Biography
editRay was born in Los Angeles, and raised in Encino, Los Angeles, California. He is from a Jewish family, and attended Steven Wise Temple and Birmingham High School.[3][1][4] Starting in 2003, he began to direct as well as write; his first film was Shattered Glass, inspired by the true story of Stephen Glass, a journalist who fabricated a majority of his stories.[5] He was nominated for the Most Promising Filmmaker by the Chicago Film Critics Association and an Independent Spirit Award for Best Screenplay for his work on this film.[6] Breach (2007), which Ray co-wrote and directed, tells a similar story about Robert Hanssen, an FBI agent convicted of spying for the Soviet Union and later, Russia, for more than two decades, and Eric O'Neill, who worked as his assistant and helped bring about his downfall.[7]
He is perhaps best known for writing the screenplay to the 2012 blockbuster, The Hunger Games, and his Academy Award-nominated screenplay for the 2013 film, Captain Phillips. Ray also worked with the advertising agency Barkley to help write the AMC Theatres 2021 "We Make Movies Better" campaign starring Nicole Kidman.[8]
Filmography
editFilms
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Color of Night | No | Yes | No |
| 1995 | The Shooter | No | Yes | No |
| 1997 | Volcano | No | Yes | No |
| 1998 | Legalese | No | Yes | No |
| 2002 | Hart's War | No | Yes | No |
| 2003 | Shattered Glass | Yes | Yes | No |
| 2004 | Suspect Zero | No | Yes | No |
| 2005 | Flightplan | No | Yes | No |
| 2007 | Breach | Yes | Yes | No |
| 2009 | State of Play | No | Yes | No |
| 2012 | The Hunger Games | No | Yes | No |
| 2013 | Captain Phillips | No | Yes | No |
| 2015 | The Breakup Girl | No | No | Yes |
| Secret in Their Eyes | Yes | Yes | No | |
| 2018 | Overlord | No | Yes | No |
| 2019 | Gemini Man | No | Yes | No |
| Terminator: Dark Fate | No | Yes | Co-producer | |
| Richard Jewell | No | Yes | No |
Television
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Executive Producer |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994–1995 | Earth 2 | No | Yes | No | Co-creator |
| 2016–2017 | The Last Tycoon | Yes | Yes | Yes | Also developer |
| 2020 | The Comey Rule | Yes | Yes | Yes | Miniseries |
References
edit- ^ a b Pfefferman, Naomi (19 July 2017). "Miniseries adds Jewish context to Fitzgerald's 'Last Tycoon'". Jewish Journal.
Ray, 53, said that he and the show's executive producer, Christopher Keyser, deliberately increased the story's Jewish content because they both are Jewish
- ^ "Production Credits: Color of Night". Allmovie. Retrieved 15 March 2010.
- ^ "Billy Ray Archives". Jewish Journal. 2017-07-19. Retrieved 2019-12-14.
- ^ Pfefferman, Naomi (November 21, 2003). "Neediness brought journalists downfall Judaism brought him back". J. The Jewish News of Northern California. Retrieved June 26, 2019.
- ^ Hastings, Michael. "Overview: Shattered Glass". Allmovie. Retrieved 15 March 2010.
- ^ "Awards: Billy Ray". Allmusic. Retrieved 15 March 2010.
- ^ Buchanan, Jason. "Overview: Breach". Allmovie. Retrieved March 15, 2010.
- ^ Collins, Leslie. "Barkley offers behind-the-scenes look at AMC's $25M campaign". Kansas City Business Journal.
External links
edit- The Dialogue: Learn from the Masters Interview Archived 2008-02-21 at the Wayback Machine
- Billy Ray at IMDb