Billy Ray (screenwriter)

Billy Ray
Ray in 2007
Born1962 (age 61–62)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation(s)Film director, screenwriter
SpouseStacy Sherman

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 Captain Phillips (2013) and Richard Jewell (2019).

Biography

Ray 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

Films

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

  1. ^ 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
  2. ^ "Production Credits: Color of Night". Allmovie. Retrieved 15 March 2010.
  3. ^ "Billy Ray Archives". Jewish Journal. 2017-07-19. Retrieved 2019-12-14.
  4. ^ Pfefferman, Naomi (November 21, 2003). "Neediness brought journalists downfall Judaism brought him back". J. The Jewish News of Northern California. Retrieved June 26, 2019.
  5. ^ Hastings, Michael. "Overview: Shattered Glass". Allmovie. Retrieved 15 March 2010.
  6. ^ "Awards: Billy Ray". Allmusic. Retrieved 15 March 2010.
  7. ^ Buchanan, Jason. "Overview: Breach". Allmovie. Retrieved March 15, 2010.
  8. ^ Collins, Leslie. "Barkley offers behind-the-scenes look at AMC's $25M campaign". Kansas City Business Journal.