The Dialogue: An Interview with Screenwriter Billy Ray

Video
2007
Not Rated
1h 25m

YOUR RATING

BILLY RAY has written or co-written the screenplays for Color of Night, Volcano and Hart's War and also created the sci-fi series Earth 2. In 2003, Ray wrote and directed Shattered Glass, wh... Read allBILLY RAY has written or co-written the screenplays for Color of Night, Volcano and Hart's War and also created the sci-fi series Earth 2. In 2003, Ray wrote and directed Shattered Glass, which was based on the true story of fraudulent journalist Stephen Glass. Most recently, he ... Read allBILLY RAY has written or co-written the screenplays for Color of Night, Volcano and Hart's War and also created the sci-fi series Earth 2. In 2003, Ray wrote and directed Shattered Glass, which was based on the true story of fraudulent journalist Stephen Glass. Most recently, he found himself back in the writer/director role for Breach, a story based on real-life FBI ... Read all

Director
- Dave Moldavon
Stars
- Mike De Luca
- Billy Ray

See production info at IMDbPro

YOUR RATING

Director
- Dave Moldavon
Stars
- Mike De Luca
- Billy Ray

1User review

See production info at IMDbPro

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Mike De Luca

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Billy Ray

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9gillian-thoughtoutmedia

A great lesson in what makes a story

This informal chat between 2 friends about story and screen writing is one of the most informative hours i have spent in chasing the craft of story. Ray is clear, direct, and his remarks on what is commonly missing in too many scripts of today is a sentence i'll carry with me always. He retains a humility about himself despite his success, but is assertive and clear about his talent, a balance i think more writers need. I found his treatment of the exercise with an unknown object really relayed to me that he is an artist first and foremost, still happy to be tested and risk vulnerability to unearth a story waiting to be found (something some other writers in the series found difficult). He took acting classes for 4 years so that he could understand actors craft and communicate story to them and for hem. This early work is still very clear as he talks about working with and respecting them. He understands the composite craft of filmmaking, and i'm grateful I have this to listen to every now and then.

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Trivia
Billy Ray repeats some comments in this interview almost word for word in an interview he would go on to give a few years later. This repetition is perhaps most noticeable in what he says about returning to being only a screenplay writer after having been a writer/director on some projects. Here in The Dialogue: An Interview with Screenwriter Billy Ray (2007)he says, "I got into this business to work with great directors. And I am not a great director, so it would be stupid of me to limit myself to working only with me." In a segment of an interview appearing in More Tales from the Script (2010), Ray says "I got into writing with the idea that I wanted to work with great directors. I am not a great director, so it would be stupid to limit myself to only working with me." In both cases he immediately follows these comments by citing Ang Lee and Peter Weir as two of the "great directors" he would like to work with, although he reverses the order in which he mentions them.

Goofs
Mistakenly thinking that Billy Ray has made a mistake regarding the release year of five major American films, interviewer Mike De Luca incorrectly "corrects" him. De Luca has just asked Ray if he thinks any particular year in the modern Hollywood "Golden Age" of the 1970s was its best year. Rays answer is, "1976." He calls it not just the best year of that decade but "the greatest movie year of all time." He substantiates this claim by pointing out that among the films of that year, the losing nominees for Best Picture at the Oscars were All the President's Men (1976), Bound for Glory (1976), Network (1976), and Taxi Driver (1976). He goes on to say that the winner was Rocky (1976), quickly adding that he's not implying it did not deserve it. Apparently misunderstanding him to be talking about the Oscars ceremonies of 1976 rather than about the year those films came out, De Luca then adds a parenthetical remark identifying 1975 as their release year.

Quotes
Mike De Luca: What's the biggest difference between being a writer and now, a writer/director?
Billy Ray: Well, the biggest difference is, when you're on the set of a movie, and you're the writer and you say, "Gee, I love apple juice," they say, "Well there's a 7-11 right down the street." But when you're the director, and you say you like apple juice, you hear these walkie-talkies clicking all up and down the stage.
Mike De Luca: [laughing] Trucks are backing up...
Billy Ray: I mean, they can't get it to you fast enough!