Pamela Gray
Pamela Gray | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1956 (age 67–68) |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | M.A.Boston University |
| Occupation | Screenwriter |
Pamela Gray(born 1956) is an American screenwriter.
Biography[edit]
Gray was raised in aJewishfamily inNew York City,the daughter of a salesman and a schoolteacher.[1]She earned an M.A. in poetry fromBoston Universityafter which she spent several years teaching.[2]While living inOakland,she wrote a script for a play that had a successful run.[2]She then moved toLos Angelesand enrolled inUCLA's screenwriting program (where she studied underLew Hunter) during which she interned with the producer ofStar Trek: The Next Generation.[2]
Career[edit]
During Gray's internship atStar Trek,she re-wrote an episode(Violations)which was used.[2]
In 1992, she wroteThe Blouse Man(retitledA Walk on the Moon) based on her experiences vacationing in theCatskillsfor which she won theSamuel Goldwyn Writing Award.[2]The script was not initially purchased until it was seen by actorTony Goldwynwho was given the script by his agency,Creative Artists Agency.[1]They tried to recruitDavid Seltzeras director but failed and they then agreed to let Goldwyn direct.[1]This began a longtime collaboration between Gray as writer and Goldwyn as director.[3]
A Walk on the Moonwas later adapted into a play and produced at theAmerican Conservatory Theaterin San Francisco. In a 2018 interview with Taylor Steinbeck, Gray reflected on the teenage zeitgeist the story represents:
The 1960s was an era similar to today when teenagers had a stake in what was happening politically. I’ve heard young gun control activists from Parkland, Florida, saying, “People of our age group haven’t had a voice since the ’60s.” Just like the kids of today, the kids in the ’60s didn’t trust their government, but they didn’t believe they were powerless. InMoon,Alison says that Woodstock is going to end the war in Vietnam. There was this belief in the power of youth.[4]
Gray then signed withMiramaxand wroteMusic of the Heart,a fictional story about the life of violin teacherRoberta Guasparidirected byWes Cravenand starringMeryl Streep.[2] Gray went on to writeConviction(2010), which starredHilary SwankandSam Rockwelland premiered at theToronto International Film Festival.It tells the real-life story of Betty Anne Waters, who tries to get her brother's life sentence overturned.[5]In a 2010 interview with FF2 Media'sJan Lisa Huttner,Tony Goldwyn commented on Betty Anne Waters's character:
You know Betty Anne's great survival skill—I realized getting to know her—her great survival skill is her understanding of what it means to love another person. That, to me, is her great heroism and the source of her courage and her strength. Betty Anne, because she just impulsively and instinctively loves the people in her life, she has this network of people that adore her.[6]
Gray's filmMegan Leavey(2017) tells the true story of a young woman (played byKate Mara) who joins the Marines to escape her small New York town, and forms a bond with a combat dog named Rex.[7][8]The film received positive reviews with 87% on Rotten Tomatoes.[9]
For television, Gray wrote episodes forOnce and Againin 1999 and forThe Dividein 2014.[10]
References[edit]
- ^abcThe Catskills Institute: "Screening the Bungalows - An Interview with Pamela Gray, Screenwriter of" A Walk on the Moon "by Phil Brownfrom In the Mountains #8 October 1999
- ^abcdefVariety Magazine: "Pamela Gray" By Saul RubinSeptember 15, 1999
- ^Gold, Sylviane (1999-03-28)."FILM; A Goldwyn on the Way Up in the Family Business".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.Retrieved2020-04-27.
- ^Steinbeck, Taylor (June 1, 2018)."Writing from Memory: An Interview with A Walk on the Moon Book Writer Pamela Gray".American Conservatory Theater, San Francisco.RetrievedApril 27,2020.
- ^"Conviction".IMDB.2010.RetrievedApril 27,2020.
- ^Huttner, Jan Lisa (October 28, 2010)."Jan Chats About Conviction with Director Tony Goldwyn and Screenwriter Pamela Gray".FF2 Media.RetrievedApril 27,2020.
- ^Deadline: "‘Megan Leavey’ Co-Writer Pamela Gray Signs With Gersh" by Anita BuschJune 19, 2017
- ^Baker, Martha K."'Megan Leavey' teaches about a dog's life ".KDHX.Retrieved2020-04-27.
- ^"Megan Leavy".Rotten Tomatoes.2017.RetrievedApril 27,2020.
- ^"Pamela Gray".IMDb.Retrieved2020-04-27.
- American women screenwriters
- 1956 births
- Jewish American screenwriters
- Boston University College of Fine Arts alumni
- Living people
- Screenwriters from New York City
- 20th-century American screenwriters
- 20th-century American women writers
- 21st-century American screenwriters
- 21st-century American women writers
- 21st-century American Jews