Carroll Ballard, Maverick Director

Behind the scenes on The Black Stallion, Fly Away Home and more

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by Jordan R. Young

Type

Stories

Subject

Director > Carroll Ballard

Keywords

Carroll Ballard, film making

Publishing date

2013

Publisher

Past Times Publishing

Collection

Past Times Film Close-Up

Language

English

Relative size

Physical desc.

Ebook • 30 pages

ISBN

-

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Book Presentation:
A great many movies about the relationship between people and animals have been made over the years, but few have equaled the lyrical beauty of "The Black Stallion." A few that came close were "Never Cry Wolf," "Fly Away Home," and "Duma." They all lack the cutesy touches traditionally added by Hollywood. It's no coincidence the same man directed all four of these highly unusual features, one of modern cinema's most gifted--and more iconoclastic--filmmakers. Carroll Ballard's movies have confounded studio executives and typically failed to find an audience in their initial theatrical release.

Only a true individualist like Ballard could take on "an utterly improbable story" about a kid and a wild stallion and use it to establish himself as a major filmmaker... make a cinematic poem with a wacky sense of humor about a science nerd studying wolves in the Arctic... or direct a cast of newly-hatched goslings for a feature with no script in hand, and "no idea what the rest of the movie was going to be like."

Based on interviews with Ballard and cinematographer Caleb Deschanel--his friend and collaborator on "The Black Stallion" and "Fly Away Home"--this ebook offers a behind the scenes look at a greatly admired filmmaker who works in "a totally unconventional way; he directs by the seat of his pants," according to Deschanel.

The one-time UCLA film student talks about his background and also candidly discusses his current persona non grata status in the industry: "I've been trying to make movies for about 55 years; I've spent five years actually making movies," observed Ballard. "I am unemployable in the Film Biz. Three strikes and you're out. That's the dictum from the money people."

About the Author:
Jordan R. Young is a show business historian, theatre critic and playwright whose work has appeared in The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and other publications. His books include Reel Characters: Great Movie Character Actors; Acting Solo: The Art and Craft of Solo Performance; The Beckett Actor; Spike Jones Off the Record; and The Laugh Crafters: Comedy Writing in Radio and TV's Golden Age. He has written special material for the Grammy Awards and has served as a consultant for BBC Radio. His plays have been produced in Hollywood and Off Off Broadway.

Press Reviews:
"What a nice surprise! All pretty well to the point, no obvious bulls**t, and including some pretty good pictures." --Carroll Ballard

See the complete filmography of Carroll Ballard on the website: IMDB ...