Gary Ross (born November 3, 1956) is an American screenwriter, director, and producer. He is best known for writing and directing the fantasy comedy-drama film '' Pleasantville'' (1998), the sports drama film ''

Seabiscuit Seabiscuit (May 23, 1933 – May 17, 1947) was a champion thoroughbred racehorse in the United States who became the top money-winning racehorse up to the 1940s. He beat the 1937 Triple Crown winner, War Admiral, by four lengths in a two-hors ...

'' (2003), the dystopian action film ''

The Hunger Games ''The Hunger Games'' are a series of Young adult fiction, young adult Dystopian fiction, dystopian novels written by American author Suzanne Collins. The series consists of a trilogy that follows teenage protagonist Katniss Everdeen, and two ...

'' (2012), and the heist comedy film '' Ocean's 8'' (2018). Ross has been nominated for four

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence in ...

Early life and education

Gary Ross was born on November 3, 1956, in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, California, the son of Gail and Arthur A. Ross, an Oscar-nominated screenwriter (''

Brubaker ''Brubaker'' is a 1980 American prison film, prison Drama (film and television), drama film directed by Stuart Rosenberg. It stars Robert Redford as a newly arrived prison warden, Henry Brubaker, who attempts to clean up a corrupt and violent pe ...

''). His family is

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

. He attended (though did not graduate from) the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

Career

Ross worked as a fisherman, worked on Ted Kennedy's 1980 Presidential campaign, consulted on both Michael Dukakis 1988 presidential campaign's and

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

's presidential campaigns, and wrote a novel before being hired to write screenplays for

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...

. ''

Big Big or BIG may refer to: * Big, of great size or degree Film and television * Big (film), ''Big'' (film), a 1988 fantasy-comedy film starring Tom Hanks * ''Big'', a 2023 Taiwanese children's film starring Van Fan and Chie Tanaka * ''Big!'', a ...

'' was his first produced screenplay. Co-written with Anne Spielberg (sister of Steven), it led to an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

nomination and a

Writers Guild of America Award The Writers Guild of America Awards is an award for film, television, and radio writing including both fiction and non-fiction categories given by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America West since 1949. Eligibility Th ...

. He went on to write several other successful films, including '' Dave'' in 1993. In 1998, he wrote and directed '' Pleasantville'', and in 2003, he wrote, directed and produced ''

,'' based on '' Seabiscuit: An American Legend'' by Laura Hillenbrand. The film earned seven

nominations. Ross took on the high-profile project of co-adapting and directing the film adaptation of the first book in

Suzanne Collins Suzanne Collins (born August 10, 1962) is an American author and television writer who is best known as the author of the young adult literature, young adult Dystopian fiction, dystopian book series ''The Hunger Games''. She is also the author ...

's '' Hunger Games'' trilogy. The film was released on March 23, 2012, and earned $672.8 million worldwide. Although the film was financially and critically successful, Ross opted to not adapt or direct the sequels, citing the rushed production schedule (particularly for both writing and directing) as his main reason. Ross also wrote and produced the animated feature '' The Tale of Despereaux'', based on the

Newbery Medal The John Newbery Medal, frequently shortened to the Newbery, is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), to the author of "the most distinguished contr ...

-winning children's book by Kate DiCamillo. His first book, ''Bartholomew Biddle and the Very Big Wind'', was published by Candlewick Press in 2012. A children's book, it is written completely in verse. His next two films as a director and writer were the

period drama A historical drama (also period drama, period piece or just period) is a dramatic work set in the past, usually used in the context of film and television, which presents history, historical events and characters with varying degrees of fiction s ...

'' Free State of Jones'' (2016) and the heist film '' Ocean's 8'' (2018).

Filmography

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ross, Gary 1956 births Living people University of Pennsylvania alumni American male screenwriters Writers from Los Angeles Film directors from Los Angeles Film producers from California Screenwriters from California American science fiction film directors