Felix Gary Gray (born July 17, 1969)[1] is an American director and producer. Gray began his career as a director on numerous critically acclaimed and award-winning music videos, including "It Was a Good Day" by Ice Cube, "Natural Born Killaz" by Dr. Dre and Ice Cube, "Keep Their Heads Ringin'" by Dr. Dre, "Waterfalls" by TLC, and "Ms. Jackson" by Outkast.
F. Gary Gray | |
|---|---|
 Gray at San Diego Comic-Con in 2015 | |
| Born | Felix Gary Gray July 17, 1969 New York City, U.S. |
| Other names | Gary Gray |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1988–present |
Gray made his feature film directorial debut with the comedy Friday (1995). He has since directed the films Set It Off (1996), The Negotiator (1998), The Italian Job (2003), Be Cool (2005), Law Abiding Citizen (2009), and Straight Outta Compton (2015). He also directed the eighth installment of the Fast & Furious franchise, The Fate of the Furious (2017), which is the 23rd-highest-grossing film of all time.[2]
Career
editSeeking out a step-by-step process, he planned to work a number of years in the film industry as an assistant and hoped to work his first feature by the time he had turned 45. As such, he started working as soon as he left high school, working as a camera operator on programs such as Screen Scene. He also had a bit part in the comedy Major League (1989).[3] He got his first chance to direct with music videos, starting with a video for the hip-hop group WC and the Maad Circle (WC was a former classmate of his). In 1993, he directed the music video for Ice Cube's "It Was a Good Day". The video is a literal adaptation of the lyrics. He would go on to direct subsequent videos for Ice Cube, as well as artists such as Cypress Hill, Outkast, Dr. Dre, and Queen Latifah. At age 26,[3] Gray directed his first film, the buddy stoner comedy Friday with rapper-producer Ice Cube (who co-wrote the film based on his experiences in Los Angeles) and Chris Tucker. Next, he directed the film Set It Off, with Jada Pinkett and Queen Latifah. He then directed The Negotiator, which starred Kevin Spacey and Samuel L. Jackson while earning Gray both Best Film and Best Director awards at the 1998 Acapulco Film Festival.
Gray directed The Italian Job, a 2003 action-thriller starring Charlize Theron and Mark Wahlberg. Gray garnered the Best Director award at the 2004 Black American Film Festival for his work on the film, which surpassed the $100 million mark in the domestic box office. His next film was A Man Apart, an action thriller starring Vin Diesel. He would later direct Be Cool, an adaptation of Elmore Leonard's novel of the same name. The John Travolta vehicle was panned by critics but went on to gross over $95 million worldwide.[4]
He then directed the thriller Law Abiding Citizen, starring Jamie Foxx and Gerard Butler and written by Kurt Wimmer. The film grossed over $100 million worldwide. Gray received the Ivan Dixon Award of Achievement from the Black Hollywood Education and Resource Center and was named one of the "50 Best and Brightest African Americans Under 40" by Black Enterprise magazine. He was honored by the African American Film Critics Association with their 2004 Special Achievement Award and was recognized by the Artist Empowerment Coalition with the Artist Empowerment Award that same year. He also received the Pioneer Director award from the Pan-African Film and Arts Festival in 2010.
Gray directed the 2015 drama Straight Outta Compton, a biographical film about the rap group N.W.A. In 2017, Gray directed The Fate of the Furious, the eighth film in the Fast & Furious franchise, which was released on April 14, 2017.[5] Upon release, both films set the record for the best opening by an African-American director[2] and The Fate of the Furious became the first film directed by an African-American to gross over $1 billion worldwide.[6][7]
Gray was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on May 28, 2019. During the next month, his film Men in Black: International was released.[8]
In April 2019, it was revealed that Gray would direct an adaptation of the video game franchise Saints Row, with a screenplay written by Greg Russo.[9] In September 2021, it was announced that he would direct the heist film Lift starring Kevin Hart for Netflix.[10]
Filmography
editFilm
edit| Year | Title | Director | Producer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Friday | Yes | No |
| 1996 | Set It Off | Yes | Executive |
| 1998 | The Negotiator | Yes | No |
| 2003 | A Man Apart | Yes | Executive |
| The Italian Job | Yes | No | |
| 2005 | Be Cool | Yes | Executive |
| 2009 | Law Abiding Citizen | Yes | No |
| 2015 | The Sea of Trees | No | Yes |
| Straight Outta Compton | Yes | Yes | |
| 2017 | The Fate of the Furious | Yes | No |
| 2019 | Men in Black: International | Yes | No |
| 2024 | Lift | Yes | Executive |
Cameo roles
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1988 | Coming to America | Front row audience member at event |
| 1995 | Friday | Man at store with mop |
| 1996 | Set It Off | Gangster driving lowrider |
| 2009 | Law Abiding Citizen | Detective with evidence bag |
| 2015 | Straight Outta Compton | Greg Mack |
Television
edit| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Ryan Caulfield: Year One | Episode "Pilot" |
| 2006 | Enemies | Episode "Pilot" |
Music videos
edit| Year | Title | Artist |
|---|---|---|
| 1992 | "It Was a Good Day" | Ice Cube |
| 1993 | "Call Me a Mack" | Usher |
| "I Ain't Goin' Out Like That" | Cypress Hill | |
| "When the Ship Goes Down" | ||
| "Truthful" | Heavy D | |
| "Fantastic Voyage" | Coolio | |
| 1994 | "Natural Born Killaz" | Dr. Dre Ice Cube |
| "Saturday Nite Live" | Masta Ace Incorporated | |
| "Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik" | OutKast | |
| "Black Hand Side" | Queen Latifah | |
| 1995 | "Keep Their Heads Ringin'" | Dr. Dre |
| "Pretty Girl" | Jon B.[11] | |
| "Come On" | Barry White | |
| "I Believe in You and Me" | Whitney Houston | |
| "Waterfalls" | TLC | |
| "Diggin' on You" | ||
| 1996 | "How Come, How Long" | Babyface |
| 1999 | "If I Could Turn Back the Hands of Time" | R. Kelly |
| 2000 | "Ms. Jackson" | OutKast |
| 2004 | "Bang Bang Boom" | Drag-On |
| 2006 | "Show Me What You Got" | Jay-Z |
| 2010 | "Super High" | Rick Ross |
References
edit- ^ "F. Gary Gray Biography (1969?-)". FilmReference.com. Retrieved June 29, 2017.
- ^ a b D'Alessandro, Anthony (April 17, 2017). "'Fate Of The Furious' To Clock $100M+ Stateside, As Pic Zooms To All-Time $529M+ Global Debut – Sunday AM Update". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved April 17, 2017.
- ^ a b Barker, Andrew (April 5, 2017). "On Eve of 'Fate of the Furious,' F. Gary Gray Celebrates 25 Years of Filmmaking". Variety. Retrieved June 29, 2017.
- ^ "Be Cool (2005)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved August 6, 2017.
- ^ "The Fate of the Furious (2017) - Box Office Mojo".
- ^ "Box-Office Milestone: 'Fate of the Furious' Crosses $1B Globally". The Hollywood Reporter. April 30, 2017. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
- ^ Harris, Dana; Brueggemann, Tom (April 4, 2017). "'The Fate of the Furious': F. Gary Gray is the First African American To Direct a Billion-Dollar Movie". Indiewire.com. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
- ^ Pennacchio, George (May 29, 2019). "F. Gary Gray, South L.A. filmmaker behind 'Friday,' 'Straight Outta Compton,' star unveiled on Hollywood Walk of Fame". ABC7 Los Angeles. Retrieved July 14, 2023.
- ^ Fleming, Mike Jr. (April 30, 2019). "F. Gary Gray Developing To Direct Movie Based On Video Game Franchise 'Saints Row' For Fenix, Koch, Occupant". Deadline. Retrieved June 24, 2020.
- ^ Fleming, Mike Jr. (September 24, 2021). "Kevin Hart Teams With Director F. Gary Gray On 'Lift' At Netflix". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved September 22, 2021.
- ^ ""Pretty Girl" by Jon B." VH1 (Viacom International). September 1, 2004. Archived from the original on May 18, 2015. Retrieved May 9, 2015.
External links
edit- F. Gary Gray at IMDb
- F. Gary Gray at AllMovie