Background:

“Family entertainment is really very necessary in our culture. Look how profitable they are. It's almost not discretionary. You need to take your family to the movies.”

Gary Ross is a four time Academy Award nominated American screenwriter, director and producer. He netted his first Oscar nomination for co-writing the critically and commercially successful Tom Hanks comedy vehicle “Big” (1988), directed by Penny Marshall. He went on to receive his next nomination for his original script on the acclaimed film “Dave” (1993). Ross also received Writers Guild of America nominations for both films. After making his directing debut with “Pleasantville” (1998), from which he won the PGA Nova Award and a Golden Satellite Award, Ross gained much attention as the director, writer and producer of the popular biopic “Seabiscuit” (2003), about the legendary race horse. He nabbed his last two Oscar nominations as well as a Hochi Film Award and a USC Scripter Award, not to mention nominations at the Directors Guild of America, the Writers Guild of America and the PGA Awards, for his efforts. His third directorial effort, “The Hunger Games,” will be released in March 2012.

Ross has been active in local and national politics. During his college years, he spent his summers as an intern on Capitol Hill. He has written a number of speeches for political luminaries, including one Bill Clinton, and has attended the Democratic National Convention as a delegate. Ross has also done various charitable work. While serving as President of the Los Angeles Library, he set up mentoring programs for inner city youth and enlarged teenage and youth-at-risk services throughout the Los Angeles library system. He won the Los Angeles Public Library's 1999 Light of Learning Award for his service. He also received the ACLU's Bill of Rights Award for 2000.
     
Son of  Arthur Ross

Childhood and Family:

Gary Ross was born on November 3, 1956, in Los Angeles, California. His father,  Arthur Ross, was an Academy award nominated American screenwriter for “Brubaker” (1980). He was blacklisted during the McCarthy period, and founded the Hollywood branch of the Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy in the late 1950s. Gary's mother, Gail Ross, died of cancer in March 1997, at the age of 77. Gary dedicated “Pleasantville” to her. Gary earned an Ivy League education at the University of Pennsylvania. He, however, quit college to work on a fishing boat. Gary also took acting under the legendary Stella Adler but he finally found filmmaking and writing as his true callings.

Gary is married to Allison Thomas, who once worked at Carter Administration. Their twins, Claudia and Jack, were born on May 26, 1995.

Dave

Career:

Gary Ross first attempted to become a novelist. His debut novel was not a financial success. After spending his improvement for a second novel without finishing it, Ross competed on the TV game show “Tic Tac Dough” and won 50,000, which he used to pay the bills while completing his novel. Ross was later recruited by Paramount Pictures to write a treatment, and developed a friendship  with producer Leonard Goldberg while at Paramount. It was Goldberg who hired him to write a screenplay. Unfortunately, the script, plus two others, were never produced. Ross' first produced script was “Man of Her Dreams,” which aired on April 8, 1986 as part of the HBO horror anthology series, “The Hitchhiker.”   

Ross' big breakthrough came when he co-wrote the script (with Anne Spielberg, sister of director Steven Spielberg) for “Big” (1988), a comedy/romance film directed by Penny Marshall and starring Tom Hanks. The film, on which he also served as co-producer, was both a critical and financial success. Ross won a Saturn for Best Writing and was nominated for an Academy Award in the category of Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen and a WGA Award in the category of Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen for his efforts. The success of the film transformed Ross into an A-list screenwriter.

In 1992, Ross returned with his next produced screenplay, “Mr. Baseball,” which he wrote with Kevin Wade and Monte Merrick. The sport/comedy film was directed by Fred Schepisi and starred Tom Selleck.

Ross enjoyed another significant victory when he wrote the original script for Ivan Reitman's comedy/drama film, “Dave” (1993). Starring Frank Langella, Kevin Dunn, Ving Rhames, and Ben Kingsley, the film was met with critical acclaim, and Ross picked up his second Oscar nomination as well as a WGA nomination for his work. “Dave” debuted No. 2 at the box office, and grossed a total of over $63 in the US alone. Ross also had a bit part as policeman #2 in the film.

Ross was handed the Paul Selvin Honorary Award at the 1994 Writers Guild of America. The same year, he also contributed to the screenplay for the adventure family movie “Lassie” (1994), directed by Daniel Petrie and produced by Lorne Michaels. The film received mixed reviews from critics and debuted at No. 10 at the US box office. In the following year, Ross had an important role in the Lorenzo Doumani directed comedy film “The Misery Brothers,” opposite Leo Rossi and Lorenzo Doumani. He jointly nabbed a 1995 Razzie Award in the category of Worst Screenplay for his writing contribution to the live-action film version of “The Flintstones” (1994), directed by Brian Levant. Although it was poorly received by many critic, the film was a box office success by grossing over $341 million against a budget of $46 million.   

1997 saw Ross co-produced the comedy film “Trial and Error,” with director Jonathan Lynn. Starring Michael Richards, Jeff Daniels, and Charlize Theron, the film failed to be a big hit with critics and viewers alike. He subsequently began his own company, Larger Than Life Productions.  

Ross eventually made his feature directorial debut with “Pleasantville” (1998), which he also produced and wrote. The comedy/drama film, which starred Tobey Maguire, Reese Witherspoon, William H. Macy, Joan Allen, Marley Shelton and Jeff Daniels. Don Knotts, Paul Walker and Jane Kaczmarek, received mostly positive reviews from critics, and was nominated for three Oscars for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Best Costume Design and Best Music, Original Dramatic Score. Ross picked up PGA's Nova Award for Most Promising Producer in Theatrical Motion Pictures and a Golden Satellite for Best Motion Picture Screenplay – Original, not to mention a Saturn nomination for Best Writer and Golden Satellite nominations for Best Director of a Motion Picture and Best Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical, for his film.     

Five years later, Ross directed, wrote and produced the successful biographical sports/drama film “Seabiscuit,” based on the 2001 best selling non fiction book “Seabiscuit: An American Legend” by Laura Hillenbrand. The film brought him two Oscar nominations for Best Picture and Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay, a Hochi Film for Best Foreign Language Film, a USC Scripter Award, a Critics Choice nomination for Best Writer at the Broadcast Film Critics Association, a Directors Guild of America nomination for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures, a Humanitas Prize nomination for Feature Film Category, a PGA nomination for  Motion Picture Producer of the Year Award, a Golden Satellite nomination for Best Screenplay, Adapted, and a Writers Guild of America nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay. “Seabiscuit” starred Tobey Maguire, Jeff Bridges, Chris Cooper, William H. Macy and Elizabeth Banks. Ross also appeared in the film as Pimlico Track Announcer. 

In 2008, Ross produced and wrote the computer animated movie “The Tale of Despereaux,” directed by Rob Stevenhagen and Sam Fell. It received mixed reviews from critics and was a modest success at the box office.  

Ross returned to the director's chair to helm Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Elizabeth Banks, Liam Hemsworth, and Woody Harrelson in the film adaptation of Suzanne Collins's young adult novel, “The Hunger Games,” which he also co-scripted. The science fiction/drama film is set to be released on March 23, 2012.  

It has been announced that Ross will be produce, direct and write the upcoming film “The Free State of Jones,” a true story set against the Civil War and Reconstruction.

Awards:

Hochi Film: Best Foreign Language Film, “Seabiscuit,” 2004
USC Scripter: “Seabiscuit,” 2004
PGA: Nova Award, Most Promising Producer in Theatrical Motion Pictures, “Pleasantville,” 1999
Golden Satellite: Best Motion Picture Screenplay – Original, “Pleasantville,” 1999
Razzie: Worst Screenplay, “The Flintstones,” 1995
Writers Guild of America: Paul Selvin Honorary Award, 1994
Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films: Saturn Award, Best Writing, “Big,” 1990
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