The second installment in “The Shooter Series” focuses on director F. Gary Gray. Using films clips and interviews, we follow his trajectory from a very poor childhood to eventual success as a filmmaker. Among those interviewed are Queen Latifah, Jamie Foxx, Ice Cube, Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson, Gerard Butler and Mark Wahlberg.
Gray discusses his impoverished upbringing in South Central, LA. He talks about having cereal but no money to buy milk, so they’d fill the bowl with water. He’d wanted to be a director since he was very young but was told by everyone that it was impossible, which made him all the more determined. “I didn’t have the typical filmmaker background,” Gray says. “I didn’t grow up with a super eight camera or a video camera. I didn’t start cutting movies when I was four or five years old.”
He started his career working at BET (Black Entertainment Television) and made his first mark by directing videos for popular rap star Ice Cube. He became an established and sought after video director, shooting music videos on 35mm for rap and hip hop stars. He directed such luminaries as Dr. Dre, Coolio, Outkast, TLC, Jay-Z, Babyface, and even the legendary Stevie Wonder.
Gray was known for his innovative and original videos, which achieved a grand look on a small budget. He liked to think of his videos as mini-movies. In 1995, he won best video at the MTV awards for his visually clever and creative video for the TLC song “Waterfalls”.
His friendship with Ice Cube paid off when the rap star helped Gray to expand his horizons. Ice Cube’s involvement in a move called Friday (1995) gave Gray the opportunity to direct his first feature film. Gray became one of the first music video directors to segue into movies. The landmark urban comedy was successful and established Gray as a filmmaker. Gray was praised for his skill at capturing the urban American landscape as it was emerging in the late eighties and early nineties. Gray didn’t want to be just an urban filmmaker and refused to be pigeonholed in one genre. His second film was The Negotiator (1998) starring Samuel Jackson and Kevin Spacey. It was the most expensive film ever directed by a black filmmaker at the time and proved that he could appeal to mainstream audiences.
Following that, he managed to create a resume of films which were not limited to either comedy or ethnicity. Among his portfolio are such movies as The Italian Job (2003) starring Mark Wahlberg, Charlize Theron, Edward Norton, Jason Statham, Mos Def and Donald Sutherland; Be Cool (2005) starring John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Vince Vaughn, Cedric the Entertainer, Harvey Keitel, Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson and Danny DeVito; and Law Abiding Citizen (2009) starring Jamie Foxx and Gerard Butler.
Gray himself comes across as an appealing and likable person. He talks about having a rapport with his actors and making them comfortable on the set. We see him deal with problems in a genial way and we’re told he never loses his cool or yells.
The second part of the DVD features a collection of videos that Gray directed. The list includes videos done with Jay-Z (“Show me what you got”); Outkast (“Ms. Jackson”, “Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik”); R. Kelly (“If I could turn back the hands of time”); Babyface and Stevie Wonder (“How come, how long?”); Whitney Houston (“I believe in you and me”); TLC (“Diggin’ on you”, “Waterfalls”); Ice Cube (“It was a good day”, “Natural born killaz”); Coolio (“Fantastic Voyage”); Cypress Hill (“I ain’t goin’ out like that”, “When the ship goes down”); and Mary J. Blige (“You don’t have to worry”).
DVD EXTRA FEATURES:
There are three extra features on this DVD:
1) A behind the scenes look at the filming of Law Abiding Citizen, featuring Gray, Jamie Foxx and Gerard Butler.
2) Film trailers for all Gray's movies, including Be Cool, The Italian Job, A Man Apart, The Negotiator, Set if Off and Friday
3) The final segment is called “Giving Back” and it focuses on what F. Gary Gray has done to help out poor neighborhoods like the one he grew up in. For instance, getting involved in the Tom Bradley Community Center.
"The Shooter Series, Volume 2: Director F. Gary Gray" is on sale February 16, 2010 and is rated PG. Documentary. Directed by Lance Bangs. Written by Lance Bangs, Richard Brown, Brett Ratner. Starring Gerard Butler, Ice Cube, Jamie Foxx, Mark Wahlberg, Queen Latifah.
