David Ayer
 |
This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. (February 2013) |
| David Ayer | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 18, 1968 (age 45) Champaign, Illinois, U.S. |
| Occupation | Film director, film producer, screenwriter, actor |
| Years active | 2000 - present |
David Ayer (born January 18, 1968) is an American screenwriter, film producer, and director.
Early life
David Ayer was born in Champaign, Illinois on January 18, 1968, and grew up in Bloomington, Minnesota and Bethesda, Maryland, where he was kicked out of his house by his parents as a teenager. Ayer then lived with his cousin in Los Angeles, California, where his experiences in South Central Los Angeles became the inspiration for many of his films. Ayer then enlisted in the United States Navy as a submariner.
Career
Ayer's screenplay, Squids, was based on his experiences as a U.S. Navy sailor, and those his experiences from his service in the U.S. Navy into rewrites of the submarine thriller U-571. Ayer collaborated on the screenplay for The Fast and the Furious in 2001. Ayer wrote the screenplay for crime drama Dark Blue, and it was his research into the Los Angeles Police Department that led to his most prominent screenplay, Training Day. Ayer signed a contract to write a screenplay for S.W.A.T., which was based on his original story pitch. The film was directed by Clark Johnson and released in 2003.
Ayer's directorial debut was with the film Harsh Times, a drama set on the streets of South Central Los Angeles, showing how drug use and past military experiences affects people's attempts to lead normal lives. He then went on to direct the crime thriller Street Kings, which was released in 2008.
Ayer will direct and write the World War II-set film, Fury, which is set to star Brad Pitt, Shia LaBeouf, and Logan Lerman; filming is scheduled to begin in September 2013, for a November 2014 release date.[1]
Filmography
| Year | Film | Functioned as | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Director | Writer | Producer | |||
| 2000 | U-571 | Yes | |||
| 2001 | Training Day | Yes | Yes | Cameo as a Russian Mafia hitman | |
| The Fast and the Furious | Yes | ||||
| 2002 | Dark Blue | Yes | |||
| 2003 | S.W.A.T. | Yes | |||
| 2005 | Harsh Times | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 2008 | Street Kings | Yes | Cameo as gang member prisoner in L.A. County Jail | ||
| 2012 | End of Watch | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 2014 | Ten | Yes | Filming | ||
Controversy
Ayer wrote the submarine thriller U-571, a fictional account of the United States capturing the Enigma code rather than the United Kingdom. The furor that surrounded the film's release led British Prime Minister Tony Blair to claim that it was an "affront to the memories" of those involved and U.S. President Bill Clinton to write a letter emphasizing the film's fictional nature. Ayer has said that U-571 distorted history by this assertion and that he would not do it again. "It was a distortion", he said, "a mercenary decision to create this parallel history in order to drive the movie for an American audience. Both my grandparents were officers in World War II, and I would be personally offended if somebody distorted their achievements." The film has since been described as the most historically inaccurate film of all time.[2]
References
- ^ Deadline (May 1, 2013). "Logan Lerman Enlists for Fury". ComingSoon.net. Retrieved May 1, 2013.
- ^ entertainment.timesonline.co.uk (subscription required)
External links
- David Ayer at the Internet Movie Database
- Imperial War Museum description of the capture of the Enigma machine
|
|||||||||||
|
