American Beauty Writer

Background:

"Beauty is in the strangest places. A piece of garbage floating in the wind. And that beauty exists in America. It exists everywhere. You have to develop an eye for it and be able to see it." Alan Ball.

Oscar-winning screenwriter, director, and producer Alan Ball was highly praised for writing the screenplay for the acclaimed film “American Beauty” (1999) and for creating the HBO original drama series “Six Feet Under” (2001-2005). He most recently drew controversy with his latest film, "Towelhead" (2007), whose title received protests from an Islamic civil rights advocacy group and had to be changed into "Nothing is Private." Ball's next project is "True Blood," a supernatural drama series starring Anna Paquin based on the "Southern Vampire Mysteries" books by Charlaine Harris. It will premiere on September 7, 2008 on the HBO network as well as on The Movie Network in Canada.

“I think we have become very adept at functioning in this fast-paced, media-driven culture. I have this persona that I can just fall back into when I go to meetings or stuff like that, but not enough of our experience, I think, is real.” Alan Ball.

Ball is outspokenly gay and has often included gay issues or characters in his works such as "David Fisher" on "Six Feet Under" (2001).

“The level of celebrity worship in our society, I think, is verging on the pathological.” Alan Ball.

Georgia Native

Childhood and Family:

Born in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1957, Alan E. Ball grew up in Marietta, Georgia. He has a sister named Mary Ann Ball, who was killed on her 22nd birthday when she turned onto a blind curve and hit an oncoming car. Young Alan, who was 13 at the time, was with her in the passenger seat.

“Life tests us in a lot of ways, and when we look back at the painful parts of our lives, yeah, they were painful, but they forced us to grow. The good times don't necessarily force us to grow.” Alan Ball.

Ball studied theater at Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, but dropped out to move to New York City.

Ball is outspokenly gay and has often included gay issues or characters in his works such as "David Fisher" on "Six Feet Under" (2001).

Six Feet Under

Career:

“I want to write a play - my playwriting career was just beginning to take off when I got the offer to come to Hollywood and write for TV. I'm also sitting on a couple of screenplays I've written which I would like to direct when Six Feet Under comes to an end. I'm also looking to start a family with my partner, get better at meditating, read all the great books I haven't yet read, and hopefully write a novel myself before I die.” Alan Ball.

After leaving the university, Alan Ball headed to New York City and worked as an art director at Adweek and Inside PR while beginning to write plays. In 1991, one his plays, "The M Word," was premiered at the inaugural Lucille Ball Festival of New American Comedy. In the following two years, in 1993, his breakthrough stage play about bridesmaids getting ready for a wedding in Knoxville, Tennessee, "Five Women Wearing the Same Dress," debuted at NYC's Manhattan Class Company.

Following the debut of his breakout play that caught the eyes of Hollywood bosses, Ball moved to Los Angeles in 1994 to join the writing staff and served as story editor of the ABC sitcom starring Brett Butler, "Grace Under Fire," which was produced under the Carsey-Werner banner. He followed it up with position as producer, story editor, and writer for the CBS sitcom "Cybill," which was also produced under aegis of Carsey-Werner.

“You just come in, you punch in the clock, you do your factory work and then you leave. On those shows, I either had to do that or I would just develop a drug habit or have a heart attack.” Alan (on his early career working on situation comedies).

In 1999, Ball created, executive produced, and wrote episodes of "Oh Grow Up", an ABC sitcom based on his personal experiences as a gay man living with heterosexual male roommates in Brooklyn, New York.

On his early TV career, Ball later commented, "The shows I were on were all about serving the star's egos. I had this free-floating rage... It's factory work. I had no emotional connection with what I was writing."

Also in 1999, he scored his biggest break to date when he made his feature film debut as screenwriter with "American Beauty" (he also co-produced), which garnered rave reviews and won him Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen at the Academy Awards.

“It was the ultimate movie experience, the ultimate screen-writing experience.”Alan Ball (on working on "American Beauty").

He also scooped up Best Screenplay - Motion Picture Award at the Golden Globes, Best Screenplay, Original, from the Broadcast Film Critics Association, Screenwriter of the Year from the London Critics Circle Film, Best Screenplay, Original from the Southeastern Film Critics Association, and Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen from the Writers Guild of America.

Following his Oscar win, Ball created "Six Feet Under," the HBO comedy-drama series about a dysfunctional family that operates a funeral home. He also co-produced the show with Alan Poul, Robert Greenblatt, and David Janollari. The show, which was originally broadcast from 2001 to 2005, also received critical acclaim, winning him an Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series in 2002. It also earned him PGA's Television Producer of the Year Award in Episodic – Drama and Directors Guild of America's Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Dramatic Series' – Night.

“I wasn't unhappy. I was emotional. It was sad. So yes, it will be hard to say goodbye to them because I've spent five years with these characters. They're like family to me. It's like you have five children, eight, nine children and they're all going off to college at the same time.” Alan Ball (on the end of "Six Feet Under").

Ball subsequently signed an exclusive two-year agreement with HBO in 2005 to develop new projects for the premium cable network. He later commented, "I had a great experience with HBO. Why would I go anywhere else? HBO and cable allows you the freedom, a certain broadcast standard freedom. My experience with the broadcast networks, it’s all about flattening and making things plastic and making things resemble things that have already been successful. You have too many people giving you too many notes, and most of them don’t know what they’re doing. So I will never do anything for broadcast network TV again. I’m only going to work in cable, and HBO is the best place to work."

Ball's first project under the deal with HBO is "True Blood," a supernatural drama series starring Anna Paquin and based on the "Southern Vampire Mysteries" books by Charlaine Harris. The show, which is produced by HBO in association with Ball's own production company, Your Face Goes Here Entertainment, will premiere on September 7, 2008. It will air on the same day in Canada on The Movie Network.

When asked about such vampire shows as the previous year’s “Moonlight” and the classic “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” Ball explained, "I personally have never seen 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' or 'Angel.' I’m not really a big vampire fanatic. I’ve never read the Anne Rice books. This was really my first foray into the world of vampires – all I knew was the movies that I’d seen. In our [True Blood] world, a lot of the myths about vampires were created by vampires themselves over history, so that they could pass [as human]. If you could convince everybody that you couldn’t be seen in a mirror or that you’d freak out if somebody shoved a crucifix in your face, then you could prove you weren’t a vampire pretty easily. I wanted to avoid the vampires getting strange contact lenses or any sort of head prosthetics because, first of all, it’s a TV show. We don’t have time or money to do that. Second of all, just let the actors act it. Give them fangs and that’s all they need."

Meanwhile, Ball drew controversy with his latest film, "Towelhead" (2007), an adaptation of Alicia Erian's novel of the same name that he produced and directed. The film's title received protests from an Islamic civil rights advocacy group because "the word is commonly used in a derogatory manner against people of the Muslim faith or Arab origin." The film that the life of a 13-year-old Lebanese-American girl in the early '90s later made its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival on September 8, 2007 under the name "Nothing is Private."

“I love to direct! I get really jazzed by directing, but directing is not the same kind of personal expression, the same kind of personal intimate expression that writing is.” Alan Ball.

Ball, who was one of the founders of Alarm Dog Rep, also wrote, directed and acted in such plays and revues as "Made For a Woman," "Bachelor Holiday," "The Amazing Adventures of Tense Guy," "Your Mother's Butt," "Power Lunch," and "The Two Mrs. Trumps."

“Life isn't what happens to you in 20 years. This moment, right now, is your life.” Alan Ball.

Awards:

• PGA: Television Producer of the Year Award in Episodic - Drama, "Six Feet Under," 2004

• Emmy: Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series, "Six Feet Under," 2002

• Directors Guild of America: Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Dramatic Series' - Night, "Six Feet Under," 2002

• Academy Award: Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen, "American Beauty," 2000

• Golden Globe: Best Screenplay - Motion Picture, "American Beauty,"

• Broadcast Film Critics Association: Best Screenplay, Original, "American Beauty," 2000

• London Critics Circle Film: Screenwriter of the Year, "American Beauty," 2000

• Southeastern Film Critics Association: Best Screenplay, Original, "American Beauty," 2000

• Writers Guild of America: Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen, "American Beauty," 2000