Roger Avary
Roger Avary | |
|---|---|
 Avary in 2012 | |
| Born | Roger Roberts Avary August 23, 1965 |
| Nationality | Canadian American[1] |
| Occupation(s) | Director, screenwriter, producer |
| Years active | 1992–present |
Roger Roberts Avary[1] (born August 23, 1965) is a Canadian-American film, television director, screenwriter and producer. He worked with Quentin Tarantino on Pulp Fiction, for which they won Best Original Screenplay at the 67th Academy Awards. Avary directed Killing Zoe, The Rules of Attraction, Lucky Day, and wrote the screenplays for Silent Hill and Beowulf.[2]
After Pulp Fiction, Avary had a falling-out with Tarantino that lasted nearly twenty years.[3] In 2022, Avary reunited with Tarantino to launch a podcast called The Video Archives Podcast.[4] The first episode premiered on July 19, 2022.[5]
Early life
[edit]Roger Roberts Avary was born in Flin Flon, Manitoba in Canada on August 23, 1965 to a Brazillian-raised father who worked as a mining engineer, and a German mother who worked as a physical therapist. They later moved to Oracle, Arizona, and later Torrance, California before settling in Manhattan Beach.[1]
Career
[edit]Mr. Stitch
[edit]In 1995 Avary wrote and directed the science fiction Mr. Stitch a film for the Syfy. Loosely a modern take on Frankenstein, the film features Wil Wheaton, Rutger Hauer, Nia Peeples, and Ron Perlman.[6]
Phantasm 1999
[edit]After winning an Oscar for Pulp Fiction, Avary reached out to Don Coscarelli and expressed an interest in writing a Phantasm sequel.[7] Entitled Phantasm 1999, the film would have taken place in an apocalyptic future United States divided into three zones: Los Angeles, California; New York, New York; and the Plague Zone. The Plague Zone would be controlled by the Tall Man where he infects people with his "bag plague".[7] Reggie must lead a secret government operation, called the "S Squad", into the Plague Zone to defeat the Tall Man.[7]
Avary and Coscarelli spent years trying to get the film made and even had financing in place in 1997 before that company changed hands and the deal evaporated.[7] Eventually, Coscarelli made Phantasm IV without Avary, although as of 2022 Coscarelli still had interest in filming Avary's script, now entitled Phantasm’s End as 1999 has come and gone.[7]
Glitterati
[edit]The film Glitterati was finished in 2004 and stars Kip Pardue. It can never be released because of legal and ethical concerns.
The Video Archives Podcast (2022–present)
[edit]In 2021, Quentin Tarantino announced that he and Roger Avary would launch a podcast titled The Video Archives Podcast.[8] The point of the podcast is to discuss films from the actual Video Archives collection that they would recommend to customers when they worked there. The set is surrounded by actual VHS copies of films from Video Archives that Tarantino bought after the store went out of business. They are joined by podcast announcer, Gala Avary, Roger Avary's daughter. The first episode premiered on July 19, 2022.[5] The duo discussed John Carpenter's Dark Star (1974) and Ulli Lommel's Cocaine Cowboys (1979).
Manslaughter Conviction
[edit]On January 13, 2008, Avary was arrested under suspicion of manslaughter and DUI, following a car crash in Ojai, California, in which a passenger, Andreas Zini, was killed. The Ventura County Sheriff's department responded to the crash after midnight Sunday morning on the 1900 block of East Ojai Avenue. Avary was released from jail on $50,000 bail.[9] In December 2008, he was charged with, and pleaded not guilty to, gross vehicular manslaughter and two felony counts of causing bodily injury while intoxicated.[10] He changed his plea to guilty on August 18, 2009.[11] On September 29, 2009, he was sentenced to one year in work furlough (allowing him to go to his job during the day and then report back to the furlough facility at night) and five years of probation.[12] However, after making several tweets about the conditions of his stay on Twitter, Avary was sent to Ventura County Jail to serve out the remainder of his term.[13]
Filmography
[edit]Short film
[edit]| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | The Worm Turns | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| The Boys | No | No | Yes | Also cinematographer |
Feature film
[edit]| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Executive Producer |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Killing Zoe | Yes | Yes | No | Grand Prize at the Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival |
| 1994 | Pulp Fiction | No | Story | No | Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay |
| 1995 | Mr. Stitch | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 2002 | The Rules of Attraction | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 2004 | Glitterati | Yes | Yes | No | Unreleased; Also producer, editor and cinematographer |
| 2006 | Silent Hill | No | Yes | No | |
| 2007 | Beowulf | No | Yes | Yes | |
| 2019 | Lucky Day | Yes | Yes | No |
Executive producer only
- Boogie Boy (1998)
- The Last Man (2000)
Television
[edit]| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Odd Jobs | Yes | Yes | Yes | TV pilot |
| 2012 | XIII: The Series | No | Yes | Executive | 13 episodes |
Other credits
[edit]| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1987 | Maximum Potential | Production assistant |
| 1987 | My Best Friend's Birthday | Lost film Cinematographer |
| 1992 | Reservoir Dogs | Writer of background radio dialogue[14] |
| 1993 | True Romance[14] | Uncredited writer[14] |
| 2006 | 36 Steps | Spiritual support |
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d "Roger Avary: Biography". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved October 19, 2018.
- ^ "Roger Avary". Filmbug. 2007-11-18. Retrieved 2012-10-27.
- ^ "Film Review: 'Lucky Day'". 14 October 2019.
- ^ "Quentin Tarantino Launches His New Movie Podcast with Roger Avary". No Film School. 2022-07-19. Retrieved 2022-07-21.
- ^ a b Avary, The Video Archives Podcast with Quentin Tarantino and Roger. "The Video Archives Podcast with Quentin Tarantino and Roger Avary - Dark Star / Cocaine Cowboys". Google Podcasts. Retrieved 2022-07-21.
- ^ Todd Everett (August 15, 1996). "Review: 'Mr. Stitch'". Variety. Retrieved 9 June 2015.
- ^ a b c d e Jenkins, Jason (May 30, 2022). "'Phantasm 1999' – Don Coscarelli Details the Wild Post-Apocalyptic Sequel We Never Saw". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved October 7, 2023.
- ^ Spangler, Todd (2022-06-02). "Quentin Tarantino, Roger Avary Set to Launch 'The Video Archives Podcast'". Variety. Retrieved 2022-07-21.
- ^ "'Pulp Fiction' screenwriter Avary arrested after fatal Ojai crash". Ventura County-Star. 13 January 2008. Archived from the original on 5 February 2013.
- ^ Catherine Saillant (13 December 2008). "Screenwriter Roger Avary charged with gross vehicular manslaughter". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ The Associated Press (21 August 2009). "Roger Avary pleads guilty to manslaughter". The Hollywood Reporter.
- ^ "Avary Given Work Furlough at Ojai Valley News Blog". Ovnblog.com. Archived from the original on 2012-03-01. Retrieved 2012-10-27.
- ^ "Screenwriter Roger Avary moved from work furlough program to jail after tweeting episode". Los Angeles Times. 27 November 2009. Archived from the original on 28 June 2013.
- ^ a b c "Roger Avary: Rule Breaker". Independent.co.uk. March 14, 2003.
External links
[edit]
- 1965 births
- 21st-century Canadian criminals
- Best Original Screenplay Academy Award winners
- Best Original Screenplay BAFTA Award winners
- Living people
- People from Flin Flon
- Film directors from Manitoba
- 20th-century Canadian screenwriters
- Film producers from Manitoba
- Canadian people convicted of manslaughter
- 21st-century American criminals
- 21st-century American male writers
- 21st-century Canadian male writers
- 20th-century American male writers
- 20th-century Canadian male writers
- Canadian people of German descent
- American people of German descent
- 21st-century Canadian screenwriters
- Canadian male screenwriters
- ArtCenter College of Design alumni
- Screenwriters from Manitoba