Alan Ball (screenwriter)

Early life

Ball was born in Marietta, Georgia to Frank and Mary Ball, both of whom were aircraft inspectors. His older sister, Mary Ann, was killed in a car accident when Ball was 13; he was in the passenger seat at the time. He attended Marietta High School in Marietta, Georgia and went to college at the University of Georgia and Florida State University. Ball graduated from Florida State in 1980 with a degree in theater arts.

After college, Ball began work as a playwright at the General Nonsense Theater Company in Sarasota, Florida.

Career

Ball broke into television as a writer and story editor on the sitcoms Grace Under Fire and Cybill.

Ball wrote two film scripts that ended up in development hell prior to American Beauty (1999). He won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for American Beauty. He has written two further films: Towelhead (2007) and Uncle Frank (2020), the latter of which he also produced and directed. He is also the creator, writer and executive producer of the HBO drama series Six Feet Under and True Blood. Ball was the showrunner for True Blood for its first five seasons.

In 2010, Ball began work on a television adaptation of the crime noir novel The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death by Charlie Huston, to be titled All Signs of Death. In December 2010, after several months of pre-production, HBO cancelled production.

Ball was one of the executive producers of the Cinemax series Banshee.

In July 2016, it was announced that Ball's family drama Here and Now had been ordered to series by HBO. Starring Tim Robbins and Holly Hunter, the show was cancelled in April 2018 after one ten-episode season.

Personal life

Ball has discussed his Buddhist faith in numerous interviews, noting how it has influenced his filmmaking. In an interview with Amazon.com, Ball commented on the plastic bag scene in American Beauty, stating: "I had an encounter with a plastic bag! And I didn't have a video camera, like Ricky does... There's a Buddhist notion of the miraculous within the mundane, and I think we certainly live in a culture that encourages us not to look for that." Ball also discussed how his Buddhism shaped themes in Six Feet Under and True Blood.

Ball is gay and has been called "a strong voice for [the] LGBT community". In 2008, he made Out magazine's annual list of the 100 most impressive gay men and women.

Accolades

For his work in television and film, Ball has received critical acclaim and numerous awards and nominations, including an Academy Award, an Emmy a Golden Globe, and awards from the Writers, Directors, and Producers Guilds. ;Awards

• 2000 Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay – American Beauty
• 2000 Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay – American Beauty
• 2000 Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay – American Beauty
• 2002 Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in a Drama Series – Six Feet Under
• 2002 Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series – Six Feet Under
• 2004 Producers Guild of America Award for Dramatic Series – Six Feet Under ;Nominations
• 2000 BAFTA Film Award for Best Original Screenplay – American Beauty
• 2002 Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement – Six Feet Under
• 2004 Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement – Six Feet Under
• 2006 Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series – Six Feet Under
• 2006 Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series – Six Feet Under
• 2006 Writers Guild of America Award for Best Dramatic Series – Six Feet Under
• 2009 Writers Guild of America Award for Best New Series – True Blood
• 2010 Producers Guild of America Award for Dramatic Series – True Blood

Works

Television

Film

Theatre

References

References

1. (2011). "Current Biography Yearbook 2011". H.W. Wilson.
2. Waxman, Sharon. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/style/2002/05/26/alan-balls-life-after-death/47492a0b-169b-4e13-8663-6d8747fc6a20/ "Alan Ball's Life After Death"] ''The Washington Post''. May 26, 2002.
3. "Ball, Alan (b. 1957)".
4. Devaney, Sheila. "Alan Ball (b. 1957)".
5. "Alan Ball".
6. {{IMDb name. 50332. Alan Ball. {{Retrieved
7. (February 15, 2000). "Nominees speak out".
8. (September 12, 2012). "True Blood Minisode No. 2 Now Available". Dread Central.
9. Gelman, Vlada. (February 27, 2012). "True Blood Boss Alan Ball to Step Down as Showrunner After Season 5". TV Line.
10. (July 12, 2010). "Alan Ball to Point Out All Signs of Death for HBO".
11. (July 12, 2010). "TV: 'Six Feet Under' Creator Discovers 'All Signs of Death'".
12. James Hibberd. "'All Signs of Death' DOA at HBO". The Hollywood Reporter.
13. (April 19, 2013). "Alan Ball: True Blood's loss is Banshee's gain". The Independent.
14. (July 29, 2016). "HBO Orders New Alan Ball Series, Extends Overall Deal With 'Six Feet Under' Creator". [[Deadline Hollywood]].
15. (August 9, 2017). "'Chance' Casts David Barrera; Marwan Salama Joins Alan Ball's HBO Drama Series". [[Deadline Hollywood]].
16. (February 21, 2017). "Tim Robbins To Star in Alan Ball's Family Drama Series For HBO". [[Deadline Hollywood]].
17. "Alan Ball Interview". Spiritualteachers.org.
18. Parsi, Novid. (September 1, 2008). "Blood on his hands – Arts + Culture – Time Out Chicago". Time Out.
19. Piccalo, Gina. (July 18, 2010). "'True Blood' runs through Alan Ball". Los Angeles Times.
20. (September 5, 2008). "Alan Ball's LGBT Vision: Audio Interview".
21. (July 11, 2009). "TV preview: True Blood". The Guardian.
22. (June 23, 2008). "Out Magazine | Out 100 2008". Out.com.
23. Serafini, Matt. (June 9, 2010). "Alan Ball Gets 'Set' for True Blood Season 3". dreadcentral.com.
24. {{iobdb name. 8578. Alan Ball. {{retrieved