Billy Ray
Billy Ray (born 1962) is an American screenwriter and film director. He began writing for television and movies in 1994 with Color of Night. He has written numerous successful films, including the first Hunger Games movie (2012), Captain Phillips (2013), and Richard Jewell (2019), earning an Oscar nomination for the second film.
Billy Ray

Philkon Phil Konstantin · Public domain
- Name
- Billy Ray
- Born
- 1962
- Birthplace
- Los Angeles, California, U.S.
- Spouse
- Stacy Sherman
- Occupation
- Film director, screenwriter
- Nationality
- United States
- Fields
- film production
- Languages
- English
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wikidata · Q2679090
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Billy Ray • Born — 1962 • Birthplace — Los Angeles, California, U.S. • Spouse — Stacy Sherman • Occupation — Film director, screenwriter
Biography
Biography
Ray was born in Los Angeles, and raised in Encino, Los Angeles, California. He is from a Jewish family, and attended Steven Wise Temple and Birmingham High School. Starting in 2003, he began to direct as well as write; his first film was Shattered Glass, inspired by the true story of Stephen Glass, a journalist who fabricated a majority of his stories. He was nominated for Most Promising Filmmaker by the Chicago Film Critics Association and an Independent Spirit Award for Best Screenplay for his work on this film. Breach (2007), which Ray co-wrote and directed, tells a similar story about Robert Hanssen, an FBI agent convicted of spying for the Soviet Union and later, Russia, for more than two decades, and Eric O'Neill, who worked as his assistant and helped bring about his downfall. He is perhaps best known for writing the screenplay to the 2012 blockbuster, The Hunger Games, and his Academy Award-nominated screenplay for the 2013 film, Captain Phillips. Ray also worked with the advertising agency Barkley to help write the AMC Theatres 2021 "We Make Movies Better" campaign starring Nicole Kidman. In 2026, Scholastic published Ray's first young adult novel, Burn the Water.
Filmography
Filmography
Films • Year — Title — Director — Writer — Producer • 1994 — Color of Night • 1995 — The Shooter • 1997 — Volcano • 2002 — Hart's War • 2003 — Shattered Glass • 2004 — Suspect Zero • 2005 — Flightplan • 2007 — Breach • 2009 — State of Play • 2012 — The Hunger Games • 2013 — Captain Phillips • 2015 — The Breakup Girl • Secret in Their Eyes • 2018 — Overlord • 2019 — Gemini Man • Terminator: Dark Fate — Co-producer • Richard Jewell • 2026 — Animals • The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping Television • Year — Title — Director — Writer — Executive producer — Notes • 1994–1995 — Earth 2 — Co-creator • 1998 — Legalese — Television film • 2016–2017 — The Last Tycoon — Also developer • 2020 — The Comey Rule — Miniseries
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 1 entries
1963
Billy Ray born at United States.
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Encino
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United States.
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Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Billy Ray (screenwriter), revision 1369631692 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Allmovie. Production Credits: Color of Night.
- 2.Jewish Journal. Billy Ray Archives. 2017-07-19.
- 3.Pfefferman, Naomi. Miniseries adds Jewish context to Fitzgerald's 'Last Tycoon'. Jewish Journal. 19 July 2017.
- 4.Pfefferman, Naomi. Neediness brought journalists downfall Judaism brought him back. J. The Jewish News of Northern California. November 21, 2003.
- 5.Hastings, Michael. Overview: Shattered Glass. Allmovie.
- 6.Allmusic. Awards: Billy Ray.
- 7.Buchanan, Jason. Overview: Breach. Allmovie.
- 8.Collins, Leslie. Barkley offers behind-the-scenes look at AMC's $25M campaign. Kansas City Business Journal.
- 9.Bolton, Alexia. Burn the Water by Billy Ray. School Reading List.
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authority record
General reference
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 18 August 2026.
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