Carroll Ballard (born October 14, 1937) is an American filmmaker. Originally a documentarian, he became known for directing sweeping, visually striking films with natural and ecological themes. His body of work includes the films The Black Stallion (1979), Never Cry Wolf (1983), and Fly Away Home (1996).
Early life Ballard was born in Los Angeles in 1937. After serving in the U.S. Army, Ballard attended film school at UCLA, where one of his classmates was Francis Ford Coppola.Schumacher, Michael (1999). Francis Ford Coppola: a filmmaker's life. Three Rivers Press, , p. 237-238. He made a well received student film called Waiting for May in 1964.Steve Vineberg, "The Magician", The Threepenny Review, No. 108 (Winter 2007), p. 28
Career
Documentaries His early credits include the documentaries Beyond This Winter's Wheat (1965) and Harvest (1967), both of which he made for the U.S. Information Agency. The latter was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film.
He directed a short subject called The Perils of Priscilla (1969), which was filmed from the point of view of a cat who escapes from home. Rodeo (1970) provided an intimate look at the 1968 National Finals Rodeo in Oklahoma City.
He shot the title sequence of Coppola's 1968 musical Finian's Rainbow and was second unit cinematographer on Star Wars (1977), for which he handled many of the outdoor desert scenes.
Feature film director Ballard finally got the chance to make a feature film when Coppola offered him the job of directing The Black Stallion (1979), an adaptation of the children's book by Walter Farley. The film was nominated for two Academy Awards, including Best Supporting Actor (Mickey Rooney). In 2002 the Library of Congress added it to the National Film Registry.
He then directed Never Cry Wolf (1983), based on Farley Mowat's autobiographical book of the same name, which detailed Mowat's experiences with Arctic wolves.
In the 1990s, he made two films: Wind (1992) and Fly Away Home (1996).
His most recent film is Duma (2005), about a South African boy's friendship with an orphaned cheetah. Duma had tested badly and Warner Bros. planned to not release this film in the United States theatrically, but the film received acclaim from influential film critics like Scott Foundas and Roger Ebert, and it led Warner Bros to reconsider. Warner Bros. finally gave Duma a limited theatrical release in the US.
Ballard has received acclaim from film critics. Pauline Kael was an early admirer.Vineberg, Steve. "Critical Fervor." The Threepenny Review, no. 50, 1992, pp. 25–27. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/4384114. Accessed December 24, 2020. Kenneth Turan once wrote: "[Ballard] knows how to be both caring and restrained, minimizing a movie's saccharine content while maximizing the sense of wonder."Turan, Kenneth (2004). Never coming to a theater near you: a celebration of a certain kind of movie. New York: Public Affairs. .
Unrealized projects
Heart of Darkness (1969) Vesuvia (1969) Untitled Declaration of Independence film ( 1970s) Swift Runner ( 1970s) Junior Bonner (1972) War and Peace (1975) The Secret Garden (1979) The Snow Leopard (1979) Beauty and the Beast (1982) The Monkey Wrench Gang ( 1980s) Very Far Away (1986) Undisclosed Maurice Sendak collaboration (1986) A Story Like the Wind (1987) Hard Rain (1988) Gertrude and Claudius (2005) Colter's Run (2006) Untitled historical drama series (2017)
After the release of Never Cry Wolf, Ballard spent a decade trying to get a total of fourteen separate film projects off the ground—to no avail—before he agreed to Wind. When later asked what had led him to choosing to direct Duma despite repetitive themes, Ballard responded, "Well, I mean, the fact is I was having trouble getting a film. You know, I went for five years and I couldn't get a picture off the ground. So, this was a project that Warner Brothers had been fooling with for a while, and they called me about it and I went down, I talked to 'em and it was the deal I could make. It was, you know, they'd decided they were probably gonna make the film... so I went for it." Speaking about his relatively small output when compared to that of his colleagues, he reasoned:
Filmography
As director +YearTitleNotes1965Pigs!Documentary shortBeyond This Winter's Wheat1967HarvestDocumentary1969RodeoDocumentary shortThe Perils of Priscilla1971Seems Like Only Yesterday1974CrystalizationThe Hello Machine 1979 The Black Stallion 1983 Never Cry Wolf 1986Nutcracker: The Motion Picture 1992 Wind 1996 Fly Away Home 2005 Duma
Other production credits YearTitleDirectorNotes19643 Nuts in Search of a BoltTommy NoonanProduction designer 1968 Finian's RainbowFrancis Ford CoppolaSecond unit cinematographer 1977 Star WarsGeorge Lucas 1995My Family Gregory NavaCinematographer: River crew
Awards and nominations +AwardYearCategoryWorkResultAcademy Award1968Best Documentary Feature FilmHarvest Christopher Award 1997Best Motion PictureFly Away Home Los Angeles Film Critics Association 1980New Generation AwardThe Black Stallion Western Heritage Award1984 Best Theatrical Motion PictureNever Cry Wolf References
External links