Following welcomes by DGA First Vice President Paris Barclay and AASC Co-Chair Millicent Shelton, the audience was treated to a screening of retrospective clips from Gray’s career, charting his rise from award-winning director of music videos to his feature films including: the comedies Friday and Be Cool; the action-dramas Set It Off, The Negotiator, A Man Apart and The Italian Job; and the critically acclaimed television series Ryan Caulfield: Year One where Gray directed the pilot episode and executive produced.
Tribute was paid to Gray by special guest speakers including actors Nia Long, Larenz Tate, Vivica A. Fox, Seth Green, Chris Tucker, DeAnthony Langston, Cedric the Entertainer, Gray’s attorney Nina Shaw and Director Anna Maria Horsford. After an introduction by AASC Co-Chair Loretha Jones, Gray took the stage in a conversation about his career moderated by Director Reginald Hudlin.
Gray is currently in pre-production on The Brazilian Job, the highly anticipated sequel to The Italian Job. He joined the DGA in 1994.
