In 1994, F. Gary Gray took his first trip to Atlanta on the same day as Freaknik to shoot OutKast’s “Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik” music video. He arrived late to set because of traffic jams and massive outdoor crowds but knew the moment was the perfect storm to figure out how to make quality art in places he’s never visited.
Gray’s culture shock came in handy 30 years later. The director’s latest film, “Lift,” stars Kevin Hart as the leader of a group of art thieves who is recruited by his ex-girlfriend, an Interpol agent, to retrieve $500 million worth of gold on a plane 40,000 feet in the air.
“Lift” premiered Jan. 12 on Netflix. Gray, 54, shot in Belfast for the first time and also returned, after two decades, to shoot in London and Venice.
“Traveling is part of my film school,” Gray said. “When you’re fortunate enough to get the opportunity to go to a place like Venice, which is a standing work of art, it satisfies my nerdy need to see, feel, touch and learn different cultures and environments.”
Credit: Christopher Barr/Netflix
Credit: Christopher Barr/Netflix
“Lift” visually depicts colorful aerial views of landscapes, classic architecture and imaginative effects. Gray was recruited to direct “Lift” by Hartbeat Productions president and chief content officer Bryan Smiley.
Smiley appreciates the way Gray has built detailed stories around heists in films such as “Set It Off” and “The Italian Job.”
“It’s a whole new set of challenges and the next level of filmmaking but rewarding when it works,” said Gray, also a “Lift” executive producer.
“I read material and I see potential,” he added. “There’s an element of chess in that realm of cops and robbers, law enforcement and criminals, and I get a chance to play in that world and not suffer the consequences.”
Gray was preparing for “Lift” while he was shooting and handling post-production on the Super Bowl LVI halftime performance commercial. When Gray mentioned to Dr. Dre that he’d gotten the greenlight for “Lift,” the veteran hip-hop producer was afraid the Hollywood Walk of Famer wouldn’t direct the ad because of scheduling. “Those projects overlapped,” Gray said. “I was dealing with juggernauts in music and film all at the same time, and it took some juggling to do.”
Gray’s film career began with a short film, “Divided We Fall,” when he was 21. He became a camera operator for BET’s news-magazine series “Screen Scene” and pursued music videos as the solution to funding his films.
Directing Ice Cube’s “It Was a Good Day” led to Gray becoming one of the most successful music video directors in hip-hop. He directed Usher’s debut “Call Me a Mack,” TLC’s award-winning “Waterfalls,” Babyface’s “How Come, How Long” and Jay Z’s “Show Me What You Got.”
“Music videos helped me hone my craft,” Gray said. “You can draw a direct line. ‘Fantastic Voyage’ feels a little bit like ‘Friday’ or the helicopters in ‘It Was a Good Day’ are some of the elements in ‘The Negotiator.’”
Credit: Stefano Cristiano Montesi/Netflix
Credit: Stefano Cristiano Montesi/Netflix
OutKast’s “Ms. Jackson” was originally supposed to be shot in Atlanta, but Gray had bronchitis and couldn’t fly. Filming in Southern California, he pitched the Grammy-winning duo to use the dilapidated house during harsh weather as the premise to the clip.
The video earned OutKast BET and MTV Awards and earned them their first No. 1 pop single. “I wanted to challenge myself and come up with something different,” Gray said.
“To be able to say you worked on OutKast’s first album or any artist that moved the needle is Black and American history,” he said. “Everything was very raw. We were just creating based on instinct.”
Gray also directed “Be Cool” and “Law Abiding Citizen.” His work on “Straight Outta Compton” and “The Fate of the Furious” made him the highest-grossing Black director until Ryan Coogler’s “Black Panther.”
Credit: Matt Sayles/Netflix © 2024
Credit: Matt Sayles/Netflix © 2024
“The filmmaking process is not just having a vision,” Gray said. “It’s articulating and executing that vision. When you involve other people, it’s a totally different skill set to motivate people to re-create what’s in their mind.”
Gray is blessed to have enjoyed a nontraditional career in both music videos and blockbuster films now spanning three decades. He credits constantly being willing to learn and keeping a positive attitude with collaborators as the secret sauce to his vast body of work.
“I’m fortunate to continue to make movies, learn and do it with different people who operate from all walks of life around the globe,” said Gray, who shot in Belfast with a foreign crew. “It’s not easy, but it’s a blessing.
“The South had a lot to do with my success in music and film, but my approach will always be different. I just always hope we get a ‘W’ with the audience, and I’ll never lose sight of that.”
