Roger Avary, an award-winning filmmaker, began experimenting with Beta I video and 8mm film formats in the late 1970s.
He won the Best Film award at the Los Angeles Film Teachers Association Film Expo in 1983 for his Super-8mm supernatural thriller, The Worm Turns. Avary then attended the Pasadena Art Center College of Design's film program and worked in advertising at DMB&B and J. Walter Thompson.
In 1994, Avary received an Academy Award for his work as a writer with Quentin Tarantino on the screenplay for Pulp Fiction. The screenplay earned him and Tarantino numerous accolades, including a BAFTA, the Boston Society of Film Critics Award, the Chicago Society of Film Critics Award, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award, the New York Film Critics Circle Award, and the Independent Spirit Award for Best Screenplay.
Avary also wrote and directed the French neonoir crime thriller, Killing Zoe, in 1994. The film was honored with le Prix tres special a Cannes and won awards worldwide on the festival circuit, including Best Film at Japan's Yubari International Film Festival and the Italian Mystfest.
In 2002, Avary wrote and directed the filmed adaptation of the Bret Easton Ellis novel, The Rules of Attraction, which he also executive-produced. The film was notable for being the first studio motion picture to prove reliable use of Apple's Final Cut Pro editing system.
Avary became an Apple spokesperson for Final Cut Pro 3 and appeared in print and web ads worldwide. He also wrote and directed the film within the film, Glitterati, which was shot entirely on digital video with a crew of two.
In 2005, Avary purchased the rights to another Bret Easton Ellis novel, Glamorama, which is in development at his company for him to direct.
Avary penned the movie adaptation of the hit Konami video game, Silent Hill, for French director Christophe Gans in 2006. The film debuted as #1 at the U.S. box office and has been embraced by video game fans as one of the first game-to-film adaptations that is true to the imagery and spirit of its source material.
In 2007, Avary wrote and produced an adaptation of Beowulf with director Robert Zemeckis for Paramount Pictures. The film utilized a complex process of digitally enhanced live action, telling the oldest English language story through the use of the most modern technology available.
In 2017, Avary directed a French language filmed adaptation of Jean Cocteau's one-woman play, La voix humaine, starring actress Elsa Zylberstein.
Avary also wrote and directed the comedic thriller, Lucky Day, for producer Don Carmody, and starring Luke Bracey, Nina Dobrev, Crispin Glover, David Hewlett, and Tomer Sisley.
Roger Avary divides his time between Los Angeles, Paris, and Toronto, and is represented by his attorney, Craig Emanuel of Paul Hastings LLP Los Angeles.
