Carroll Ballard (born October 14, 1937) is an American film director.
He has directed six feature films, including The Black Stallion
(1979), Never Cry Wolf (1983), and Fly Away Home (1996).After serving
in the United States Army, Ballard attended film school at UCLA, where
one of his classmates was Francis Ford Coppola.His early credits
include the documentaries Beyond This Winter's Wheat (1965) and
Harvest (1967), which he made for the U.S. Information Agency. The
latter was nominated for an Academy Award. 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 director on Star Wars (1977), for which he handled
many of the outdoor desert scenes.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 has directed six feature films, including The Black Stallion
(1979), Never Cry Wolf (1983), and Fly Away Home (1996).After serving
in the United States Army, Ballard attended film school at UCLA, where
one of his classmates was Francis Ford Coppola.His early credits
include the documentaries Beyond This Winter's Wheat (1965) and
Harvest (1967), which he made for the U.S. Information Agency. The
latter was nominated for an Academy Award. 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 director on Star Wars (1977), for which he handled
many of the outdoor desert scenes.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.
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