Ronald Bass
Writer
Ron was born in Los Angeles and began writing short stories at the age of six. During his teens, he wrote a novel VOLEUR, which he eagerly submitted to his Freshman English Professor. When she told him it could never be published, he burned the only copy in a metal bowl and didn’t write again for 18 years. There’s a lesson here somewhere.
In the meantime, he received a B.A. in Political Science from Stanford, an M.A. in International Relations from Yale as a Woodrow Wilson Fellow, and a J.D from Harvard Law School.
Ron practiced motion picture and television law in Los Angeles for 17 years. During this time, his wife Chris encouraged him to revisit the novel he had burned so many years before. The book became THE PERFECT THIEF, published in 1978, followed by LIME’S CRISIS (1982) and the EMERALD ILLUSION (1984). The last was adapted by Ron as a shockingly unsuccessful film, CODE NAME: EMERALD, which nevertheless encouraged (or dared) him to pursue a career as a screenwriter.
Ron has written 211 scripts in the past 36 years, and is grateful for the incomprehensible good fortune of never having been out of work for a day during that time. About a dozen or so have become films on which Ron did not take, or successfully compete for credit. Fun-fact: Ron co-wrote the first draft of LION KING. Of course, the gifted Linda Wolverton wrote roughly 101% of the film you enjoyed.
Ron has worked as Producer or Exec Producer on many of his films. A partial list of his credited films follows:
GARDENS OF STONE
BLACK WIDOW
RAIN MAN
SLEEPING WITH THE ENEMY
THE JOY LUCK CLUB
WHEN A MAN LOVES A WOMAN
WAITING TO EXHALE
DANGEROUS MINDS
MY BEST FRIEND’S WEDDING
STEPMOM
WHAT DREAMS MAY COME
HOW STELLA GOT HER GROOVE BACK
SNOW FALLING ON CEDARS
ENTRAPMENT
SWING VOTE
PASSION OF MIND
THE LAZARUS CHILD
MOZART AND THE WHALE
AMELIA
SNOW FLOWER AND THE SECRET FAN
BEFORE WE GO
On this, and every occasion, Ron wants to express his thanks to all the talented and encouraging individuals who have made it possible for him to do the work he loves.