Ron Colby

Ronald Colby began his career in New York City as a playwright, actor and director. His experiences ran the gamut from small theaters to Broadway. Early on, Francis Ford Coppola enlisted Ron for his fledgling company, American Zoetrope. He served variously as Vice President, executive or producer on Zoetrope productions, THE RAIN PEOPLE, THE GODFATHER PART II, HAMMET, THE OUTSIDERS, among others. Interspersed, Ron wrote screenplays for independents, Universal Studios, and his screenplay adaptation of Golf in the Kingdom caught the attention of Warner Brothers and Clint Eastwood who purchased the project. He was executive producer on the popular John Hughes films, SHE'S HAVING A BABY and SOME KIND OF WONDERFUL. Always trying to associate with projects of quality, Ron produced four films for Mobil Masterpiece Theatre's, "American Collection." The final film in the series, ALMOST A WOMAN, won a Peabody Award as well as two Imagen Awards.

It became apparent in order to maximize potential; he should start his own company. He conceived Artists Confederacy with the idea of making feature films and documentaries that were of readily perceivable depth and quality regardless of budget. To begin, he wrote, produced and directed three feature length documentaries and produced a fourth. His most ambitious documentary, "Pirate for the Sea" chronicles the life of ocean environmental activist, Paul Watson. It premiered to great acclaim at The Telluride Film Festival and went on to win awards around the planet and air on television. He has two more docs "in the can," and to actualize the feature motion picture arm of the company, he has recently completed two screenplays which are currently gathering support.

Producer, Director

Ronald Colby earned a Bachelor’s degree in theater from Hofstra University and a Master’s Degree in theater from New York University. He worked in the professional theater in New York as an actor, both on Broadway and Off- Broadway. He wrote many plays that saw New York productions, and as a director/playwright, “The Village Voice” declared him an “influential originator” of the Off-Off Broadway movement.

Early in his career, Francis Coppola recruited Colby into his fledgling company, and Colby moved quickly from casting and acting into the roles of production executive and producer. The films included, YOU’RE A BIG BOY NOW, FINIAN’S RAINBOW, THX-1138, THE RAIN PEOPLE, THE GODFATHER PART II, HAMMETT, and THE OUTSIDERS.

Colby persisted with his writing, and personal filmmaking. His short film “The Longest Lens” won among other awards, a Cine Golden Eagle, and his documentary “Child Abuse and Neglect” won a U.S. Award of Excellence.

Ron went on to write screenplays for Universal Pictures, American Zoetrope, and in addition, worked on many films with such producers and directors as Milos Forman, Lorne Michaels, Ed Zwick, Wes Craven, etc.

He was Executive Producer on the John Hughes films, SOME KIND OF WONDERFUL and SHE’S HAVING A BABY. In addition he worked as a Production Executive on other films such as LISA, THE EXORCIST III, and ONE FROM THE HEART. The documentary he produced on the making of Coppola’s ONE FROM THE HEART, has been released on the newly issued DVD.

Ron also worked on many television movies as Producer including the highest-rated Hallmark Hall of Fame movie HARVEST OF FIRE, and Showtime’s LUSH LIFE. He has also been Second Unit Director on over a dozen films.

Colby continued writing and along the way, completed several original screenplays. His screenplay adaptation of the cult classic novel Golf in the Kingdom was purchased by Warner Brothers for Clint Eastwood to direct. More recently, Colby was Supervising Producer on the Mobil Masterpiece Theatre productions of Langston Hughes’ CORA UNASHAMED, Eudora Welty’s, THE PONDER HEART, and James Agee’s A DEATH IN THE FAMILY. He was the Producer of Esmeralda Santiago’s acclaimed memoir, ALMOST A WOMAN, also for Masterpiece Theatre, which won Peabody and Imagen Awards for best feature.

Over the past four years, he wrote and directed three feature documentaries. Completed in 2008 is, “Pirate for the Sea,” the film biography of Captain Paul Watson, the most controversial ocean environmental activist, ever. “Pirate for the Sea” had its World Premier to great acclaim at The Telluride Film Festival. Since then, it has won many “Best Documentary” awards, and been an official selection in numerous festivals including, Berlin, Dublin, Santa Barbara and Seattle. It was invited by the GoodPlanet Foundation to screen in Copenhagen as part of their environmental festival, which ran concurrently with the United Nations Conference on Climate Change. It was subsequently optioned by Discovery and aired for two seasons on their channel, Planet Green. His third documentary the informative and whimsical, “Scotland’s Caddies,” is quickly becoming a favorite with both golfers and golf “watchers” alike.

He recently finished the feature screenplay, WILD WITH ALL REGRETS, and is currently shooting an ocean environmental documentary “My Jetty” about individual responsibility for the health of the seas.

RONALD COLBY