Ronald Bass

Ronald Jay Bass (born March 26, 1942), sometimes credited as Ron Bass, is an American screenwriter. Also a film producer, Bass's work is characterized as being highly in demand, and he is thought to be among the most highly paid writers in Hollywood. He is often called the "King of the Pitches". In 1988, he received the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for Rain Man, and films that Bass is associated with are regularly nominated for multiple motion picture awards.

Biography

Bass was born in Los Angeles, California. One frequently reported "milestone" of his early life is the assertion that he "taught himself to read by age three".

From the age of 3 to 11, Bass was afflicted with an undiagnosed condition that kept him bedridden. His symptoms included respiratory problems and stomach pains with high fevers and nausea. It was during this illness, at age six, that Bass is said to have started writing.

During his teens, Bass began work on a novel, which he entitled Voleur. He completed this work at age 17 and showed it to his English teacher. He took her critique of his first completed project quite hard. She described the writing as very good, but she felt that it was too personal to be published. Bass's response was to later burn his manuscript. Later in life, Bass recalled "it was like the voice of God telling me I didn't have what it takes to be a writer, and I should find something practical to do with my life". Bass would revisit his teenage writings later in life.

Bass entered law studies, first at Stanford, then Yale, and finally at Harvard Law School, where he graduated in 1967 with a degree in law. He seemed quite confident about his future prospects, saying, "When I learned there was such a thing as entertainment law, I thought, 'This is where I belong'". Back in Los Angeles, Bass began a seventeen year career practicing law in the entertainment business. He was successful, and eventually rose to the level of partner in his law firm.

Bass has worked with his sister Diane Bass, who served as an uncredited technical consultant on the film Rain Man.

As he moved up the career ladder in law, the love of writing that Bass had acquired as a child never left him. He started writing again, usually during the predawn hours before going to work. Writing and working at unusual hours became a life long habit of his. In 1974, he began to rework his novel Voleur, apparently from memory, as he had--in a fit of pique--burned the manuscript when he was 17. In 1978, he completed the work, renaming it The Perfect Thief (ISBN 0515046221). This was the first of his three published novels. In 1982, Bass published his second novel, A novel (ISBN 0688010253). The Lime referred to in the title is Harry Lime, the central mystery character of the 1949 motion picture The Third Man. On January 1, 1984, his third novel was published, The Emerald Illusion (ISBN 0688026222). The following year, he wrote the screenplay Emerald, based on this novel. It was his debut as a screenwriter with a produced script.

As a screenwriter, Bass is known for successfully working in collaboration with other writers, including Amy Tan on The Joy Luck Club and Al Franken on When a Man Loves a Woman.

Detractors of Bass's works describe his stories as overly sentimental. A director working on a Bass-written movie said, "Every character is a little too nice, and everything has to be tied up in a sweet little bundle".

“The Ronettes”

A small controversy has arisen over Bass' use of assistants to help him write screenplays. While it is common for screenwriters to employ assistants to help them with research and typing, Bass employs six or seven mostly female assistants that one journalist dubbed “The Ronettes”. According to Bass, his assistants help him in research and also in critiquing his scripts. They enable him to write, revise or polish a comparatively large number of screenplays per year ^*.

Works

Novels

The Perfect Thief, 1978, ISBN 0515046221
Lime's crisis: A novel, 1982, ISBN 0688010253
The Emerald Illusion, January 1, 1984, ISBN 0688026222

Films

Please see the WGA screenwriting credit system for an explanation of the terms story by, screenplay by, and written by. Also note that under the rules of the Writers Guild of America, Bass has not received onscreen credit for every script he has contributed to. It is thought that Bass has helped to write or consulted on over 100 screenplays (not all of which have nessesarily been produced).

Film	Year	Writing Credit	Producing Credit	Alternate Name Credit	Additional Information
Just Like Heaven	2005	screenplay			not yet produced
Mozart and the Whale	2005	written	producer	as Ron Bass
The Lazarus Child	2004	screenplay	executive producer
Passion of Mind	2000	written	producer	as Ron Bass
Snow Falling on Cedars	1999	screenplay	producer	as Ron Bass
Entrapment	1999	story & screenplay	executive producer	as Ron Bass
Swing Vote	1999	written		as Ron Bass	made for television
Invisible Child	1999	story		as Ron Bass	made for television
Border Line	1999	story & teleplay		as Ron Bass	made for television
Stepmom	1998	screenplay	executive producer	as Ron Bass
What Dreams May Come	1998	screenplay	executive producer	as Ron Bass
How Stella Got Her Groove Back	1998	screenplay	executive producer	as Ron Bass
My Best Friend's Wedding	1997	written	producer
Waiting to Exhale	1995	screenplay	executive producer
Dangerous Minds	1995	screenplay
Reunion	1994	teleplay			made for television
When a Man Loves a Woman	1994	written	executive producer		role as "AA man #1"
The Enemy Within	1994	teleplay		as Ron Bass	made for television
The Joy Luck Club	1993	screenplay	producer
Sleeping with the Enemy	1991	screenplay
Rain Man	1988	screenplay			Oscar for Best Original Screenplay
Gardens of Stone	1987	screenplay
Black Widow	1987	written
Emerald	1985	screenplay			adopted from his novel The Emerald Illusion

External links