David Ayer
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David Ayer is an American screenwriter, respected for his insight into the dual worlds of L.A. street life and submarines, both of which he knows very well.
Ayer wrote the screenplay for crime drama Dark Blue, and it was his research into the LAPD that led to his most famous script, Training Day. TD sold for a million dollars, and Ayer sold his next script, Squids, for $1.5 million. The story was based on his experiences as a submariner in the US Navy, experience that he had earlier put into rewrites of the submarine thriller U-571.
Screenwriter David Ayer has admitted his 2000 film U-571 distorted history and that he would not do it again [1]. Ayer told BBC Radio 4's The Film Programme that he "did not feel good" about suggesting Americans captured the Enigma code rather than the British.
"It was a distortion... a mercenary decision to create this parallel history in order to drive the movie for an American audience," he said. "Both my grandparents were officers in World War Two, and I would be personally offended if somebody distorted their achievements."
Ayer signed a contract worth $2 million to write a script for S.W.A.T. based on his original story pitch. The film was directed by Clark Johnson and released in 2003.
Harsh Times marks the directorial debut of Ayer. A gritty drama set on the streets of South Central Los Angeles and how the violence affects their attempts to lead normal lives.
For the future, Ayer is set to remake The Wild Bunch set in modern day Mexico, and Andre De Toth's Crime Wave, a crime drama set in the tough parts of L.A., with Ethan Hawke.
