We caught up with Wayne Byrne to learn about his latest book, Roy H. Wagner: A Cinematographer’s Life Beyond the Shadows.
Kildare author Wayne Byrne and the Emmy Award-winning Hollywood cinematographer Roy H. Wagner have joined forces for a highly anticipated new autobiography entitled Roy H. Wagner: A Cinematographer’s Life Beyond the Shadows. Wagner has been the man behind the photography of many major motion pictures, including Nick of Time, Drop Zone, Another Stakeout, A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, Return to Horror High, A Rumor of Angels, as well as being responsible for the stylish and innovative looks of many hit TV shows including CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, House M.D., Party of Five, Quantum Leap, and Beauty and the Beast.
Byrne recalls that “Roy’s name popped up many times in the credits of the films and shows that I loved throughout my youth. The same year I discovered A Nightmare on Elm Street 3 on VHS and Beauty and the Beast on TV, there he was. So, his name stuck with me and I followed his career with interest and was fascinated that he worked like one of the old studio craftsmen – he had style in abundance, but he adapts that style to the story and genre at hand. He never repeats himself, nor draws attention to himself for the sake of it. But for anyone paying close attention, his work is extremely interesting and rewarding.”
Byrne and Wagner met on the author’s acclaimed book Welcome to Elm Street: Inside the Film and Television Nightmares and the pair duly hit it off. Byrne says, “Once we met. I realised he is also a serious historian and teacher, and that of course is my métier. We both feel it is important to document the history of cinema and we decided to work together to tell Roy’s story of being in the Hollywood trenches. The book is a journey through fifty years of the film business, from the studio system and the independent milieu, but it is also a very honest personal account of persevering through an industry that can be very brutal. There are many war stories from some big movies and shows in there, detailed with humour and candour.”
Wayne Byrne
Byrne has been busy of late, having recently released Hired Guns: Portraits of Women in Alternative Music, which he co-authored with American musician Amanda Kramer (The Psychedelic Furs, Siouxsie Sioux, 10000 Maniacs) as well as the acclaimed tome on the career of the legendary Walter Hill. In addition to his upcoming book with Wagner, Byrne is also anticipating the release of two further works, including a definitive overview of the Halloween films called You Can’t Kill the Boogeyman: The Ongoing Halloween Saga – 13 Films and Counting, as well as another collaboration with Kramer, analysing the development of film music from the 1960s to the 1980s.
“The Halloween book was the first one that came to me as a project from an agent, rather than originating it myself. I had turned down other potential projects because I just didn’t connect with the subject on a personal and emotional level, but Halloween I agreed upon because I grew up with those films; my father introduced them to me when I was very young, and I was honouring that. So, a personal connection is key for me, either the subject or the people involved must interest me deeply. That’s why I love working with Amanda, I mean those books are music based, so it’s her world we’re dealing with, but Amanda and I are best friends and we have our own unique way of collaborating which works beautifully for us.”
Roy H. Wagner
As for Byrne’s partnership with Wagner, it seems like their efforts are already paying off with high acclaim from notable people from the film industry. Noted assistant director and author David McGiffert (Back to the Future, Rain Man, Tootsie, Batman Returns) said “this is an important book, so honest and unvarnished, and unusually representative of what so many of us in film go through as we learn our way,” while legendary cinematographer Nick McLean (Close Encounter of the Third Kind, Sharky’s Machine, The Goonies, Friends) hailed the book as “the real deal, another winner for Wayne Byrne.” Even the film historian’s film historian himself, Leonard Maltin, has applauded the book, saying, “this book offers straight talk for anyone who wants to know how the movie and TV business really works,” while noting the brilliance of the pair’s conversations which dig deep into Wagner’s mentorship at the hands of the old studio cinematographers.
It’s a surreal moment for Byrne, coming full circle with those who have influenced his passion for cinema. “I wouldn’t be a writer without these guys,” Byrne says. “The art they helped create all those years ago is what made me want to become a writer. And now that these guys read my work and can see something truthful and authentic in it means everything. That’s why I do it.”
The book is available to pre-order here.
