Prolific Irish author and film historian Wayne Byrne will be celebrating the release of his eighth book, Roy H. Wagner: A Cinematographer’s Life Beyond the Shadows, at Naas Library & Cultural Centre on Thursday, 19th June at 7pm.
(Main image: Roy and Johnny Depp embrace on the set of Nick of Time)
The book is the latest in Byrne’s succession of acclaimed books, the subjects of which range from Walter Hill, Burt Reynolds, Tom DiCillo, Nick McLean to the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. Most recently he collaborated with musician Amanda Kramer (of The Psychedelic Furs) on their joint endeavour Hired Guns: Portraits of Women in Alternative Music and on another upcoming book which examines the history of soundtracks from the New Hollywood movement up through the independent No Wave era and onward, The Evolution of American Film Music, 1960 – 1990.
Indeed, the author has been busy, but when Emmy Award-winning Hollywood cinematographer Roy Wagner came calling he duly got to work on charting the career of the man behind the images of major TV shows such as CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, House M.D., Beauty and the Beast, Quantum Leap, and films like A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, Another Stakeout, Drop Zone, and Nick of Time. Byrne had previously met Wagner when making his book on the Elm Street films, which the cinematographer hailed as one of the best pieces of writing on filmmaking. “Roy was very appreciative of my work, and I was a big fan of his; but what intrigued me was that his career was not your typical Hollywood story. He fought a lot of industry battles, which are documented here, and which are very interesting, but I was also intrigued by the fact that he worked through some important movements and eras in American film history. Another thing I love about Roy is that he is a chameleonic artist; he never copies himself for the sake of artistic signature, and that is something that goes back to his training by what he would call “the old men”, the Old Hollywood cinematographers who worked in the Golden Age studio system and who had to adapt their style according to the needs of each production. These were Roy’s mentors.”
For Byrne, the book presented a literary challenge, as this was his first biography. Where normally his books focus on the art rather than the artists, now he was faced with putting this man’s life on the page. “I’m often mistakenly referred to as a biographer, but that is not true, I’ve always written about the work of these people, not the intricacies of their lives. But this book is a biography, so I had to step out of my comfort zone and consider the grander palette of not just a career but a life; this meant detailing things that occurred offscreen rather than onscreen, going behind the scenes, going personal as well as professional. And that is a different beast for a writer to tackle. But Roy was very generous with the details of his life and art.”
The book was released in May to acclaim from the film industry. Those who enjoyed the collaboration of Byrne and Wagner included the likes of noted film critic Leonard Maltin who said “This book offers straight talk for anyone who wants to know how the movie and TV business really works.” Wall Street Journal book critic and Hollywood historian Scott Eyman applauded the book as “a great read. A story of boots-on-the-ground filmmaking, of the uneasy dance between compromise and creativity.” And Byrne was particularly happy that cinematographer Russell Carpenter (who shot Pet Sematary Two, Hard Target, True Lies, Titanic, and Avatar: The Way of Water) thought of the tome as “a well-written and extremely entertaining read…there is a love of the magic, craft and art of filmmaking evident on every page.”
And while the writer will be taking a night off from writing to celebrate this book in Naas on the 19th, he doesn’t have much other time to take it all in as he will be releasing another book in August, this time on a very different subject: the Halloween franchise. “Yes, I don’t get much time to think about it all and pat myself on the back, as much as I would like to, as I have two more books finished and soon to be released, and two more being written. And with the Halloween book releasing next month I’ll be busy promoting that. So, I’m going from one book to the other in rapid succession. Which is great but exhausting too. So, I am looking forward to pressing pause to have some cheese and wine and talk all about my Roy Wagner book in Naas Library.”
As has become something of a tradition, Wayne will be joined on the evening by Film Ireland’s long-time contributor Paul Farren for a Q&A. “These launch events with Paul are usually one of my favourite things about the whole process of each book. It’s usually the one night I don’t have to work, when I really can take it all in and celebrate. I love having the discussion and the craic with Paul, it is usually a fun time. If we weren’t doing it in front of an audience, we’d probably be doing it over the phone or over a pint anyway. But this event marks the end of this project, I’ll be very happy to celebrate it hitting the shelves after two years of hard work.”
All are welcome to attend the launch. For further information, call Naas Library & Cultural Centre on 045 980795 or email naaslib@kildarecoco.ie.
