Alan Ball
Alan Ball
Alan Erwin Ball is an American writer, director, and producer for television, film, and theatre...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionTV Producer
Date of Birth13 May 1957
CityMarietta, GA
CountryUnited States of America
organization misunderstood mind
It's easy to look at the vampires as a metaphor for any feared or misunderstood group. It's also easy to look at them as a metaphor for a shadow organization that says one thing and has a completely different agenda on their mind, and anybody who gets in their way, they just get rid of them. Does that sound familiar?
character thinking roots
I think all writers are armchair psychologists to some degree or another, and I think a character's sexuality is fascinating. It's a great way to really get at the root of their identity, because it's such a personal thing.
growing-up vampire saws
I'd seen 'Interview with A Vampire' and saw Dracula movies growing up, but I never thought, 'I love vampires; I have to do a show about vampires.'
thinking trying stories
I would say try to tell stories that you care about as opposed to stories that you think will sell.
trying waste firsts
I'm a huge freak, and always have been. I spent the first part of my life trying really desperately not to be one, and it was just a waste of time.
theme fascinated
Obviously death is a theme I'm fascinated by.
looks want mental-health
I'm at the point in my life where I don't want to work as hard. Actually, I've had to take a good hard look at workaholism and it's effect on one's mental health.
buddhist belief
I'm a Buddhist, so one of my biggest beliefs is, 'Everything changes, don't take it personally.'
vampire way metaphor
Vampires are total sexual metaphors; there's just no way around that.
growing-up philosophy acceptance
And as I stumbled onto Eastern philosophy and Buddhism, it was the first time I had ever read any sort of philosophy that really made a tremendous amount of sense. What I liked that was missing from my experience of Christianity growing up was a sort of acceptance, a sort of being OK with being imperfect and not focusing on the sin.
mean thinking collective-unconscious
In my own life, I think legends of supernatural, mythic things are really just a manifestation of the collective unconscious. So I don't really get freaked out. I mean certainly, you read about things people did to each other in the pursuit of some mystical or occult goal, and it's horrifying. But that's just human nature.
character important care
Ultimately, physical resemblance isn't as important as whether this person can bring this character to life in a way that's compelling and makes me care about what happens to them.
terrible companion acknowledge
Death is a companion for all of us, whether we acknowledge it or not, whether we're aware of it or not, and it's not necessarily a terrible thing.
clock-is-ticking people social
Directing is physically exciting because there's a ticking clock, you're working with people, it's very social, it's very enjoyable.