Doug Pray, Documentary Film Director-Episode #306

Storybeat with Steve Cuden

Doug Pray is a documentary filmmaker of great range and substance. His portraits of subcultures and creative visionaries have led him to numerous Sundance premieres, critical raves, and awards. His feature documentaries include: “Love, Lizzo,” “Surfwise,” and the Emmy Award-winning “Art & Copy.” His first two films, “Hype!,” the story of the Seattle music scene, and “Scratch,” about DJs and the birth of hip-hop, are often ranked among the best music docs of all time.

Doug won a Grammy and 5 Emmy nominations as executive producer, writer and editor of HBO’s “The Defiant Ones.” He executive produced “From Cradle to Stage” with Dave Grohl, and the AppleTV+ series “Home.” This year, 2024, Turner Classic Movies and Max debuted “The Power of Film,” a 6-part series with Professor Howard Suber, for which Doug was executive producer, supervising editor, and writer.

Doug has also directed dozens of commissioned short films and non-fiction commercials, including an HIV/AIDS awareness campaign which won him his first Emmy.

For the record, Doug and I know one another from “The Power of Film” as I became involved in this extraordinary project as a Co-Executive Producer. Like Doug, I’m a UCLA MFA Graduate and one of Howard Suber’s former students.

https://dougpray.com/