Born in Houston, Texas, raised and educated in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Doug
Claybourne first came into the film business from a background of
advertising and art direction studies after obtaining a BS degree from
the University of Tulsa. Thereafter came two years of post graduate
study at the Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles before
Claybourne turned to film. It took a six month stint as an assistant
art director on The City of San Francisco magazine and a working
relationship with the owner, Francis Coppola, to convince Claybourne to
make the switch official.
Early in 1976, during his first semester of film school after exiting
City magazine, Claybourne, prompted by a quote attributed to Coppola,
"...the problem with most film students is, they're afraid to take
risks," Claybourne offered to work "at no charge" for the next eight
weeks, just to find out if the movie business was something he really
wanted to pursue over the long term. The film was Apocalypse Now (1979)
and eight weeks turned out to be 3 1/2 years.
Falling back on his Vietnam, Marine Corps experience, he joined the
Coppola unit in the Philippines as a production assistant wrangling
helicopters. Later he became the assistant director on the 2nd unit,
coordinating the shooting of helicopter and patrol boat footage.
Eventually, he graduated to the main unit taking over as Coppola's 1st
assistant director. He stayed on after shooting as the post production
coordinator and special assistant to the producers during the remaining
two and a half years of production and post production until the
release in August 1979.
Claybourne's mentor association with Coppola and Zoetrope continued
through the years with "The Black Stallion" (1979) (assistant
director), "The Escape Artist" (1982) (producer), "The Black Stallion
Returns" (1983) (producer/assistant director), "Rumble Fish" (1983)
(producer), "Peggy Sue Got Married" (1986), (assistant director) and
"Jack" (1996), as executive producer.
The Zoetrope relationship also produced the 1992 Emmy and ACE award
winning documentary, "Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse"
(1991), which Claybourne conceived with George Zaloom and executive
produced with his long time associate Fred Roos. "Hearts of Darkness"
was directed by Fax Bahr and George Hickenlooper with the original
documentary footage directed and shot by Eleanor Coppola.
Claybourne also produced "Ernest Saves Christmas" (1988) for Disney's
Touchstone banner as a birthday present for his daughter Signe Laurin,
born December 6.
In July of 1998, Claybourne completed work on "The Mask of Zorro"
(1998) for 'Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment and Tristar
Pictures. Zorro filmed on location in multiple locations across Mexico.
The picture was nominated for two Golden Globes, including Best Picture
and Best Actor for Antonio Banderas along with two academy awards
nominations for Sound and Sound Effects achievement.
Claybourne met Rob Cohen while doing a favor for a friend, as an
assistant director during the making of "The Legend of Billie Jean."
This meeting led to a three picture producing association with the
Taft/Barish company and more recently to The Fast and the Furious
(2001) with Cohen directing. This film became Doug's son's favorite
movie and his birthday present at 14. It was also touted as a "cultural
phenomenon" as it opened to a phenomenal June 22, 2001 weekend of $41.7
million with a negative cost of $39 million dollars.
Other movies with Cohen were Light of Day (1987) with 'Michael J. Fox
and Serpent and the Rainbow, (1988) with Wes Craven directing and the
opportunity to meet and share producing credit with David Ladd.
Claybourne completed production on "North Country," with Charlize
Theron, Fran McDormand, Sissy Spacek and Woody Harrelson with Niki Caro
directing in New Mexico and Minnesota in 2004. Thereafter he produced
the documentary "Every Twenty One Seconds...8 stories of Brain
Injuries:" written and directed by his partner, writer/director Laura
Napier which completed post in November 2005. The documentary is
narrated by Woody Harrelson and was released in 2006. This is one of
the first documentaries outlining the challenge of traumatic brain
injury to veterans.
Doug executive produced "Nights in Rodanthe" with Diane Lane and
Richard Gere which was released in 2008 to a $72 million world wide
gross and his 3rd picture with Ms. Lane.
Doug continues to actively develop projects for his production company,
Poetry & Pictures Inc. while pursuing his passion for writing poetry
and painting in watercolors. He has written more than twenty five books
of poetry, since 1995, only one of which has he self published.
That book is entitled "One hundred love sonnets and one sad poem..." It
was given as a wrap gift following filming of "The Mask of Zorro." It
was written as one poem per day during the hundred days of filming.
Doug completed "The Rainbow Prince" in 2022, a passion project that took 5 years to
finance and see to completion. The film answered his youngest daughter's question,
"Where are all the brown princesses that look like me?" There were none 5 years ago, so she
and her Mom, Laura Napier wrote the book of the same title. Laura wrote the script
and we made the 35 minute short
film to screen in schools in five key markets to give kids new models
to foster conversation about heroes of all colors.
"Once upon a time a Brown Princess saves the Prince."
