Dustin Lance Black: Harvey Milk Inspired Me to Come Out
Grace Cathedral - Grace Cathedral
While in college in the mid-90's, Dustin Lance Black first viewed Rob Epstein's documentary The Times of Harvey Milk. He thought, "I just want to do something with this, why hasn't someone done something with this?"A chance introduction to the late supervisor's former aide and disciple Cleve Jones brought Black into the circle of Milk's political family where he met with another of Milk's former aides, Anne Kronenberg, as well as former San Francisco Mayor, Art Agnos.It was then he began to write a feature film screenplay encompassing the events of Milk's life.Mr. Black grew up in a Mormon household in San Antonio, Texas. In 2000, he wrote and directed The Journey of Jared Price, a romance film, and Something Close to Heaven, a coming-of-age short film.In 2001, he directed and was a subject in the documentary On the Bus about a Nevada road trip taken by six gay men. In 2006 he was hired as the only Mormon writer on the HBO drama series Big Love which is set in Salt Lake City and explores the life of a Mormon polygamous family - Grace Cathedral
