Gary Cogill is an Emmy award-winning journalist, speaker, producer, actor, host, and consultant who has spent the last 40 years immersed in film. For 24 years, Gary served as the film critic for WFAA-TV in Dallas (ABC), reviewing more than 10,000 movies and conducting more than 20,000 interviews with actors, writers, and directors. Gary has sat down with the biggest names in the business, including Robert DeNiro, Meryl Streep, Stephen Spielberg, and Clint Eastwood.
After retiring from WFAA-TV, he co-founded the Dallas, Texas-based production company, Lascaux Films. His producing credits include, “Words And Pictures,” starring Clive Owen & Juliette Binoche; “Believe Me,” starring Alex Russell & Nick Offerman; “Refuge,” starring Krysten Ritter & Brian Geraghty,” and “The Starck Club,” a feature documentary on the legendary 1980’s Texas nightclub. Gary is also a much sought after speaker, hosting on stage “Evenings With” John Travolta, Al Pacino, Robert Duvall, David Mamet, Kevin Costner, Stephen Sondheim, Ken Burns, Peter Bogdanovich, Marvin Hamlisch, and more.
His favorite films include “To Kill A Mockingbird,” “Schindler’s List,” and “Waiting For Guffman” (which he considers a comic masterpiece.) He grew up in Portland, Oregon, where he sat through “Lawrence of Arabia” four nights in a row as a ten-year-old.
Gary is the proud father of two artistic daughters. He is married to Certified Sommelier Hayley Hamilton Cogill, who travels the world chasing the grape writing for her website, “Red Wine With Breakfast.” The duo co-host the popular podcast on reVolver Podcasts “Cogill Wine & Film: A Perfect Pairing,” bringing their passions together in spirited conversation. Gary and Hayley moved to Hawaii’s Big Island in 2017, both contributing to the island’s “West Hawaii Today” newspaper while living on the Kohala Coast with their dog, Yoda.