Screenwriter and central Arkansas native Graham Gordy started following his passion for film not in front of a camera, but in live productions at the University of Central Arkansas and the Arkansas Reparatory Theatre. After trying out Los Angeles and New York (where Gordy spent eight years and completed his MFA in playwriting and screenwriting), Arkansas called him home in 2008. And although he travels frequently, the Arkansan with credits on films like “The Love Guru,” “My Dog Skip” and “War Eagle, Arkansas,” stays close to home as much as he can. “Almost everyone I care about is in Arkansas and it is now and will always be my home,” he says.

Why did you come back to Little Rock?
I just missed it so bad. My dad used to say, “Most Southerners spend the first 20 years trying to get away from the South and the next 20 trying to get back.” That was exactly my story. I had been in New York for more than seven years. One night, I was in Joe’s Pub seeing a musician named Jeffrey Foucault, and he was singing a song about home, and I started crying and just couldn’t stop. I started making plans that night to leave. I’ve never regretted it for a moment.

Why do you focus on Arkansas in your writing?
It’s what I know, where I’m from, where I live now. I’m not saying that everything I write will be set in Arkansas, but the South certainly, and I hope that Arkansans will be able to find something quintessentially Arkansan in everything I write. Living in Arkansas, going to the grocery store, driving around the state, talking to its people day after day, soaks through everything I do. Call it a “voice” if you like, but I’m just stealing from the life around me.

What do you love most about your neighborhood?
I love the beautiful, historic homes and the convenience. The beauty of living in Little Rock, other than the kindness and hospitality of its people, is that it rarely takes more than 15 minutes to get anywhere in the city. Most of our favorite restaurants are a short drive, but the general lack of traffic and convenience to any area of the city keep everything well within reach.

Local Favorites

  • Restaurants: Whole Hog Cafe, Brave New Restaurant, ZaZa, Big Orange, Flying Fish, The Flying Saucer, Capital Bar & Grill, White Water Tavern. We probably go to Sticky Fingerz more than anywhere else. We’re gratefully non-recovering fried chicken addicts.
  • Shops: Wordsworth Books, Eggshells Kitchen Company, Evolve Men’s Clothing, Gearhead Outfitters
  • Things to do: Museum of Discovery, the River Trail/Big Dam Bridge, Crossfit Little Rock, Improv Little Rock

Say Hello
Be on the lookout for Gordy’s work on the upcoming Sundance Channel series “Rectify,” as well as the production of his screenplay “The Slow Rise of Wesley Sinker.”