Ray Jay - Director

Sri Lankan/New Zealand filmmaker Ray Jay, has been passionate about films ever since he started going to the movies as a twelve year old. These days he is living his dream of shooting movies.

After coming to South Seas Film and Television School in Auckland New Zealand Rehan completed the Diploma in Film & TV Production course in 2006 during which he trained as an editor. He then worked as an animator/visual effects artist and later as head of post production for Med TV on Auckland’s North Shore.

Ray Jay then moved to Singapore where worked on Star Wars: The Clone Wars before returning to Sri Lanka to realise his dream of making movies.

In 2009 Ray Jay joined up with fellow countryman Udana Fonseka who he met at a film workshop in 2004. They became friends because they were both mad about movies. Together they decided to set up their own production company “Grindout Productions” and quickly got to work on their first film an action flick titled ‘Chase’.

In December 2010, they completed their second film ‘Train to Kandy’ which straddles the genres of crime and drama. The film is the story of two young women on the run for their lives and is a tense edgy thriller which focuses on a 24 year old call girl named Jenny and a 14 year old runaway girl Amanda who find themselves in deep trouble with a charge of murder hanging over their heads.

The two young women must evade their determined pursuer, Marlon, a thug and son of the victim in question, who holds the girls responsible and wants them captured at all costs.

‘Train to Kandy’ features Nadeesha Hemamali as Jenny and ex child actress Deshani Pathirana, who plays Amanda's character. It is the first feature film appearance for the other main actor, Menaka Rajapaks and also introduces another young actor, Kalana Gunasekara.

Ray Jay and Udana co-produced ‘Train to Kandy’ which Udana wrote and directed while Ray Jay was the Director of Photography and post production editor among other things.

Making their film in Sri Lanka proved to be a challenging business. They had to complete the project for a low budget while still managing to create a film that is entertaining and original. They’re determined to break the Bollywood formula that many local films mimic. They are keen that young directors should learn to “think outside the box.”

The company appears to be currently driven by pure determination. To stay on budget ‘Train to Kandy’ is the first Asian feature to be shot using a Canon 5D SLR camera. Ray Jay and Udana comment that "More and more filmmakers use this technology to shoot their productions but we are among the pioneers. We both prefer moody thrillers and the SLR format is great for capturing the visual style we want.”

Udana added that “working with Ray has been a wonderful experience. We have a great understanding and have collaborated well in past productions.”

Ray had worked as an editor, cinematographer and visual effects artist since 2002. He co-directed, produced, cinematographed and edited‘The Ocean Was My Best Friend’ in 2004 and also co-produced, cinematographed and edited ‘Hope.’

 Both short films were based on the 2004 tsunami and were among the top 50 short films at the 2005 World Fest-Houston International Film Festival. They also made it to the finals to compete for the best cinematography award.

Ray also directed and produced ‘The Corrupted’ a 15 minute short film high lighting the drug world in Colombo and is currently working on his solo directorial debut, a science fiction, action thriller called ‘Re-Entry.’