Writer of Scream

Background:

“I always wanted to direct. That's my passion. I was an actor. That went nowhere. I tried directing theatre. Nope. I wrote this movie called 'Killing Mrs. Tingle.' Sold it. It sat on the shelf. My unemployment dried up. I couldn't get work. I had borrowed money from all my friends. I wrote 'Scary Movie' (later retitled: Scream). Just banged all it out, as fast as I could.” Kevin Williamson

An American screenwriter best associated with teenage horror and hormones in the 1990s, Kevin Williamson entered entertainment industry as an actor, but after finding little success he made the transformation into writing, a career that now makes him famous. A self-described workaholic, Williamson was shot to stardom with the screenplay for the sharp and successful horror movie “Scream” (1996), directed by Wes Craven. For his outstanding writing, he was handed a Saturn Award in 1997. He went on to write for such box office hits as “I Know What You Did Last Summer” (1997), “Scream 2” (1997), “The Faculty” (1998) and “Cursed” (2005, again directed by Craven). Williamson made his directorial debut with the flop “Teaching Mrs. Tingle” (1999), which he also wrote. He has also produced such movies as “Halloween: H20” (1998), “Scream 3” (2000) and “Venom” (2005). On the small screen, Williamson is probably best remembered for his work in “Dawson's Creek,” a popular series for the WB network. Other series credits are “Wasteland” (1999), “Glory Days” (2002) and “Hidden Palms” (2007), all of which, unfortunately, had short lives.

As for his private life, Williamson is an openly gay. His favorite movie is “Halloween” (1978) by John Carpenter. He has stated that the horror film is his inspiration to start writing.

Spielberg's Fan

Childhood and Family:

Kevin Meade Williamson was born in New Bern, North Carolina, on March 14, 1965. He lived in the neighboring coastal community of Oriental with parents Ottis Wade Williamson (fisherman) and Lillie Faye (storyteller) and older brother John until his family moved to Aransas Pass, Texas, before Kevin started school. After moving to Fulton, Texas, they returned to Oriental. It was before Kevin attended high school. A lifelong movie buff, especially Steven Spielberg's products, Kevin applied to New York University's film school and was accepted, but due to financial problems he went to East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina, a school closer to his home. He graduated with a B.A in Theater and Film.

Dawson's Creek

Career:

Hailed from North Carolina, Kevin Williamson headed to New York City after studying film and theater at East Carolina University with the goal of becoming an actor. Although he did secure a gig on the NBC soap opera “Another World” (1990), he soon recognized that acting was not his true calling. Therefore, he turned his sights on writing and directing and made his way to Los Angeles to pursue career in the fields. While writing screenplays, Williamson worked as assistant to a music video director. During this period, he worked on such noted videos as “Mama Said Knock You Out,” performed by rapper LL Cool J.

Williamson's big breakthrough arrived in 1996 with his script for “Scream,” which improved the teen slasher genre and proved to be a massive box office hit. The film was directed by horror sensation Wes Craven and starred a cast mainly made up of new faces, including Neve Campbell. For his effort, Williamson won a 1997 Saturn for Best Writer. Williamson continued to enjoy another blockbuster hit with the teen thriller “I Know What You Did Last Summer” (1997), which he wrote based on the Lois Duncan novel of the same name. Like “Scream,” it was also a self-referential slasher flick that featured some Hollywood's more attractive young performers. Later that same year, Williamson wrote and executive produced the sequel “Scream 2,” which received equal commercial success. In addition, he also appeared in the film as Cotton's interviewer. A series of triumphant he gained from the films subsequently established Williamson as one of Hollywood's newest storms to be reckoned with.

“'Dawson's Creek' has always been very personal and autobiographical; I live and breathe in all the characters...Dawson represents the filmmaker and dreamer, the Spielberg-obsessed idealist who views the world optimistically; Joey represents more of the cynical, angry side as well as my roots and upbringing; Pacey represents the joker in me; and Jen, the rebel. This year we added two new characters to the mix: Andie represents my overachieving, sometimes-manic personality and, in Jack, I wanted to create a character to represent my sexuality, which is my greatest asset in life...” Kevin Williamson

During the late 1997, Williamson was flooded with numerous offers, including one to develop a television series. The resultant, “Dawson's Creek,” a teen-angst drama starring Katie Holmes, James Van Der Beek, Michelle Williams and Joshua Jackson, was debuted on January 20, 1998 and aired on the Warner Bros. Network. A delicate and intelligent coming-of-age drama populated with practical characters, “Dawson Creek” soon became a hit and established its stars as teen idols. He wrote and executive produced the show until 1999, when he left the show.

Meanwhile, Williamson remained busy with his film work. He served as co-executive producer of “Halloween: H20” (1998), the seventh sequel of the series directed by Steve Miner. Arguably the only installment that lives up to John Carpenter's alarming 1978 original, the horror/thriller brought back legendary scream queen Jamie Lee Curtis and also introduced young performers Michelle Williams (of “Dawson's Creek”) and Josh Hartnett. He also wrote the screenplay of the sci-fi thriller “The Faculty” (also 1998), directed by Robert Rodriguez.

In 1999, Williamson made his directorial debut with “Teaching Mrs. Tingle,” a black comedy thriller inspired by his own real-life experience with a intimidating teacher. Williamson's script for the film was initially picked up for development by Interscope, but they put it on hold. With the success of “Scream,” the film was reclaimed by Miramax's Dimension Films and they put Williamson on boards as both screenwriter and director. Starring Helen Mirren and Katie Holmes, “Teaching Mrs. Tingle” proved to be a complete disaster at the box office and with critics as well.

Still in 1999, Williamson made his return to series TV after “Dawson's Creek” with “Wasteland,” a drama about six twentysomething college graduates in New York which he wrote and produced for ABC. Starring Sasha Alexander, Marisa Coughlan and Rebecca Gayheart, the series failed to ignite an audience and the network canceled it after 13 episodes.

2000 saw Williamson return to the “Scream” machine with the final installment “Scream 3,” in which he was a producer, but not a screenwriter. Two years later, he created a TV series for The WB called “Glory Days.” Although it received good reviews from critics, the mystery/thriller show only had a short life.

Following an extended hiatus from the big screen, the screenwriter rejoined director Wes Craven for the werewolf thriller “Cursed” (2005), which starred Portia de Rossi, Mya and Shannon Elizabeth. Despite suffering much script and scheduling difficulties during production, it was well-received at the box office. The same year, Williamson also produced the thriller/horror film “Venom,” helmed by Jim Gillespie.

More recently, in 2007, Williamson had revisited the small screen as a creator of the short-lived drama “Hidden Palms,” about a rebellious teenager who relocates with his family to Palm Springs. Aired on The CW, the coming-of-age drama was axed by the network because of low ratings.

Awards:

• Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films: Saturn, Best Writer, “Scream,” 1997