Kevin Williamson
Encyclopedia
Kevin Meade Williamson (born March 14, 1965) is an American screenwriter, best known for the horror films Scream
, I Know What You Did Last Summer
and The Faculty
, as well as the popular television series Dawson's Creek
and, more recently, The Vampire Diaries
and The Secret Circle
.
, North Carolina, the younger son of Lillie Faye (née Pittman), a storyteller, and Ottis Wade Williamson, a fisherman. He lived in the neighboring coastal community of Oriental
, but before he started school his family moved to Aransas Pass
, Texas, later relocating to Fulton
, Texas, both near Corpus Christi
. Williamson's family returned to Oriental before Kevin's high school years. Obsessed from a young age with movies—especially those of Steven Spielberg
– he applied to New York University
's film school and was accepted but because he could not afford the tuition, he attended a school closer to home, East Carolina University
in Greenville
, North Carolina, where he took a B.A. in theater arts.
" in 1990, he moved to Los Angeles the next year where he had small parts in In Living Color
, a Roger Corman
film, Hard Run, and in music videos. While taking classes on screenwriting at UCLA
he wrote his first script, Killing Mrs. Tingle which was bought by a production company in 1995 and put on the shelf.
on Danny Rolling
, a serial killer
in Gainesville
, Florida who preyed on college students, Williamson wrote a horror movie script, originally titled "Scary Movie". Its characters had seen many classic horror movies (e.g. A Nightmare on Elm Street
, Halloween
) and knew all the clichés. Miramax
bought the script for $400,000 for their new Dimension Films
label in the spring of 1995. Directed by Wes Craven
, the film was renamed Scream
, and released in The United States on December 20, 1996. It became a commercial blockbuster and critical success—ultimately drawing $173 million in ticket sales worldwide.
Kevin Williamson earned the Saturn Award for Best Writing
in 1996 for his work on Scream
.
Miramax later released Scream 2
, also written by Williamson. It, too, was a hit and paved the way for Scream 3
, the third installment of the Scream trilogy.
Williamson was the writer and producer for Scream 4
, which began shooting in June 2010 and was released in theaters on April 15, 2011.
, an executive at Columbia Tri-Star Television
, read Scream after the bidding war for the script and was convinced Williamson was just the man to create a television series for his company. The result was Dawson's Creek
, a semi-autobiographical tale set in a small coastal community not unlike Oriental. Williamson was the model for the title character, Dawson Leery
, a hopeless romantic who is obsessed with movies—especially those of Steven Spielberg. Joey Potter
, the platonic girl-next-door, was based on a real life friend of Williamson's when he was young.
In December 1995, the show was pitched to the Fox Network
, where Stupin had been an executive, but it was rejected. Then in 1996, Stupin and Williamson went to, and struck a deal with, The WB
. Williamson said, "I pitched it as Some Kind of Wonderful, meets Pump Up the Volume
, meets James at 15
, meets My So-Called Life
, meets Little House on the Prairie
." Dawson's Creek premiered on The WB on January 20, 1998, and was an immediate hit with its intended audience.
Despite the show's success (and telling Entertainment Weekly that "[I] ain't never leaving 'Dawson's Creek'."), Williamson left the show at the end of its second season to create a show for Miramax to air on ABC
. The result, Wasteland
, about twentysomethings in New York City, was savaged by critics. The Hollywood Reporter said it was about "the most attractively vacuous, self-indulgent, and pretentious group ever assembled in prime-time." It aired only three episodes in October 1999 before being canceled by ABC.
Williamson returned to Dawson's Creek to pen the two-part series finale in 2003.
, was also about young adults in peril. Based on a 1973 novel by Lois Duncan
, it centered around four friends accidentally running over a man, dumping the body, and going on with their lives, only to be punished one year later.
Columbia Studios advertised the film as "from the makers of Scream" against Miramax's wishes, who later sued the company.
, Barry Watson
, and Helen Mirren
, Teaching Mrs. Tingle
(as it was renamed after the Columbine High School Massacre
), had two students getting even with their vindictive teacher. Despite the cast, which also included Molly Ringwald
and Jeffrey Tambor
, it was panned by critics and audiences alike; for example, Entertainment Weekly
said it was "like Misery
scripted by a witless John Hughes imitator". The film, which cost $14 million to make, sold only $8.8 million in tickets in the U.S.
, which was adapted from a novel series of the same name by L.J. Smith
. The series follows the life of Elena Gilbert (Nina Dobrev
), who falls in love with vampire Stefan Salvatore (Paul Wesley
), and soon finds herself caught in a love triangle between Stefan and his older brother, Damon (Ian Somerhalder
), while the brothers are also being haunted by the past they've had with Katherine Pierce (also played by Nina Dobrev
). The series also focuses on the lives of Elena's friends and other inhabitants of the fictional town of Mystic Falls, Virginia
.
The Vampire Diaries premiered on September 10, 2009, to a successful run that netted the series a full-season pickup on October 21, 2009, and was later renewed for a second season. On April 26, 2011 it was renewed for a third season.
Kevin Meade Williamson (born March 14, 1965) is an American screenwriter, best known for the horror films Scream
, I Know What You Did Last Summer
and The Faculty
, as well as the popular television series Dawson's Creek
and, more recently, The Vampire Diaries
and The Secret Circle
.
, North Carolina, the younger son of Lillie Faye (née Pittman), a storyteller, and Ottis Wade Williamson, a fisherman.Kevin Williamson Biography (1965–) He lived in the neighboring coastal community of Oriental
, but before he started school his family moved to Aransas Pass
, Texas, later relocating to Fulton
, Texas, both near Corpus Christi
. Williamson's family returned to Oriental before Kevin's high school years. Obsessed from a young age with movies—especially those of Steven Spielberg
– he applied to New York University
's film school and was accepted but because he could not afford the tuition, he attended a school closer to home, East Carolina University
in Greenville
, North Carolina, where he took a B.A. in theater arts.
" in 1990, he moved to Los Angeles the next year where he had small parts in In Living Color
, a Roger Corman
film, Hard Run, and in music videos. While taking classes on screenwriting at UCLA
he wrote his first script, Killing Mrs. Tingle which was bought by a production company in 1995 and put on the shelf.
on Danny Rolling
, a serial killer
in Gainesville
, Florida who preyed on college students, Williamson wrote a horror movie script, originally titled "Scary Movie". Its characters had seen many classic horror movies (e.g. A Nightmare on Elm Street
, Halloween
) and knew all the clichés. Miramax
bought the script for $400,000 for their new Dimension Films
label in the spring of 1995. Directed by Wes Craven
, the film was renamed Scream
, and released in The United States on December 20, 1996. It became a commercial blockbuster and critical success—ultimately drawing $173 million in ticket sales worldwide.
Kevin Williamson earned the Saturn Award for Best Writing
in 1996 for his work on Scream
.
Miramax later released Scream 2
, also written by Williamson. It, too, was a hit and paved the way for Scream 3
, the third installment of the Scream trilogy.
Williamson was the writer and producer for Scream 4
, which began shooting in June 2010 and was released in theaters on April 15, 2011.
, an executive at Columbia Tri-Star Television
, read Scream after the bidding war for the script and was convinced Williamson was just the man to create a television series for his company. The result was Dawson's Creek
, a semi-autobiographical tale set in a small coastal community not unlike Oriental. Williamson was the model for the title character, Dawson Leery
, a hopeless romantic who is obsessed with movies—especially those of Steven Spielberg. Joey Potter
, the platonic girl-next-door, was based on a real life friend of Williamson's when he was young.
In December 1995, the show was pitched to the Fox Network
, where Stupin had been an executive, but it was rejected. Then in 1996, Stupin and Williamson went to, and struck a deal with, The WB
. Williamson said, "I pitched it as Some Kind of Wonderful, meets Pump Up the Volume
, meets James at 15
, meets My So-Called Life
, meets Little House on the Prairie
." Dawson's Creek premiered on The WB on January 20, 1998, and was an immediate hit with its intended audience.
Despite the show's success (and telling Entertainment Weekly that "[I] ain't never leaving 'Dawson's Creek'."), Williamson left the show at the end of its second season to create a show for Miramax to air on ABC
. The result, Wasteland
, about twentysomethings in New York City, was savaged by critics. The Hollywood Reporter said it was about "the most attractively vacuous, self-indulgent, and pretentious group ever assembled in prime-time." It aired only three episodes in October 1999 before being canceled by ABC.
Williamson returned to Dawson's Creek to pen the two-part series finale in 2003.
, was also about young adults in peril. Based on a 1973 novel by Lois Duncan
, it centered around four friends accidentally running over a man, dumping the body, and going on with their lives, only to be punished one year later.
Columbia Studios advertised the film as "from the makers of Scream" against Miramax's wishes, who later sued the company.
, Barry Watson
, and Helen Mirren
, Teaching Mrs. Tingle
(as it was renamed after the Columbine High School Massacre
), had two students getting even with their vindictive teacher. Despite the cast, which also included Molly Ringwald
and Jeffrey Tambor
, it was panned by critics and audiences alike; for example, Entertainment Weekly
said it was "like Misery
scripted by a witless John Hughes imitator". The film, which cost $14 million to make, sold only $8.8 million in tickets in the U.S.
, which was adapted from a novel series of the same name by L.J. Smith
. The series follows the life of Elena Gilbert (Nina Dobrev
), who falls in love with vampire Stefan Salvatore (Paul Wesley
), and soon finds herself caught in a love triangle between Stefan and his older brother, Damon (Ian Somerhalder
), while the brothers are also being haunted by the past they've had with Katherine Pierce (also played by Nina Dobrev
). The series also focuses on the lives of Elena's friends and other inhabitants of the fictional town of Mystic Falls, Virginia
.
The Vampire Diaries premiered on September 10, 2009, to a successful run that netted the series a full-season pickup on October 21, 2009, and was later renewed for a second season. On April 26, 2011 it was renewed for a third season.
Kevin Meade Williamson (born March 14, 1965) is an American screenwriter, best known for the horror films Scream
, I Know What You Did Last Summer
and The Faculty
, as well as the popular television series Dawson's Creek
and, more recently, The Vampire Diaries
and The Secret Circle
.
, North Carolina, the younger son of Lillie Faye (née Pittman), a storyteller, and Ottis Wade Williamson, a fisherman.Kevin Williamson Biography (1965–) He lived in the neighboring coastal community of Oriental
, but before he started school his family moved to Aransas Pass
, Texas, later relocating to Fulton
, Texas, both near Corpus Christi
. Williamson's family returned to Oriental before Kevin's high school years. Obsessed from a young age with movies—especially those of Steven Spielberg
– he applied to New York University
's film school and was accepted but because he could not afford the tuition, he attended a school closer to home, East Carolina University
in Greenville
, North Carolina, where he took a B.A. in theater arts.
" in 1990, he moved to Los Angeles the next year where he had small parts in In Living Color
, a Roger Corman
film, Hard Run, and in music videos. While taking classes on screenwriting at UCLA
he wrote his first script, Killing Mrs. Tingle which was bought by a production company in 1995 and put on the shelf.
on Danny Rolling
, a serial killer
in Gainesville
, Florida who preyed on college students, Williamson wrote a horror movie script, originally titled "Scary Movie". Its characters had seen many classic horror movies (e.g. A Nightmare on Elm Street
, Halloween
) and knew all the clichés. Miramax
bought the script for $400,000 for their new Dimension Films
label in the spring of 1995. Directed by Wes Craven
, the film was renamed Scream
, and released in The United States on December 20, 1996. It became a commercial blockbuster and critical success—ultimately drawing $173 million in ticket sales worldwide.
Kevin Williamson earned the Saturn Award for Best Writing
in 1996 for his work on Scream
.
Miramax later released Scream 2
, also written by Williamson. It, too, was a hit and paved the way for Scream 3
, the third installment of the Scream trilogy.
Williamson was the writer and producer for Scream 4
, which began shooting in June 2010 and was released in theaters on April 15, 2011.
, an executive at Columbia Tri-Star Television
, read Scream after the bidding war for the script and was convinced Williamson was just the man to create a television series for his company. The result was Dawson's Creek
, a semi-autobiographical tale set in a small coastal community not unlike Oriental. Williamson was the model for the title character, Dawson Leery
, a hopeless romantic who is obsessed with movies—especially those of Steven Spielberg. Joey Potter
, the platonic girl-next-door, was based on a real life friend of Williamson's when he was young.
In December 1995, the show was pitched to the Fox Network
, where Stupin had been an executive, but it was rejected. Then in 1996, Stupin and Williamson went to, and struck a deal with, The WB
. Williamson said, "I pitched it as Some Kind of Wonderful, meets Pump Up the Volume
, meets James at 15
, meets My So-Called Life
, meets Little House on the Prairie
." Dawson's Creek premiered on The WB on January 20, 1998, and was an immediate hit with its intended audience.
Despite the show's success (and telling Entertainment Weekly that "[I] ain't never leaving 'Dawson's Creek'."), Williamson left the show at the end of its second season to create a show for Miramax to air on ABC
. The result, Wasteland
, about twentysomethings in New York City, was savaged by critics. The Hollywood Reporter said it was about "the most attractively vacuous, self-indulgent, and pretentious group ever assembled in prime-time." It aired only three episodes in October 1999 before being canceled by ABC.
Williamson returned to Dawson's Creek to pen the two-part series finale in 2003.
, was also about young adults in peril. Based on a 1973 novel by Lois Duncan
, it centered around four friends accidentally running over a man, dumping the body, and going on with their lives, only to be punished one year later.
Columbia Studios advertised the film as "from the makers of Scream" against Miramax's wishes, who later sued the company.
, Barry Watson
, and Helen Mirren
, Teaching Mrs. Tingle
(as it was renamed after the Columbine High School Massacre
), had two students getting even with their vindictive teacher. Despite the cast, which also included Molly Ringwald
and Jeffrey Tambor
, it was panned by critics and audiences alike; for example, Entertainment Weekly
said it was "like Misery
scripted by a witless John Hughes imitator". The film, which cost $14 million to make, sold only $8.8 million in tickets in the U.S.
, which was adapted from a novel series of the same name by L.J. Smith
. The series follows the life of Elena Gilbert (Nina Dobrev
), who falls in love with vampire Stefan Salvatore (Paul Wesley
), and soon finds herself caught in a love triangle between Stefan and his older brother, Damon (Ian Somerhalder
), while the brothers are also being haunted by the past they've had with Katherine Pierce (also played by Nina Dobrev
). The series also focuses on the lives of Elena's friends and other inhabitants of the fictional town of Mystic Falls, Virginia
.
The Vampire Diaries premiered on September 10, 2009, to a successful run that netted the series a full-season pickup on October 21, 2009, and was later renewed for a second season. On April 26, 2011 it was renewed for a third season.
In November 26th 2011 Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec confirmed in a interview that Taylor Swift
would appear as Maria an Original.
called "Glory Days
", set in a coastal community in Washington state, where very weird things were happening—shades of "Twin Peaks
", it seemed. It debuted in January 2002, but only ten episodes were produced.
Williamson penned another script for Wes Craven
, Cursed, which was released in 2005 and starred Christina Ricci
, Jesse Eisenberg
, Joshua Jackson
, and Shannon Elizabeth
. The film suffered many script and scheduling difficulties during production and ultimately failed to perform at the box office.
2005 saw the release of his newest horror film, Venom
, about a group of teens stalked by a crazed killer in the bayous of Louisiana. Williamson is listed as a producer of the film, but not as a writer.
Williamson wrote and produced "Hidden Palms" for The CW
. It was a coming-of-age drama about a troubled teen who moves with his mother and new stepfather to the gated community of Palm Springs where he uncovers some dark secrets. "Palms" was originally intended to be a midseason replacement set to air in March but "Pussycat Dolls Present: The Search for the Next Doll
" aired in its timeslot instead. The pilot eventually premiered on May 30, 2007. Eight episodes were ordered by the network but due to low ratings the series was canceled. The final episode aired on July 4, 2007.
Williamson wrote the script for Scream 4
and is tapped to write the storybook for Scream 5.
to his friends and family in 1992.
Scream (film series)
Scream is a series of American horror slasher films created by Kevin Williamson and Wes Craven. The films star Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, and David Arquette. The series has grossed over $600 million in worldwide box-office receipts and consists, to date, of four motion pictures...
, I Know What You Did Last Summer
I Know What You Did Last Summer
I Know What You Did Last Summer is a 1997 American horror film. The film stars Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe and Freddie Prinze Jr. The screenplay was written by Kevin Williamson, writer of Scream, and very loosely based on Lois Duncan's popular novel of the same title...
and The Faculty
The Faculty
The Faculty is a 1998 science fiction horror film written by Kevin Williamson and directed by Robert Rodriguez...
, as well as the popular television series Dawson's Creek
Dawson's Creek
Dawson's Creek is an American teen drama television series which debuted on January 20, 1998, on The WB Television Network and was produced by Sony Pictures Television. The show is set in the fictional seaside town of Capeside, Massachusetts, and in Boston, Massachusetts, during the later seasons...
and, more recently, The Vampire Diaries
The Vampire Diaries (TV series)
The Vampire Diaries is an American supernatural drama television series developed by Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec, based on the book series of the same name written by L. J. Smith. The series premiered on The CW Television Network on September 10, 2009, and is currently in its third season that...
and The Secret Circle
The Secret Circle (TV series)
The Secret Circle is an American television series broadcast on The CW Television Network. It was developed by Andrew Miller, based on the book series of the same name written by L. J. Smith. On May 17, 2011, The CW announced they had picked up the pilot as a series...
.
Early life
Williamson was born in New BernNew Bern, North Carolina
New Bern is a city in Craven County, North Carolina with a population of 29,524 as of the 2010 census.. It is located at the confluence of the Trent and the Neuse rivers...
, North Carolina, the younger son of Lillie Faye (née Pittman), a storyteller, and Ottis Wade Williamson, a fisherman. He lived in the neighboring coastal community of Oriental
Oriental, North Carolina
Oriental is known as 'The Sailing Capital of North Carolina'.This tiny harbor town is on the Neuse River, the widest river in the USA, leading to the vast sailing waters of Pamlico Sound and on to the Atlantic through North Carolina's barrier islands. The area is easily some of the finest boating...
, but before he started school his family moved to Aransas Pass
Aransas Pass, Texas
Aransas Pass is a city in Aransas, Nueces, and San Patricio counties in the U.S. state of Texas. The population was 8,138 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Aransas Pass is located at ....
, Texas, later relocating to Fulton
Fulton, Texas
Fulton is a town in Aransas County, Texas, United States. As of the 2000 census, this South Texas coastal fishing community had a population of 1,553...
, Texas, both near Corpus Christi
Corpus Christi, Texas
Corpus Christi is a coastal city in the South Texas region of the U.S. state of Texas. The county seat of Nueces County, it also extends into Aransas, Kleberg, and San Patricio counties. The MSA population in 2008 was 416,376. The population was 305,215 at the 2010 census making it the...
. Williamson's family returned to Oriental before Kevin's high school years. Obsessed from a young age with movies—especially those of Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...
– he applied to New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
's film school and was accepted but because he could not afford the tuition, he attended a school closer to home, East Carolina University
East Carolina University
East Carolina University is a public, coeducational, engaged doctoral/research university located in Greenville, North Carolina, United States. Named East Carolina University by statute and commonly known as ECU or East Carolina, the university is the largest institution of higher learning in...
in Greenville
Greenville, North Carolina
Greenville is the county seat of Pitt County and principal city of the Greenville, North Carolina metropolitan area. Greenville is the health, entertainment, and educational hub of North Carolina's Tidewater and Coastal Plain and in 2008 was listed as the Tenth Largest City in North Carolina...
, North Carolina, where he took a B.A. in theater arts.
In television
After graduation, he moved to New York City to pursue an acting career. Though he landed a part on the soap opera "Another WorldAnother World (TV series)
Another World is an American television soap opera that ran on NBC from May 4, 1964 to June 25, 1999. It ran for a total of 35 years. It was created by Irna Phillips along with William J...
" in 1990, he moved to Los Angeles the next year where he had small parts in In Living Color
In Living Color
In Living Color is an American sketch comedy television series, which originally ran on the Fox Network from April 15, 1990 to May 19, 1994. Brothers Keenen and Damon Wayans created, wrote, and starred in the program. The show was produced by Ivory Way Productions in association with 20th Century...
, a Roger Corman
Roger Corman
Roger William Corman is an American film producer, director and actor. He has mostly worked on low-budget B movies. Some of Corman's work has an established critical reputation, such as his cycle of films adapted from the tales of Edgar Allan Poe, and in 2009 he won an Honorary Academy Award for...
film, Hard Run, and in music videos. While taking classes on screenwriting at UCLA
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses...
he wrote his first script, Killing Mrs. Tingle which was bought by a production company in 1995 and put on the shelf.
Scream
Inspired by the March 9, 1994 episode of the newsmagazine Turning PointTurning Point (TV show)
Turning Point was an ABC News program that aired from 1994 to 1999.Turning Point was an hour-long program on a single topic, making it similar to CBS' 48 Hours, which it ran directly opposite for some of its run. The program tended toward sensational topics, such as former members of Charles...
on Danny Rolling
Danny Rolling
Daniel Harold Rolling , also known as The Gainesville Ripper, was an American serial killer who murdered five students in Gainesville, Florida. Rolling later confessed to raping several of his victims, committing an additional 1989 triple homicide in Shreveport, Louisiana, and attempting to murder...
, a serial killer
Serial killer
A serial killer, as typically defined, is an individual who has murdered three or more people over a period of more than a month, with down time between the murders, and whose motivation for killing is usually based on psychological gratification...
in Gainesville
Gainesville, Florida
Gainesville is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Alachua County, Florida, United States as well as the principal city of the Gainesville, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area . The preliminary 2010 Census population count for Gainesville is 124,354. Gainesville is home to the sixth...
, Florida who preyed on college students, Williamson wrote a horror movie script, originally titled "Scary Movie". Its characters had seen many classic horror movies (e.g. A Nightmare on Elm Street
A Nightmare on Elm Street
A Nightmare on Elm Street is a 1984 American slasher film directed and written by Wes Craven, and the first film of the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. The film features Heather Langenkamp, John Saxon, Ronee Blakley, Amanda Wyss, Jsu Garcia, Robert Englund, and Johnny Depp in his feature film...
, Halloween
Halloween (1978 film)
Halloween is a 1978 American independent horror film directed, produced, and scored by John Carpenter, co-written with Debra Hill, and starring Donald Pleasence and Jamie Lee Curtis in her film debut and the first installment in the Halloween franchise. The film is set in the fictional midwestern...
) and knew all the clichés. Miramax
Miramax Films
Miramax Films is an American entertainment company known for distributing independent and foreign films. For its first 14 years the company was privately owned by its founders, Bob and Harvey Weinstein...
bought the script for $400,000 for their new Dimension Films
Dimension Films
Dimension Films is a motion picture unit currently a part of The Weinstein Company. It was formerly used as Bob Weinstein's label within Miramax Films, to produce and release genre films...
label in the spring of 1995. Directed by Wes Craven
Wes Craven
Wesley Earl "Wes" Craven is an American actor, film director, writer, producer, perhaps best known as the director of many horror films, particularly slasher films, including the famed A Nightmare on Elm Street and Wes Craven's New Nightmare, featuring the iconic Freddy Krueger character, the...
, the film was renamed Scream
Scream (film)
Scream is a 1996 American slasher film written by Kevin Williamson and directed by Wes Craven. The film stars Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, Drew Barrymore, and David Arquette...
, and released in The United States on December 20, 1996. It became a commercial blockbuster and critical success—ultimately drawing $173 million in ticket sales worldwide.
Kevin Williamson earned the Saturn Award for Best Writing
Saturn Award for Best Writing
The following is a list of people who have won the Saturn Award for Best Writing.-Multiple Winners:*James Cameron - 3 awards*Christopher Nolan - 3 awards*William Peter Blatty - 3 awards-External links:* http://www.saturnawards.org/past.html#writing...
in 1996 for his work on Scream
Scream (film)
Scream is a 1996 American slasher film written by Kevin Williamson and directed by Wes Craven. The film stars Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, Drew Barrymore, and David Arquette...
.
Miramax later released Scream 2
Scream 2
Scream 2 is a 1997 American slasher film created and written by Kevin Williamson and directed by Wes Craven, starring Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Jamie Kennedy and Liev Schreiber, released on December 12, 1997 as the second installment in the Scream film series...
, also written by Williamson. It, too, was a hit and paved the way for Scream 3
Scream 3
Scream 3 is a 2000 American slasher film created by Kevin Williamson, directed by Wes Craven and written by Ehren Kruger, starring Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox Arquette and David Arquette, released on February 4, 2000 as the third, and originally, concluding installment in the Scream film series...
, the third installment of the Scream trilogy.
Williamson was the writer and producer for Scream 4
Scream 4
Scream 4 is a 2011 American slasher horror film and the fourth installment in the Scream film series. Directed by Wes Craven and written by Kevin Williamson, writer of Scream and Scream 2, the film stars an ensemble cast which includes David Arquette, Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, Emma Roberts,...
, which began shooting in June 2010 and was released in theaters on April 15, 2011.
Dawson's Creek
Paul StupinPaul Stupin
- Biography :After graduating from Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts, Stupin went to Los Angeles to work for NBC in series development. In 1986 he became a vice president for production at Tri-Star Pictures, overseeing such films as Steel Magnolias, and Short Circuit...
, an executive at Columbia Tri-Star Television
Sony Pictures Television
Sony Pictures Television, Inc. is an American and global television production/distribution subsidiary of Sony Pictures Entertainment. In turn, the latter is part of the Japanese conglomerate Sony.-Background:...
, read Scream after the bidding war for the script and was convinced Williamson was just the man to create a television series for his company. The result was Dawson's Creek
Dawson's Creek
Dawson's Creek is an American teen drama television series which debuted on January 20, 1998, on The WB Television Network and was produced by Sony Pictures Television. The show is set in the fictional seaside town of Capeside, Massachusetts, and in Boston, Massachusetts, during the later seasons...
, a semi-autobiographical tale set in a small coastal community not unlike Oriental. Williamson was the model for the title character, Dawson Leery
Dawson Leery
Dawson Wade Leery is the central fictional character and the main protagonist of the American television drama Dawson's Creek. The character is portrayed by American actor James Van Der Beek.-Biography:...
, a hopeless romantic who is obsessed with movies—especially those of Steven Spielberg. Joey Potter
Joey Potter
Josephine "Joey" Lynn Potter is a fictional character portrayed by Katie Holmes in the American television drama Dawson's Creek.-Character biography:...
, the platonic girl-next-door, was based on a real life friend of Williamson's when he was young.
In December 1995, the show was pitched to the Fox Network
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
, where Stupin had been an executive, but it was rejected. Then in 1996, Stupin and Williamson went to, and struck a deal with, The WB
The WB Television Network
The WB Television Network is a former television network in the United States that was launched on January 11, 1995 as a joint venture between Warner Bros. and Tribune Broadcasting. On January 24, 2006, CBS Corporation and Warner Bros...
. Williamson said, "I pitched it as Some Kind of Wonderful, meets Pump Up the Volume
Pump Up the Volume (film)
Pump Up the Volume is a 1990 comedy-drama film written and directed by Allan Moyle and starring Christian Slater and Samantha Mathis.- Plot summary :...
, meets James at 15
James at 15
James at 15 is an American drama series that aired on NBC in the 1977-1978 season. The series was preceded by the 1977 made-for-TV movie James at 15, intended as a pilot for the series...
, meets My So-Called Life
My So-Called Life
My So-Called Life is an American teen drama television series created by Winnie Holzman and produced by Edward Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz. It originally aired on ABC from August 25, 1994, to January 26, 1995 and was distributed by The Bedford Falls Company with ABC Productions. Set at the...
, meets Little House on the Prairie
Little House on the Prairie (TV series)
Little House on the Prairie is an American Western drama television series, starring Michael Landon and Melissa Gilbert, about a family living on a farm in Walnut Grove, Minnesota, in the 1870s and 1880s. The show was an adaptation of Laura Ingalls Wilder's best-selling series of Little House books...
." Dawson's Creek premiered on The WB on January 20, 1998, and was an immediate hit with its intended audience.
Despite the show's success (and telling Entertainment Weekly that "[I] ain't never leaving 'Dawson's Creek'."), Williamson left the show at the end of its second season to create a show for Miramax to air on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
. The result, Wasteland
Wasteland (TV series)
Wasteland is an American television drama on ABC network created by Kevin Williamson. The show debuted in 1999, a Miramax Films production....
, about twentysomethings in New York City, was savaged by critics. The Hollywood Reporter said it was about "the most attractively vacuous, self-indulgent, and pretentious group ever assembled in prime-time." It aired only three episodes in October 1999 before being canceled by ABC.
Williamson returned to Dawson's Creek to pen the two-part series finale in 2003.
I Know What You Did Last Summer
Williamson's next film, I Know What You Did Last SummerI Know What You Did Last Summer
I Know What You Did Last Summer is a 1997 American horror film. The film stars Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe and Freddie Prinze Jr. The screenplay was written by Kevin Williamson, writer of Scream, and very loosely based on Lois Duncan's popular novel of the same title...
, was also about young adults in peril. Based on a 1973 novel by Lois Duncan
Lois Duncan
Duncan is best known for her novels of suspense for teenagers. Some of her works have been adapted for the screen, the most famous example being the 1997 film I Know What You Did Last Summer, adapted from her novel of the same title...
, it centered around four friends accidentally running over a man, dumping the body, and going on with their lives, only to be punished one year later.
Columbia Studios advertised the film as "from the makers of Scream" against Miramax's wishes, who later sued the company.
Teaching Mrs. Tingle
Williamson's first script was only produced when Williamson himself got behind the camera to direct. Starring Dawson's Creeks Katie HolmesKatie Holmes
Katherine Noelle "Katie" Holmes is an American actress who first achieved fame for her role as Joey Potter on The WB television teen drama Dawson's Creek from 1998 to 2003. Her movie roles have included the blockbuster Batman Begins along with art house films such as The Ice Storm and thrillers...
, Barry Watson
Barry Watson (actor)
Michael Barrett "Barry" Watson is an American actor, known for his roles of Dr. Matthew "Matt" Camden on 7th Heaven, Brian Davis in What About Brian and Todd Deepler in Samantha Who?-Early life:...
, and Helen Mirren
Helen Mirren
Dame Helen Mirren, DBE is an English actor. She has won an Academy Award for Best Actress, four SAG Awards, four BAFTAs, three Golden Globes, four Emmy Awards, and two Cannes Film Festival Best Actress Awards.-Early life and family:...
, Teaching Mrs. Tingle
Teaching Mrs. Tingle
Teaching Mrs. Tingle is a 1999 black comedy film and the directing debut of screenwriter Kevin Williamson. The film stars Helen Mirren, Katie Holmes, Marisa Coughlan, Barry Watson and Jeffrey Tambor and was released on August 20, 1999. It was originally titled Killing Mrs...
(as it was renamed after the Columbine High School Massacre
Columbine High School massacre
The Columbine High School massacre occurred on Tuesday, April 20, 1999, at Columbine High School in Columbine, an unincorporated area of Jefferson County, Colorado, United States, near Denver and Littleton. Two senior students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, embarked on a massacre, killing 12...
), had two students getting even with their vindictive teacher. Despite the cast, which also included Molly Ringwald
Molly Ringwald
Molly Kathleen Ringwald is an American actress, singer and dancer. Having appeared in the John Hughes movies Sixteen Candles , The Breakfast Club , and Pretty in Pink , Ringwald has been frequently named the greatest teen star of all time...
and Jeffrey Tambor
Jeffrey Tambor
Jeffrey Michael Tambor is an American actor, perhaps best known for his roles as George Bluth Sr. and Oscar Bluth on Arrested Development and Hank Kingsley on The Larry Sanders Show.-Early life:...
, it was panned by critics and audiences alike; for example, Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
said it was "like Misery
Misery (film)
Misery is a 1990 American Psychological Horror Film based on Stephen King's 1987 novel of the same name. Directed by Rob Reiner, the film received critical acclaim for Kathy Bates' performance as the psychopathic Annie Wilkes...
scripted by a witless John Hughes imitator". The film, which cost $14 million to make, sold only $8.8 million in tickets in the U.S.
The Vampire Diaries
Williamson developed a new TV series for The CW entitled The Vampire DiariesThe Vampire Diaries (TV series)
The Vampire Diaries is an American supernatural drama television series developed by Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec, based on the book series of the same name written by L. J. Smith. The series premiered on The CW Television Network on September 10, 2009, and is currently in its third season that...
, which was adapted from a novel series of the same name by L.J. Smith
L.J. Smith
John Smith III , commonly known as L.J., which stands for "Little John", is an American football tight end who is currently a free agent. He was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the second round of the 2003 NFL Draft...
. The series follows the life of Elena Gilbert (Nina Dobrev
Nina Dobrev
Nina Dobrev is a Bulgarian-Canadian actress. She played the role of Mia Jones, the single teenage mother, on Degrassi: The Next Generation, from the show's sixth to ninth season...
), who falls in love with vampire Stefan Salvatore (Paul Wesley
Paul Wesley
Paul Thomas Wasilewski , known professionally as Paul Wesley, is an American actor, best known for his roles as Stefan Salvatore in The CW TV series The Vampire Diaries and as Aaron Corbett in the ABC Family miniseries Fallen....
), and soon finds herself caught in a love triangle between Stefan and his older brother, Damon (Ian Somerhalder
Ian Somerhalder
Ian Joseph Somerhalder is an American model, actor and producer, best known for playing Boone Carlyle in the TV drama Lost and Damon Salvatore in the TV drama The Vampire Diaries.-Early life:...
), while the brothers are also being haunted by the past they've had with Katherine Pierce (also played by Nina Dobrev
Nina Dobrev
Nina Dobrev is a Bulgarian-Canadian actress. She played the role of Mia Jones, the single teenage mother, on Degrassi: The Next Generation, from the show's sixth to ninth season...
). The series also focuses on the lives of Elena's friends and other inhabitants of the fictional town of Mystic Falls, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
.
The Vampire Diaries premiered on September 10, 2009, to a successful run that netted the series a full-season pickup on October 21, 2009, and was later renewed for a second season. On April 26, 2011 it was renewed for a third season.
Kevin Meade Williamson (born March 14, 1965) is an American screenwriter, best known for the horror films Scream
Scream (film series)
Scream is a series of American horror slasher films created by Kevin Williamson and Wes Craven. The films star Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, and David Arquette. The series has grossed over $600 million in worldwide box-office receipts and consists, to date, of four motion pictures...
, I Know What You Did Last Summer
I Know What You Did Last Summer
I Know What You Did Last Summer is a 1997 American horror film. The film stars Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe and Freddie Prinze Jr. The screenplay was written by Kevin Williamson, writer of Scream, and very loosely based on Lois Duncan's popular novel of the same title...
and The Faculty
The Faculty
The Faculty is a 1998 science fiction horror film written by Kevin Williamson and directed by Robert Rodriguez...
, as well as the popular television series Dawson's Creek
Dawson's Creek
Dawson's Creek is an American teen drama television series which debuted on January 20, 1998, on The WB Television Network and was produced by Sony Pictures Television. The show is set in the fictional seaside town of Capeside, Massachusetts, and in Boston, Massachusetts, during the later seasons...
and, more recently, The Vampire Diaries
The Vampire Diaries (TV series)
The Vampire Diaries is an American supernatural drama television series developed by Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec, based on the book series of the same name written by L. J. Smith. The series premiered on The CW Television Network on September 10, 2009, and is currently in its third season that...
and The Secret Circle
The Secret Circle (TV series)
The Secret Circle is an American television series broadcast on The CW Television Network. It was developed by Andrew Miller, based on the book series of the same name written by L. J. Smith. On May 17, 2011, The CW announced they had picked up the pilot as a series...
.
Early life
Williamson was born in New BernNew Bern, North Carolina
New Bern is a city in Craven County, North Carolina with a population of 29,524 as of the 2010 census.. It is located at the confluence of the Trent and the Neuse rivers...
, North Carolina, the younger son of Lillie Faye (née Pittman), a storyteller, and Ottis Wade Williamson, a fisherman.Kevin Williamson Biography (1965–) He lived in the neighboring coastal community of Oriental
Oriental, North Carolina
Oriental is known as 'The Sailing Capital of North Carolina'.This tiny harbor town is on the Neuse River, the widest river in the USA, leading to the vast sailing waters of Pamlico Sound and on to the Atlantic through North Carolina's barrier islands. The area is easily some of the finest boating...
, but before he started school his family moved to Aransas Pass
Aransas Pass, Texas
Aransas Pass is a city in Aransas, Nueces, and San Patricio counties in the U.S. state of Texas. The population was 8,138 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Aransas Pass is located at ....
, Texas, later relocating to Fulton
Fulton, Texas
Fulton is a town in Aransas County, Texas, United States. As of the 2000 census, this South Texas coastal fishing community had a population of 1,553...
, Texas, both near Corpus Christi
Corpus Christi, Texas
Corpus Christi is a coastal city in the South Texas region of the U.S. state of Texas. The county seat of Nueces County, it also extends into Aransas, Kleberg, and San Patricio counties. The MSA population in 2008 was 416,376. The population was 305,215 at the 2010 census making it the...
. Williamson's family returned to Oriental before Kevin's high school years. Obsessed from a young age with movies—especially those of Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...
– he applied to New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
's film school and was accepted but because he could not afford the tuition, he attended a school closer to home, East Carolina University
East Carolina University
East Carolina University is a public, coeducational, engaged doctoral/research university located in Greenville, North Carolina, United States. Named East Carolina University by statute and commonly known as ECU or East Carolina, the university is the largest institution of higher learning in...
in Greenville
Greenville, North Carolina
Greenville is the county seat of Pitt County and principal city of the Greenville, North Carolina metropolitan area. Greenville is the health, entertainment, and educational hub of North Carolina's Tidewater and Coastal Plain and in 2008 was listed as the Tenth Largest City in North Carolina...
, North Carolina, where he took a B.A. in theater arts.
In television
After graduation, he moved to New York City to pursue an acting career. Though he landed a part on the soap opera "Another WorldAnother World (TV series)
Another World is an American television soap opera that ran on NBC from May 4, 1964 to June 25, 1999. It ran for a total of 35 years. It was created by Irna Phillips along with William J...
" in 1990, he moved to Los Angeles the next year where he had small parts in In Living Color
In Living Color
In Living Color is an American sketch comedy television series, which originally ran on the Fox Network from April 15, 1990 to May 19, 1994. Brothers Keenen and Damon Wayans created, wrote, and starred in the program. The show was produced by Ivory Way Productions in association with 20th Century...
, a Roger Corman
Roger Corman
Roger William Corman is an American film producer, director and actor. He has mostly worked on low-budget B movies. Some of Corman's work has an established critical reputation, such as his cycle of films adapted from the tales of Edgar Allan Poe, and in 2009 he won an Honorary Academy Award for...
film, Hard Run, and in music videos. While taking classes on screenwriting at UCLA
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses...
he wrote his first script, Killing Mrs. Tingle which was bought by a production company in 1995 and put on the shelf.
Scream
Inspired by the March 9, 1994 episode of the newsmagazine Turning PointTurning Point (TV show)
Turning Point was an ABC News program that aired from 1994 to 1999.Turning Point was an hour-long program on a single topic, making it similar to CBS' 48 Hours, which it ran directly opposite for some of its run. The program tended toward sensational topics, such as former members of Charles...
on Danny Rolling
Danny Rolling
Daniel Harold Rolling , also known as The Gainesville Ripper, was an American serial killer who murdered five students in Gainesville, Florida. Rolling later confessed to raping several of his victims, committing an additional 1989 triple homicide in Shreveport, Louisiana, and attempting to murder...
, a serial killer
Serial killer
A serial killer, as typically defined, is an individual who has murdered three or more people over a period of more than a month, with down time between the murders, and whose motivation for killing is usually based on psychological gratification...
in Gainesville
Gainesville, Florida
Gainesville is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Alachua County, Florida, United States as well as the principal city of the Gainesville, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area . The preliminary 2010 Census population count for Gainesville is 124,354. Gainesville is home to the sixth...
, Florida who preyed on college students, Williamson wrote a horror movie script, originally titled "Scary Movie". Its characters had seen many classic horror movies (e.g. A Nightmare on Elm Street
A Nightmare on Elm Street
A Nightmare on Elm Street is a 1984 American slasher film directed and written by Wes Craven, and the first film of the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. The film features Heather Langenkamp, John Saxon, Ronee Blakley, Amanda Wyss, Jsu Garcia, Robert Englund, and Johnny Depp in his feature film...
, Halloween
Halloween (1978 film)
Halloween is a 1978 American independent horror film directed, produced, and scored by John Carpenter, co-written with Debra Hill, and starring Donald Pleasence and Jamie Lee Curtis in her film debut and the first installment in the Halloween franchise. The film is set in the fictional midwestern...
) and knew all the clichés. Miramax
Miramax Films
Miramax Films is an American entertainment company known for distributing independent and foreign films. For its first 14 years the company was privately owned by its founders, Bob and Harvey Weinstein...
bought the script for $400,000 for their new Dimension Films
Dimension Films
Dimension Films is a motion picture unit currently a part of The Weinstein Company. It was formerly used as Bob Weinstein's label within Miramax Films, to produce and release genre films...
label in the spring of 1995. Directed by Wes Craven
Wes Craven
Wesley Earl "Wes" Craven is an American actor, film director, writer, producer, perhaps best known as the director of many horror films, particularly slasher films, including the famed A Nightmare on Elm Street and Wes Craven's New Nightmare, featuring the iconic Freddy Krueger character, the...
, the film was renamed Scream
Scream (film)
Scream is a 1996 American slasher film written by Kevin Williamson and directed by Wes Craven. The film stars Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, Drew Barrymore, and David Arquette...
, and released in The United States on December 20, 1996. It became a commercial blockbuster and critical success—ultimately drawing $173 million in ticket sales worldwide.
Kevin Williamson earned the Saturn Award for Best Writing
Saturn Award for Best Writing
The following is a list of people who have won the Saturn Award for Best Writing.-Multiple Winners:*James Cameron - 3 awards*Christopher Nolan - 3 awards*William Peter Blatty - 3 awards-External links:* http://www.saturnawards.org/past.html#writing...
in 1996 for his work on Scream
Scream (film)
Scream is a 1996 American slasher film written by Kevin Williamson and directed by Wes Craven. The film stars Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, Drew Barrymore, and David Arquette...
.
Miramax later released Scream 2
Scream 2
Scream 2 is a 1997 American slasher film created and written by Kevin Williamson and directed by Wes Craven, starring Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Jamie Kennedy and Liev Schreiber, released on December 12, 1997 as the second installment in the Scream film series...
, also written by Williamson. It, too, was a hit and paved the way for Scream 3
Scream 3
Scream 3 is a 2000 American slasher film created by Kevin Williamson, directed by Wes Craven and written by Ehren Kruger, starring Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox Arquette and David Arquette, released on February 4, 2000 as the third, and originally, concluding installment in the Scream film series...
, the third installment of the Scream trilogy.
Williamson was the writer and producer for Scream 4
Scream 4
Scream 4 is a 2011 American slasher horror film and the fourth installment in the Scream film series. Directed by Wes Craven and written by Kevin Williamson, writer of Scream and Scream 2, the film stars an ensemble cast which includes David Arquette, Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, Emma Roberts,...
, which began shooting in June 2010 and was released in theaters on April 15, 2011.
Dawson's Creek
Paul StupinPaul Stupin
- Biography :After graduating from Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts, Stupin went to Los Angeles to work for NBC in series development. In 1986 he became a vice president for production at Tri-Star Pictures, overseeing such films as Steel Magnolias, and Short Circuit...
, an executive at Columbia Tri-Star Television
Sony Pictures Television
Sony Pictures Television, Inc. is an American and global television production/distribution subsidiary of Sony Pictures Entertainment. In turn, the latter is part of the Japanese conglomerate Sony.-Background:...
, read Scream after the bidding war for the script and was convinced Williamson was just the man to create a television series for his company. The result was Dawson's Creek
Dawson's Creek
Dawson's Creek is an American teen drama television series which debuted on January 20, 1998, on The WB Television Network and was produced by Sony Pictures Television. The show is set in the fictional seaside town of Capeside, Massachusetts, and in Boston, Massachusetts, during the later seasons...
, a semi-autobiographical tale set in a small coastal community not unlike Oriental. Williamson was the model for the title character, Dawson Leery
Dawson Leery
Dawson Wade Leery is the central fictional character and the main protagonist of the American television drama Dawson's Creek. The character is portrayed by American actor James Van Der Beek.-Biography:...
, a hopeless romantic who is obsessed with movies—especially those of Steven Spielberg. Joey Potter
Joey Potter
Josephine "Joey" Lynn Potter is a fictional character portrayed by Katie Holmes in the American television drama Dawson's Creek.-Character biography:...
, the platonic girl-next-door, was based on a real life friend of Williamson's when he was young.
In December 1995, the show was pitched to the Fox Network
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
, where Stupin had been an executive, but it was rejected. Then in 1996, Stupin and Williamson went to, and struck a deal with, The WB
The WB Television Network
The WB Television Network is a former television network in the United States that was launched on January 11, 1995 as a joint venture between Warner Bros. and Tribune Broadcasting. On January 24, 2006, CBS Corporation and Warner Bros...
. Williamson said, "I pitched it as Some Kind of Wonderful, meets Pump Up the Volume
Pump Up the Volume (film)
Pump Up the Volume is a 1990 comedy-drama film written and directed by Allan Moyle and starring Christian Slater and Samantha Mathis.- Plot summary :...
, meets James at 15
James at 15
James at 15 is an American drama series that aired on NBC in the 1977-1978 season. The series was preceded by the 1977 made-for-TV movie James at 15, intended as a pilot for the series...
, meets My So-Called Life
My So-Called Life
My So-Called Life is an American teen drama television series created by Winnie Holzman and produced by Edward Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz. It originally aired on ABC from August 25, 1994, to January 26, 1995 and was distributed by The Bedford Falls Company with ABC Productions. Set at the...
, meets Little House on the Prairie
Little House on the Prairie (TV series)
Little House on the Prairie is an American Western drama television series, starring Michael Landon and Melissa Gilbert, about a family living on a farm in Walnut Grove, Minnesota, in the 1870s and 1880s. The show was an adaptation of Laura Ingalls Wilder's best-selling series of Little House books...
." Dawson's Creek premiered on The WB on January 20, 1998, and was an immediate hit with its intended audience.
Despite the show's success (and telling Entertainment Weekly that "[I] ain't never leaving 'Dawson's Creek'."), Williamson left the show at the end of its second season to create a show for Miramax to air on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
. The result, Wasteland
Wasteland (TV series)
Wasteland is an American television drama on ABC network created by Kevin Williamson. The show debuted in 1999, a Miramax Films production....
, about twentysomethings in New York City, was savaged by critics. The Hollywood Reporter said it was about "the most attractively vacuous, self-indulgent, and pretentious group ever assembled in prime-time." It aired only three episodes in October 1999 before being canceled by ABC.
Williamson returned to Dawson's Creek to pen the two-part series finale in 2003.
I Know What You Did Last Summer
Williamson's next film, I Know What You Did Last SummerI Know What You Did Last Summer
I Know What You Did Last Summer is a 1997 American horror film. The film stars Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe and Freddie Prinze Jr. The screenplay was written by Kevin Williamson, writer of Scream, and very loosely based on Lois Duncan's popular novel of the same title...
, was also about young adults in peril. Based on a 1973 novel by Lois Duncan
Lois Duncan
Duncan is best known for her novels of suspense for teenagers. Some of her works have been adapted for the screen, the most famous example being the 1997 film I Know What You Did Last Summer, adapted from her novel of the same title...
, it centered around four friends accidentally running over a man, dumping the body, and going on with their lives, only to be punished one year later.
Columbia Studios advertised the film as "from the makers of Scream" against Miramax's wishes, who later sued the company.
Teaching Mrs. Tingle
Williamson's first script was only produced when Williamson himself got behind the camera to direct. Starring Dawson's Creeks Katie HolmesKatie Holmes
Katherine Noelle "Katie" Holmes is an American actress who first achieved fame for her role as Joey Potter on The WB television teen drama Dawson's Creek from 1998 to 2003. Her movie roles have included the blockbuster Batman Begins along with art house films such as The Ice Storm and thrillers...
, Barry Watson
Barry Watson (actor)
Michael Barrett "Barry" Watson is an American actor, known for his roles of Dr. Matthew "Matt" Camden on 7th Heaven, Brian Davis in What About Brian and Todd Deepler in Samantha Who?-Early life:...
, and Helen Mirren
Helen Mirren
Dame Helen Mirren, DBE is an English actor. She has won an Academy Award for Best Actress, four SAG Awards, four BAFTAs, three Golden Globes, four Emmy Awards, and two Cannes Film Festival Best Actress Awards.-Early life and family:...
, Teaching Mrs. Tingle
Teaching Mrs. Tingle
Teaching Mrs. Tingle is a 1999 black comedy film and the directing debut of screenwriter Kevin Williamson. The film stars Helen Mirren, Katie Holmes, Marisa Coughlan, Barry Watson and Jeffrey Tambor and was released on August 20, 1999. It was originally titled Killing Mrs...
(as it was renamed after the Columbine High School Massacre
Columbine High School massacre
The Columbine High School massacre occurred on Tuesday, April 20, 1999, at Columbine High School in Columbine, an unincorporated area of Jefferson County, Colorado, United States, near Denver and Littleton. Two senior students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, embarked on a massacre, killing 12...
), had two students getting even with their vindictive teacher. Despite the cast, which also included Molly Ringwald
Molly Ringwald
Molly Kathleen Ringwald is an American actress, singer and dancer. Having appeared in the John Hughes movies Sixteen Candles , The Breakfast Club , and Pretty in Pink , Ringwald has been frequently named the greatest teen star of all time...
and Jeffrey Tambor
Jeffrey Tambor
Jeffrey Michael Tambor is an American actor, perhaps best known for his roles as George Bluth Sr. and Oscar Bluth on Arrested Development and Hank Kingsley on The Larry Sanders Show.-Early life:...
, it was panned by critics and audiences alike; for example, Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
said it was "like Misery
Misery (film)
Misery is a 1990 American Psychological Horror Film based on Stephen King's 1987 novel of the same name. Directed by Rob Reiner, the film received critical acclaim for Kathy Bates' performance as the psychopathic Annie Wilkes...
scripted by a witless John Hughes imitator". The film, which cost $14 million to make, sold only $8.8 million in tickets in the U.S.
The Vampire Diaries
Williamson developed a new TV series for The CW entitled The Vampire DiariesThe Vampire Diaries (TV series)
The Vampire Diaries is an American supernatural drama television series developed by Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec, based on the book series of the same name written by L. J. Smith. The series premiered on The CW Television Network on September 10, 2009, and is currently in its third season that...
, which was adapted from a novel series of the same name by L.J. Smith
L.J. Smith
John Smith III , commonly known as L.J., which stands for "Little John", is an American football tight end who is currently a free agent. He was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the second round of the 2003 NFL Draft...
. The series follows the life of Elena Gilbert (Nina Dobrev
Nina Dobrev
Nina Dobrev is a Bulgarian-Canadian actress. She played the role of Mia Jones, the single teenage mother, on Degrassi: The Next Generation, from the show's sixth to ninth season...
), who falls in love with vampire Stefan Salvatore (Paul Wesley
Paul Wesley
Paul Thomas Wasilewski , known professionally as Paul Wesley, is an American actor, best known for his roles as Stefan Salvatore in The CW TV series The Vampire Diaries and as Aaron Corbett in the ABC Family miniseries Fallen....
), and soon finds herself caught in a love triangle between Stefan and his older brother, Damon (Ian Somerhalder
Ian Somerhalder
Ian Joseph Somerhalder is an American model, actor and producer, best known for playing Boone Carlyle in the TV drama Lost and Damon Salvatore in the TV drama The Vampire Diaries.-Early life:...
), while the brothers are also being haunted by the past they've had with Katherine Pierce (also played by Nina Dobrev
Nina Dobrev
Nina Dobrev is a Bulgarian-Canadian actress. She played the role of Mia Jones, the single teenage mother, on Degrassi: The Next Generation, from the show's sixth to ninth season...
). The series also focuses on the lives of Elena's friends and other inhabitants of the fictional town of Mystic Falls, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
.
The Vampire Diaries premiered on September 10, 2009, to a successful run that netted the series a full-season pickup on October 21, 2009, and was later renewed for a second season. On April 26, 2011 it was renewed for a third season.
Kevin Meade Williamson (born March 14, 1965) is an American screenwriter, best known for the horror films Scream
Scream (film series)
Scream is a series of American horror slasher films created by Kevin Williamson and Wes Craven. The films star Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, and David Arquette. The series has grossed over $600 million in worldwide box-office receipts and consists, to date, of four motion pictures...
, I Know What You Did Last Summer
I Know What You Did Last Summer
I Know What You Did Last Summer is a 1997 American horror film. The film stars Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe and Freddie Prinze Jr. The screenplay was written by Kevin Williamson, writer of Scream, and very loosely based on Lois Duncan's popular novel of the same title...
and The Faculty
The Faculty
The Faculty is a 1998 science fiction horror film written by Kevin Williamson and directed by Robert Rodriguez...
, as well as the popular television series Dawson's Creek
Dawson's Creek
Dawson's Creek is an American teen drama television series which debuted on January 20, 1998, on The WB Television Network and was produced by Sony Pictures Television. The show is set in the fictional seaside town of Capeside, Massachusetts, and in Boston, Massachusetts, during the later seasons...
and, more recently, The Vampire Diaries
The Vampire Diaries (TV series)
The Vampire Diaries is an American supernatural drama television series developed by Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec, based on the book series of the same name written by L. J. Smith. The series premiered on The CW Television Network on September 10, 2009, and is currently in its third season that...
and The Secret Circle
The Secret Circle (TV series)
The Secret Circle is an American television series broadcast on The CW Television Network. It was developed by Andrew Miller, based on the book series of the same name written by L. J. Smith. On May 17, 2011, The CW announced they had picked up the pilot as a series...
.
Early life
Williamson was born in New BernNew Bern, North Carolina
New Bern is a city in Craven County, North Carolina with a population of 29,524 as of the 2010 census.. It is located at the confluence of the Trent and the Neuse rivers...
, North Carolina, the younger son of Lillie Faye (née Pittman), a storyteller, and Ottis Wade Williamson, a fisherman.Kevin Williamson Biography (1965–) He lived in the neighboring coastal community of Oriental
Oriental, North Carolina
Oriental is known as 'The Sailing Capital of North Carolina'.This tiny harbor town is on the Neuse River, the widest river in the USA, leading to the vast sailing waters of Pamlico Sound and on to the Atlantic through North Carolina's barrier islands. The area is easily some of the finest boating...
, but before he started school his family moved to Aransas Pass
Aransas Pass, Texas
Aransas Pass is a city in Aransas, Nueces, and San Patricio counties in the U.S. state of Texas. The population was 8,138 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Aransas Pass is located at ....
, Texas, later relocating to Fulton
Fulton, Texas
Fulton is a town in Aransas County, Texas, United States. As of the 2000 census, this South Texas coastal fishing community had a population of 1,553...
, Texas, both near Corpus Christi
Corpus Christi, Texas
Corpus Christi is a coastal city in the South Texas region of the U.S. state of Texas. The county seat of Nueces County, it also extends into Aransas, Kleberg, and San Patricio counties. The MSA population in 2008 was 416,376. The population was 305,215 at the 2010 census making it the...
. Williamson's family returned to Oriental before Kevin's high school years. Obsessed from a young age with movies—especially those of Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...
– he applied to New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
's film school and was accepted but because he could not afford the tuition, he attended a school closer to home, East Carolina University
East Carolina University
East Carolina University is a public, coeducational, engaged doctoral/research university located in Greenville, North Carolina, United States. Named East Carolina University by statute and commonly known as ECU or East Carolina, the university is the largest institution of higher learning in...
in Greenville
Greenville, North Carolina
Greenville is the county seat of Pitt County and principal city of the Greenville, North Carolina metropolitan area. Greenville is the health, entertainment, and educational hub of North Carolina's Tidewater and Coastal Plain and in 2008 was listed as the Tenth Largest City in North Carolina...
, North Carolina, where he took a B.A. in theater arts.
In television
After graduation, he moved to New York City to pursue an acting career. Though he landed a part on the soap opera "Another WorldAnother World (TV series)
Another World is an American television soap opera that ran on NBC from May 4, 1964 to June 25, 1999. It ran for a total of 35 years. It was created by Irna Phillips along with William J...
" in 1990, he moved to Los Angeles the next year where he had small parts in In Living Color
In Living Color
In Living Color is an American sketch comedy television series, which originally ran on the Fox Network from April 15, 1990 to May 19, 1994. Brothers Keenen and Damon Wayans created, wrote, and starred in the program. The show was produced by Ivory Way Productions in association with 20th Century...
, a Roger Corman
Roger Corman
Roger William Corman is an American film producer, director and actor. He has mostly worked on low-budget B movies. Some of Corman's work has an established critical reputation, such as his cycle of films adapted from the tales of Edgar Allan Poe, and in 2009 he won an Honorary Academy Award for...
film, Hard Run, and in music videos. While taking classes on screenwriting at UCLA
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses...
he wrote his first script, Killing Mrs. Tingle which was bought by a production company in 1995 and put on the shelf.
Scream
Inspired by the March 9, 1994 episode of the newsmagazine Turning PointTurning Point (TV show)
Turning Point was an ABC News program that aired from 1994 to 1999.Turning Point was an hour-long program on a single topic, making it similar to CBS' 48 Hours, which it ran directly opposite for some of its run. The program tended toward sensational topics, such as former members of Charles...
on Danny Rolling
Danny Rolling
Daniel Harold Rolling , also known as The Gainesville Ripper, was an American serial killer who murdered five students in Gainesville, Florida. Rolling later confessed to raping several of his victims, committing an additional 1989 triple homicide in Shreveport, Louisiana, and attempting to murder...
, a serial killer
Serial killer
A serial killer, as typically defined, is an individual who has murdered three or more people over a period of more than a month, with down time between the murders, and whose motivation for killing is usually based on psychological gratification...
in Gainesville
Gainesville, Florida
Gainesville is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Alachua County, Florida, United States as well as the principal city of the Gainesville, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area . The preliminary 2010 Census population count for Gainesville is 124,354. Gainesville is home to the sixth...
, Florida who preyed on college students, Williamson wrote a horror movie script, originally titled "Scary Movie". Its characters had seen many classic horror movies (e.g. A Nightmare on Elm Street
A Nightmare on Elm Street
A Nightmare on Elm Street is a 1984 American slasher film directed and written by Wes Craven, and the first film of the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. The film features Heather Langenkamp, John Saxon, Ronee Blakley, Amanda Wyss, Jsu Garcia, Robert Englund, and Johnny Depp in his feature film...
, Halloween
Halloween (1978 film)
Halloween is a 1978 American independent horror film directed, produced, and scored by John Carpenter, co-written with Debra Hill, and starring Donald Pleasence and Jamie Lee Curtis in her film debut and the first installment in the Halloween franchise. The film is set in the fictional midwestern...
) and knew all the clichés. Miramax
Miramax Films
Miramax Films is an American entertainment company known for distributing independent and foreign films. For its first 14 years the company was privately owned by its founders, Bob and Harvey Weinstein...
bought the script for $400,000 for their new Dimension Films
Dimension Films
Dimension Films is a motion picture unit currently a part of The Weinstein Company. It was formerly used as Bob Weinstein's label within Miramax Films, to produce and release genre films...
label in the spring of 1995. Directed by Wes Craven
Wes Craven
Wesley Earl "Wes" Craven is an American actor, film director, writer, producer, perhaps best known as the director of many horror films, particularly slasher films, including the famed A Nightmare on Elm Street and Wes Craven's New Nightmare, featuring the iconic Freddy Krueger character, the...
, the film was renamed Scream
Scream (film)
Scream is a 1996 American slasher film written by Kevin Williamson and directed by Wes Craven. The film stars Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, Drew Barrymore, and David Arquette...
, and released in The United States on December 20, 1996. It became a commercial blockbuster and critical success—ultimately drawing $173 million in ticket sales worldwide.
Kevin Williamson earned the Saturn Award for Best Writing
Saturn Award for Best Writing
The following is a list of people who have won the Saturn Award for Best Writing.-Multiple Winners:*James Cameron - 3 awards*Christopher Nolan - 3 awards*William Peter Blatty - 3 awards-External links:* http://www.saturnawards.org/past.html#writing...
in 1996 for his work on Scream
Scream (film)
Scream is a 1996 American slasher film written by Kevin Williamson and directed by Wes Craven. The film stars Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, Drew Barrymore, and David Arquette...
.
Miramax later released Scream 2
Scream 2
Scream 2 is a 1997 American slasher film created and written by Kevin Williamson and directed by Wes Craven, starring Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Jamie Kennedy and Liev Schreiber, released on December 12, 1997 as the second installment in the Scream film series...
, also written by Williamson. It, too, was a hit and paved the way for Scream 3
Scream 3
Scream 3 is a 2000 American slasher film created by Kevin Williamson, directed by Wes Craven and written by Ehren Kruger, starring Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox Arquette and David Arquette, released on February 4, 2000 as the third, and originally, concluding installment in the Scream film series...
, the third installment of the Scream trilogy.
Williamson was the writer and producer for Scream 4
Scream 4
Scream 4 is a 2011 American slasher horror film and the fourth installment in the Scream film series. Directed by Wes Craven and written by Kevin Williamson, writer of Scream and Scream 2, the film stars an ensemble cast which includes David Arquette, Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, Emma Roberts,...
, which began shooting in June 2010 and was released in theaters on April 15, 2011.
Dawson's Creek
Paul StupinPaul Stupin
- Biography :After graduating from Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts, Stupin went to Los Angeles to work for NBC in series development. In 1986 he became a vice president for production at Tri-Star Pictures, overseeing such films as Steel Magnolias, and Short Circuit...
, an executive at Columbia Tri-Star Television
Sony Pictures Television
Sony Pictures Television, Inc. is an American and global television production/distribution subsidiary of Sony Pictures Entertainment. In turn, the latter is part of the Japanese conglomerate Sony.-Background:...
, read Scream after the bidding war for the script and was convinced Williamson was just the man to create a television series for his company. The result was Dawson's Creek
Dawson's Creek
Dawson's Creek is an American teen drama television series which debuted on January 20, 1998, on The WB Television Network and was produced by Sony Pictures Television. The show is set in the fictional seaside town of Capeside, Massachusetts, and in Boston, Massachusetts, during the later seasons...
, a semi-autobiographical tale set in a small coastal community not unlike Oriental. Williamson was the model for the title character, Dawson Leery
Dawson Leery
Dawson Wade Leery is the central fictional character and the main protagonist of the American television drama Dawson's Creek. The character is portrayed by American actor James Van Der Beek.-Biography:...
, a hopeless romantic who is obsessed with movies—especially those of Steven Spielberg. Joey Potter
Joey Potter
Josephine "Joey" Lynn Potter is a fictional character portrayed by Katie Holmes in the American television drama Dawson's Creek.-Character biography:...
, the platonic girl-next-door, was based on a real life friend of Williamson's when he was young.
In December 1995, the show was pitched to the Fox Network
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
, where Stupin had been an executive, but it was rejected. Then in 1996, Stupin and Williamson went to, and struck a deal with, The WB
The WB Television Network
The WB Television Network is a former television network in the United States that was launched on January 11, 1995 as a joint venture between Warner Bros. and Tribune Broadcasting. On January 24, 2006, CBS Corporation and Warner Bros...
. Williamson said, "I pitched it as Some Kind of Wonderful, meets Pump Up the Volume
Pump Up the Volume (film)
Pump Up the Volume is a 1990 comedy-drama film written and directed by Allan Moyle and starring Christian Slater and Samantha Mathis.- Plot summary :...
, meets James at 15
James at 15
James at 15 is an American drama series that aired on NBC in the 1977-1978 season. The series was preceded by the 1977 made-for-TV movie James at 15, intended as a pilot for the series...
, meets My So-Called Life
My So-Called Life
My So-Called Life is an American teen drama television series created by Winnie Holzman and produced by Edward Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz. It originally aired on ABC from August 25, 1994, to January 26, 1995 and was distributed by The Bedford Falls Company with ABC Productions. Set at the...
, meets Little House on the Prairie
Little House on the Prairie (TV series)
Little House on the Prairie is an American Western drama television series, starring Michael Landon and Melissa Gilbert, about a family living on a farm in Walnut Grove, Minnesota, in the 1870s and 1880s. The show was an adaptation of Laura Ingalls Wilder's best-selling series of Little House books...
." Dawson's Creek premiered on The WB on January 20, 1998, and was an immediate hit with its intended audience.
Despite the show's success (and telling Entertainment Weekly that "[I] ain't never leaving 'Dawson's Creek'."), Williamson left the show at the end of its second season to create a show for Miramax to air on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
. The result, Wasteland
Wasteland (TV series)
Wasteland is an American television drama on ABC network created by Kevin Williamson. The show debuted in 1999, a Miramax Films production....
, about twentysomethings in New York City, was savaged by critics. The Hollywood Reporter said it was about "the most attractively vacuous, self-indulgent, and pretentious group ever assembled in prime-time." It aired only three episodes in October 1999 before being canceled by ABC.
Williamson returned to Dawson's Creek to pen the two-part series finale in 2003.
I Know What You Did Last Summer
Williamson's next film, I Know What You Did Last SummerI Know What You Did Last Summer
I Know What You Did Last Summer is a 1997 American horror film. The film stars Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe and Freddie Prinze Jr. The screenplay was written by Kevin Williamson, writer of Scream, and very loosely based on Lois Duncan's popular novel of the same title...
, was also about young adults in peril. Based on a 1973 novel by Lois Duncan
Lois Duncan
Duncan is best known for her novels of suspense for teenagers. Some of her works have been adapted for the screen, the most famous example being the 1997 film I Know What You Did Last Summer, adapted from her novel of the same title...
, it centered around four friends accidentally running over a man, dumping the body, and going on with their lives, only to be punished one year later.
Columbia Studios advertised the film as "from the makers of Scream" against Miramax's wishes, who later sued the company.
Teaching Mrs. Tingle
Williamson's first script was only produced when Williamson himself got behind the camera to direct. Starring Dawson's Creeks Katie HolmesKatie Holmes
Katherine Noelle "Katie" Holmes is an American actress who first achieved fame for her role as Joey Potter on The WB television teen drama Dawson's Creek from 1998 to 2003. Her movie roles have included the blockbuster Batman Begins along with art house films such as The Ice Storm and thrillers...
, Barry Watson
Barry Watson (actor)
Michael Barrett "Barry" Watson is an American actor, known for his roles of Dr. Matthew "Matt" Camden on 7th Heaven, Brian Davis in What About Brian and Todd Deepler in Samantha Who?-Early life:...
, and Helen Mirren
Helen Mirren
Dame Helen Mirren, DBE is an English actor. She has won an Academy Award for Best Actress, four SAG Awards, four BAFTAs, three Golden Globes, four Emmy Awards, and two Cannes Film Festival Best Actress Awards.-Early life and family:...
, Teaching Mrs. Tingle
Teaching Mrs. Tingle
Teaching Mrs. Tingle is a 1999 black comedy film and the directing debut of screenwriter Kevin Williamson. The film stars Helen Mirren, Katie Holmes, Marisa Coughlan, Barry Watson and Jeffrey Tambor and was released on August 20, 1999. It was originally titled Killing Mrs...
(as it was renamed after the Columbine High School Massacre
Columbine High School massacre
The Columbine High School massacre occurred on Tuesday, April 20, 1999, at Columbine High School in Columbine, an unincorporated area of Jefferson County, Colorado, United States, near Denver and Littleton. Two senior students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, embarked on a massacre, killing 12...
), had two students getting even with their vindictive teacher. Despite the cast, which also included Molly Ringwald
Molly Ringwald
Molly Kathleen Ringwald is an American actress, singer and dancer. Having appeared in the John Hughes movies Sixteen Candles , The Breakfast Club , and Pretty in Pink , Ringwald has been frequently named the greatest teen star of all time...
and Jeffrey Tambor
Jeffrey Tambor
Jeffrey Michael Tambor is an American actor, perhaps best known for his roles as George Bluth Sr. and Oscar Bluth on Arrested Development and Hank Kingsley on The Larry Sanders Show.-Early life:...
, it was panned by critics and audiences alike; for example, Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
said it was "like Misery
Misery (film)
Misery is a 1990 American Psychological Horror Film based on Stephen King's 1987 novel of the same name. Directed by Rob Reiner, the film received critical acclaim for Kathy Bates' performance as the psychopathic Annie Wilkes...
scripted by a witless John Hughes imitator". The film, which cost $14 million to make, sold only $8.8 million in tickets in the U.S.
The Vampire Diaries
Williamson developed a new TV series for The CW entitled The Vampire DiariesThe Vampire Diaries (TV series)
The Vampire Diaries is an American supernatural drama television series developed by Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec, based on the book series of the same name written by L. J. Smith. The series premiered on The CW Television Network on September 10, 2009, and is currently in its third season that...
, which was adapted from a novel series of the same name by L.J. Smith
L.J. Smith
John Smith III , commonly known as L.J., which stands for "Little John", is an American football tight end who is currently a free agent. He was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the second round of the 2003 NFL Draft...
. The series follows the life of Elena Gilbert (Nina Dobrev
Nina Dobrev
Nina Dobrev is a Bulgarian-Canadian actress. She played the role of Mia Jones, the single teenage mother, on Degrassi: The Next Generation, from the show's sixth to ninth season...
), who falls in love with vampire Stefan Salvatore (Paul Wesley
Paul Wesley
Paul Thomas Wasilewski , known professionally as Paul Wesley, is an American actor, best known for his roles as Stefan Salvatore in The CW TV series The Vampire Diaries and as Aaron Corbett in the ABC Family miniseries Fallen....
), and soon finds herself caught in a love triangle between Stefan and his older brother, Damon (Ian Somerhalder
Ian Somerhalder
Ian Joseph Somerhalder is an American model, actor and producer, best known for playing Boone Carlyle in the TV drama Lost and Damon Salvatore in the TV drama The Vampire Diaries.-Early life:...
), while the brothers are also being haunted by the past they've had with Katherine Pierce (also played by Nina Dobrev
Nina Dobrev
Nina Dobrev is a Bulgarian-Canadian actress. She played the role of Mia Jones, the single teenage mother, on Degrassi: The Next Generation, from the show's sixth to ninth season...
). The series also focuses on the lives of Elena's friends and other inhabitants of the fictional town of Mystic Falls, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
.
The Vampire Diaries premiered on September 10, 2009, to a successful run that netted the series a full-season pickup on October 21, 2009, and was later renewed for a second season. On April 26, 2011 it was renewed for a third season.
In November 26th 2011 Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec confirmed in a interview that Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift
Taylor Alison Swift is an American country pop singer-songwriter, musician and actress.In 2006, she released her debut single "Tim McGraw", then her self-titled debut album, which was subsequently certified multi-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America...
would appear as Maria an Original.
Other projects
In 2001, Williamson created a mid-season replacement for The WBThe WB Television Network
The WB Television Network is a former television network in the United States that was launched on January 11, 1995 as a joint venture between Warner Bros. and Tribune Broadcasting. On January 24, 2006, CBS Corporation and Warner Bros...
called "Glory Days
Glory Days (TV series)
Glory Days is an American horror/mystery-based television series broadcast from January to March 2002 on The WB Television Network...
", set in a coastal community in Washington state, where very weird things were happening—shades of "Twin Peaks
Twin Peaks
Twin Peaks is an American television serial drama created by David Lynch and Mark Frost. The series follows the investigation headed by FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper , of the murder of a popular teenager and homecoming queen, Laura Palmer...
", it seemed. It debuted in January 2002, but only ten episodes were produced.
Williamson penned another script for Wes Craven
Wes Craven
Wesley Earl "Wes" Craven is an American actor, film director, writer, producer, perhaps best known as the director of many horror films, particularly slasher films, including the famed A Nightmare on Elm Street and Wes Craven's New Nightmare, featuring the iconic Freddy Krueger character, the...
, Cursed, which was released in 2005 and starred Christina Ricci
Christina Ricci
Christina Ricci is an American actress. Ricci received initial recognition and praise as a child star for her performance as Wednesday Addams in The Addams Family and Addams Family Values , and her role as Kat Harvey in Casper...
, Jesse Eisenberg
Jesse Eisenberg
Jesse Adam Eisenberg is an American actor. He made his screen debut with the comedy-drama television series Get Real from 1999 to 2000...
, Joshua Jackson
Joshua Jackson
Joshua Carter Jackson is a Canadian American actor. He has appeared in primetime television and in over 32 film roles. He is best known for playing Charlie Conway in The Mighty Ducks film series, Pacey Witter in the television series Dawson's Creek and Peter Bishop in the television series...
, and Shannon Elizabeth
Shannon Elizabeth
Shannon Elizabeth is an American actress and former fashion model. Elizabeth is well known for her roles in comedy films such as Scary Movie, American Pie, and Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back. She is also well known for her work in horror films such as Thirteen Ghosts, Cursed, and Night of the Demons...
. The film suffered many script and scheduling difficulties during production and ultimately failed to perform at the box office.
2005 saw the release of his newest horror film, Venom
Venom (2005 film)
Venom is a 2005 American voodoo horror-of-demonic-film starring Agnes Bruckner, Jonathan Jackson, Laura Ramsey, Meagan Good, D.J. Cotrona and Method Man.-Plot:...
, about a group of teens stalked by a crazed killer in the bayous of Louisiana. Williamson is listed as a producer of the film, but not as a writer.
Williamson wrote and produced "Hidden Palms" for The CW
The CW Television Network
The CW Television Network is a television network in the United States launched at the beginning of the 2006–2007 television season. It is a joint venture between CBS Corporation, the former owners of United Paramount Network , and Time Warner's Warner Bros., former majority owner of The WB...
. It was a coming-of-age drama about a troubled teen who moves with his mother and new stepfather to the gated community of Palm Springs where he uncovers some dark secrets. "Palms" was originally intended to be a midseason replacement set to air in March but "Pussycat Dolls Present: The Search for the Next Doll
Pussycat Dolls Present: The Search For the Next Doll
Pussycat Dolls Present: The Search for the Next Doll is the first season of Pussycat Dolls Present: that premiered on March 6, 2007 on The CW, and took place over the course of eight weeks...
" aired in its timeslot instead. The pilot eventually premiered on May 30, 2007. Eight episodes were ordered by the network but due to low ratings the series was canceled. The final episode aired on July 4, 2007.
Williamson wrote the script for Scream 4
Scream 4
Scream 4 is a 2011 American slasher horror film and the fourth installment in the Scream film series. Directed by Wes Craven and written by Kevin Williamson, writer of Scream and Scream 2, the film stars an ensemble cast which includes David Arquette, Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, Emma Roberts,...
and is tapped to write the storybook for Scream 5.
Personal life
Williamson has said that he knew he was gay "as far back as [he] can remember."http://www.glbtq.com/arts/william_son_k.html He came outComing out
Coming out is a figure of speech for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people's disclosure of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity....
to his friends and family in 1992.
Further reading
- Darren Crosdale. Dawson's Creek: The Official Companion. Kansas City, Missouri: Andrews McMeel, 1999. ISBN 0-7407-0725-6
- Jeffrey Epstein. "Unbound". The Advocate. August 31, 1999. 34+.
- Andy Mangels. From Scream to Dawson's Creek: An Unauthorized Take on the Phenomenal Career of Kevin Williamson. Los Angeles: Renaissance Books, 2000. ISBN 1-58063-122-3
- Charlie Palmer. "Kevin Williamson". In The Wallflower Critical Guide to Contemporary North American Directors. Edited by Yoram Allon, Del Cullen and Hannah Patterson. London: Wallflower, 2000. ISBN 1-903364-09-4
Crew
| Film | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Film | Distributor | Credit | Notes |
| 1996 | Scream Scream (film) Scream is a 1996 American slasher film written by Kevin Williamson and directed by Wes Craven. The film stars Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, Drew Barrymore, and David Arquette... |
Dimension Films Dimension Films Dimension Films is a motion picture unit currently a part of The Weinstein Company. It was formerly used as Bob Weinstein's label within Miramax Films, to produce and release genre films... |
Writer | Directed by Wes Craven Wes Craven Wesley Earl "Wes" Craven is an American actor, film director, writer, producer, perhaps best known as the director of many horror films, particularly slasher films, including the famed A Nightmare on Elm Street and Wes Craven's New Nightmare, featuring the iconic Freddy Krueger character, the... |
| 1997 | I Know What You Did Last Summer I Know What You Did Last Summer I Know What You Did Last Summer is a 1997 American horror film. The film stars Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe and Freddie Prinze Jr. The screenplay was written by Kevin Williamson, writer of Scream, and very loosely based on Lois Duncan's popular novel of the same title... |
Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies... |
Screenplay writer | Directed by Jim Gillespie Jim Gillespie John William Linden "Jim" Gillespie was a Major League Baseball outfielder. He played one game in right field for the Buffalo Bisons of the Players' League in . In that game, he had three at bats without a hit, and made three errors in four fielding chances.-Sources:... ; Based on the novel of the same name I Know What You Did Last Summer (novel) I Know What You Did Last Summer is a suspense novel for young adults by Lois Duncan.-Plot summary:High school senior Julie James receives a mysterious note from an elusive stalker that says "I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER!", sinisterly reminding her of the previous summer when she and her... by Lois Duncan Lois Duncan Duncan is best known for her novels of suspense for teenagers. Some of her works have been adapted for the screen, the most famous example being the 1997 film I Know What You Did Last Summer, adapted from her novel of the same title... |
| Scream 2 Scream 2 Scream 2 is a 1997 American slasher film created and written by Kevin Williamson and directed by Wes Craven, starring Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Jamie Kennedy and Liev Schreiber, released on December 12, 1997 as the second installment in the Scream film series... |
Dimension Films Dimension Films Dimension Films is a motion picture unit currently a part of The Weinstein Company. It was formerly used as Bob Weinstein's label within Miramax Films, to produce and release genre films... |
Writer and co-executive producer | Directed by Wes Craven Wes Craven Wesley Earl "Wes" Craven is an American actor, film director, writer, producer, perhaps best known as the director of many horror films, particularly slasher films, including the famed A Nightmare on Elm Street and Wes Craven's New Nightmare, featuring the iconic Freddy Krueger character, the... ; Sequel to Scream Scream (film) Scream is a 1996 American slasher film written by Kevin Williamson and directed by Wes Craven. The film stars Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, Drew Barrymore, and David Arquette... and second installment in the film series Scream (film series) Scream is a series of American horror slasher films created by Kevin Williamson and Wes Craven. The films star Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, and David Arquette. The series has grossed over $600 million in worldwide box-office receipts and consists, to date, of four motion pictures... |
|
| 1998 | Halloween H20: 20 Years Later Halloween H20: 20 Years Later Halloween H20: Twenty Years Later is a 1998 slasher film and is the seventh installment in the Halloween film series. It is directed by Steve Miner and starring Jamie Lee Curtis, Josh Hartnett, and Michelle Williams. The screenplay, based on a story by Kevin Williamson further developed by Robert... |
Co-executive producer | Directed by Steve Miner Steve Miner Stephen C. "Steve" Miner is an American film and television director who is also a film producer.Miner was born in Westport, Connecticut. Television programs Miner has directed include The Wonder Years, Jake 2.0, Felicity, Dawson's Creek , and Diagnosis: Murder... ; Seventh installment in the Halloween film series Halloween (franchise) Halloween is an American horror franchise that consists of ten slasher films, novels, and comic books. The franchise focuses on the fictional character of Michael Myers who was committed to a sanitarium as a child for the murder of his older sister, Judith Myers... |
|
| 1998 | The Faculty The Faculty The Faculty is a 1998 science fiction horror film written by Kevin Williamson and directed by Robert Rodriguez... |
Writer | Directed by Robert Rodriguez | |
| 1999 | Teaching Mrs. Tingle Teaching Mrs. Tingle Teaching Mrs. Tingle is a 1999 black comedy film and the directing debut of screenwriter Kevin Williamson. The film stars Helen Mirren, Katie Holmes, Marisa Coughlan, Barry Watson and Jeffrey Tambor and was released on August 20, 1999. It was originally titled Killing Mrs... |
Writer and director | Originally titled Killing Mrs. Tingle | |
| 2000 | Scream 3 Scream 3 Scream 3 is a 2000 American slasher film created by Kevin Williamson, directed by Wes Craven and written by Ehren Kruger, starring Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox Arquette and David Arquette, released on February 4, 2000 as the third, and originally, concluding installment in the Scream film series... |
co-executive producer | Directed by Wes Craven Wes Craven Wesley Earl "Wes" Craven is an American actor, film director, writer, producer, perhaps best known as the director of many horror films, particularly slasher films, including the famed A Nightmare on Elm Street and Wes Craven's New Nightmare, featuring the iconic Freddy Krueger character, the... ; Third installment in the Scream film series Scream (film series) Scream is a series of American horror slasher films created by Kevin Williamson and Wes Craven. The films star Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, and David Arquette. The series has grossed over $600 million in worldwide box-office receipts and consists, to date, of four motion pictures... |
|
| 2005 | Cursed | Writer and co-executive producer | Directed by Wes Craven Wes Craven Wesley Earl "Wes" Craven is an American actor, film director, writer, producer, perhaps best known as the director of many horror films, particularly slasher films, including the famed A Nightmare on Elm Street and Wes Craven's New Nightmare, featuring the iconic Freddy Krueger character, the... |
|
| Venom Venom (2005 film) Venom is a 2005 American voodoo horror-of-demonic-film starring Agnes Bruckner, Jonathan Jackson, Laura Ramsey, Meagan Good, D.J. Cotrona and Method Man.-Plot:... |
Producer | Directed by Jim Gillespie Jim Gillespie John William Linden "Jim" Gillespie was a Major League Baseball outfielder. He played one game in right field for the Buffalo Bisons of the Players' League in . In that game, he had three at bats without a hit, and made three errors in four fielding chances.-Sources:... |
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| 2011 | Scream 4 Scream 4 Scream 4 is a 2011 American slasher horror film and the fourth installment in the Scream film series. Directed by Wes Craven and written by Kevin Williamson, writer of Scream and Scream 2, the film stars an ensemble cast which includes David Arquette, Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, Emma Roberts,... |
Writer and co-executive producer | Directed by Wes Craven Wes Craven Wesley Earl "Wes" Craven is an American actor, film director, writer, producer, perhaps best known as the director of many horror films, particularly slasher films, including the famed A Nightmare on Elm Street and Wes Craven's New Nightmare, featuring the iconic Freddy Krueger character, the... ; Fourth installment in the Scream film series Scream (film series) Scream is a series of American horror slasher films created by Kevin Williamson and Wes Craven. The films star Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, and David Arquette. The series has grossed over $600 million in worldwide box-office receipts and consists, to date, of four motion pictures... |
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| Television | ||||
| Year | Title | Network | Credit | Notes |
| 1998–2003 | Dawson's Creek Dawson's Creek Dawson's Creek is an American teen drama television series which debuted on January 20, 1998, on The WB Television Network and was produced by Sony Pictures Television. The show is set in the fictional seaside town of Capeside, Massachusetts, and in Boston, Massachusetts, during the later seasons... |
The WB The WB Television Network The WB Television Network is a former television network in the United States that was launched on January 11, 1995 as a joint venture between Warner Bros. and Tribune Broadcasting. On January 24, 2006, CBS Corporation and Warner Bros... |
Series creator; Writer (1998–2003); Executive producer (1998–1999) |
Six seasons: 128 episodes; Series recipient of two awards and six nominations |
| 2002 | Glory Days Glory Days (TV series) Glory Days is an American horror/mystery-based television series broadcast from January to March 2002 on The WB Television Network... |
The WB The WB Television Network The WB Television Network is a former television network in the United States that was launched on January 11, 1995 as a joint venture between Warner Bros. and Tribune Broadcasting. On January 24, 2006, CBS Corporation and Warner Bros... |
Series creator; Writer and executive producer |
Series cancelled (One season: 13 episodes) |
| 2007 | Hidden Palms | The CW The CW Television Network The CW Television Network is a television network in the United States launched at the beginning of the 2006–2007 television season. It is a joint venture between CBS Corporation, the former owners of United Paramount Network , and Time Warner's Warner Bros., former majority owner of The WB... |
Series creator; Writer and executive producer |
Series cancelled (One season: 8 episodes) |
| 2009–present | The Vampire Diaries The Vampire Diaries The Vampire Diaries is a young adult vampire horror series of novels written by L. J. Smith. The story centers around Elena Gilbert, a high school girl torn between two vampire brothers. The series was originally a trilogy published in 1991, but pressure from readers led Smith to write a fourth... |
The CW The CW Television Network The CW Television Network is a television network in the United States launched at the beginning of the 2006–2007 television season. It is a joint venture between CBS Corporation, the former owners of United Paramount Network , and Time Warner's Warner Bros., former majority owner of The WB... |
Series co-creator; Writer and executive producer |
Based on The Vampire Diaries series of books by L. J. Smith L. J. Smith (author) Lisa Jane Smith, known professionally as L.J. Smith, is an American author of young-adult literature. Her books, which combine elements of the genres of supernatural, horror, science fiction/fantasy, and romance, are populated with young and apparently young human and supernatural characters... |
| 2011–present | The Secret Circle The Secret Circle (TV series) The Secret Circle is an American television series broadcast on The CW Television Network. It was developed by Andrew Miller, based on the book series of the same name written by L. J. Smith. On May 17, 2011, The CW announced they had picked up the pilot as a series... |
The CW The CW Television Network The CW Television Network is a television network in the United States launched at the beginning of the 2006–2007 television season. It is a joint venture between CBS Corporation, the former owners of United Paramount Network , and Time Warner's Warner Bros., former majority owner of The WB... |
Series co-creator; Writer and executive producer |
Based on The Secret Circle series of books The Secret Circle The Secret Circle is a fictional novel series created by L. J. Smith. The series revolves around thirteen teenage witches that form an infamous coven known as 'The Secret Circle'.... by L. J. Smith L. J. Smith (author) Lisa Jane Smith, known professionally as L.J. Smith, is an American author of young-adult literature. Her books, which combine elements of the genres of supernatural, horror, science fiction/fantasy, and romance, are populated with young and apparently young human and supernatural characters... |
Cast
| Film | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Film | Role | Notes | |
| 1995 | Dirty Money | Drunk American Guy | Independent film | |
| 1996 | Hot Ticket | Haker | ||
| 1997 | Scream 2 Scream 2 Scream 2 is a 1997 American slasher film created and written by Kevin Williamson and directed by Wes Craven, starring Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Jamie Kennedy and Liev Schreiber, released on December 12, 1997 as the second installment in the Scream film series... |
Cotton's Interviewer | ||
| Television | ||||
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
| 1990 | Another World Another World (TV series) Another World is an American television soap opera that ran on NBC from May 4, 1964 to June 25, 1999. It ran for a total of 35 years. It was created by Irna Phillips along with William J... |
Dougie | ||