| Bursting onto the scene with the screenplay for the sharp and successful horror movie "Scream" (1996), teen favorite Kevin Williamson became well-known for his bright and insightful take on youth-focused entertainment, tackling television with his acclaimed drama "Dawson's Creek (The WB, 1998- ) as well as working extensively in film as a screenwriter, producer and director. Born and raised in North Carolina, Williamson tried his hand at acting, moving to New York to pursue a career in the field. While he managed to secure some work on the NBC soap opera "Another World", he soon found that acting wasn't for him, and moved to Los Angeles to give writing and directing a shot. While writing screenplays he took a job as an assistant video director. In this capacity, Williamson worked on such memorable videos as "Mama Said Knock You Out" by LL Cool J, a performer who would later land a featured role in the Williamson produced "Halloween: H20" (1998). The self-referential "Scream" (1996), a witty film both parodying and celebrating the conventions of horror movies would prove to be Williamson's big break. Directed by horror maven Wes Craven and starring a cast primarily made up of new faces, the film breathed a hip, fresh life into the dying teen slasher genre. For his next blockbuster, "I Know What You Did Last Summer" (1997), Williamson adapted the Lois Duncan novel of the same name (a perennial junior high favorite). While his screenplay was essentially a complete overhaul, the film maintained the original psycho-thriller tone, even while adding more of a horror movie sense than was in the text. Seeking to create a new Michael Myers-esque villain, he made the antagonist a mysterious fisherman, creating a new urban legend. Later that same year, the action-packed "Scream 2" proved a comparable success. Following the strong box office returns for the Williamson scripted "Scream", "I Know What You Did Last Summer" and "Scream 2", a resurgence of movies starring and aimed at teens hit the big screen. Williamson next served as executive producer of "Halloween: H20", the seventh installment of the series, and arguably the only sequel that lives up to John Carpenter's terrifying 1978 original. This film brought back legendary scream queen Jamie Lee Curtis, and introduced new kids Michelle Williams (of "Dawson's Creek) and Josh Hartnett (of the Williamson-scripted "The Faculty"), bringing the new class together with horror movie royalty, something that Williamson had done thematically with his previous films. With "The Faculty" (also 1998), the screenwriter set out to fuse a "Breakfast Club" element of disparate stereotypes thrown together with an "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" plotline. The result, directed by Robert Rodriguez, was a highly entertaining rollercoaster ride of a film. Williamson's screenplay for "Killing Mrs. Tingle", a black comedy thriller inspired by his own real-life experience with a discouraging teacher, was initially picked up for development by Interscope, but put on hold. Following his "Scream" success, the film was reclaimed by Dimension Films, Mirimax's genre division, with Williamson not only on board as screenwriter, but making his debut as director. Released in the summer of 1999 as "Teaching Mrs. Tingle", it starred Helen Mirren, Katie Holmes ("Dawson's Creek") and up-and coming Williamson discovery Marisa Coughlan ("Wasteland"). While carrying on a fruitful and acclaimed film career, Williamson managed to create the TV series "Dawson's Creek", and keep it fresh and compelling past its first season. A sensitive and intelligent coming-of-age drama populated with realistic (if unusually eloquent) characters, "Dawson's Creek" introduced an ensemble of uniquely talented and watchable new faces and proved an instant success, making immediate teen idols out of the principal cast (the aforementioned Holmes and Williams as well as James Van Der Beek and Joshua Jackson). A semi-autobiographical program, Williamson has said hat each character in the series distinctly represents various aspects of himself. Next up for the self-described workaholic was "Wasteland", a Miramax/Kevin Williamson production chronicling six young college graduates and their exploits in New York that failed to find an audience during its brief run in the fall of 1999. |