Kevin Williamson
While "Dawson’s Creek" is Kevin Williamson’s first foray into television, he is a rising star in the top echelon of Hollywood screenwriters. With the blockbuster success of "Scream," "Scream 2" and "I Know What You Did Last Summer," he has become one of Hollywood’s hottest properties. In June of 1997 Williamson was named one of "The 100 Most Creative People In Entertainment" by Entertainment Weekly Magazine.
Born in New Bern, N.C., Williamson studied theater and film at East Carolina University before moving to New York to pursue an acting career. After landing bit parts on television and stage, he moved to Los Angeles to try his hand on the other side of the camera as a writer and director.
While writing at night, Williamson toiled as an assistant to a music video director. His first script sale came with "Killing Mrs. Tingle," a black comedy that will also serve as his directorial debut. "Dawson’s" Katie Holmes stars in the black horror comedy about a group of students determined to eradicate their most detested teacher. His next original work, "Scream," came out of Williamson’s childhood fascination with horror movies and marks his first produced screenplay. Directed by Wes Craven and starring Drew Barrymore, Courteney Cox and Neve Campbell, "Scream" amassed gross ticket sales crossing the $100 million industry benchmark and has been credited with reviving the teen horror genre. The film was also awarded Best Movie of the Year at the 1997 MTV Movie Awards.
Williamson followed that massive success with "I Know What You Did Last Summer," a screenplay he adapted from a classic teen novel by Lois Duncan. The thriller featured "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" star Sarah Michelle Gellar, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Ryan Philippe and Freddie Prinze, Jr. "Scream 2" was one of the most anticipated sequels in recent film history, and that showed at the box office, with the franchise once again raking in more than $100 million.
This foray into the horror genre was even more a mix of reverence and self-aware irreverence, with the villain obsessed with sequels. Williamson is such a hot commodity that he teamed up with one of cinema’s new fave bad boys, Robert Rodriguez, whose "Dusk ‘til Dawn," explored the horror genre. Williamson wrote, and Rodriguez will direct "The Faculty," a tale about a high school in Texas, wherein the teaching staff is comprised of werewolves, bent on preying on the students.
One suspects Williamson doesn’t sleep, as he’s already got two more movies lined up. Williamson gets story credit for "Halloween: The Revenge of Laurie Strode," which has Jamie Lee Curtis reprising the role that made her famous; and "Scream 3," which is scheduled to premiere in 1999.