Wes Craven Biography (2)

Wes Craven has been challenging audiences with his bold visions for more than 25 years. In the past three years alone, he has created three dazzlingly different new works. He directed Academy Award-winning Meryl Streep in Music of the Heart, his first dramatic feature film; he completed the final installment of the hugely successful Scream trilogy; and made his debut as novelist with Simon & Schuster's publication of Fountain Society.

Craven's career has been marked by both creative and commercial milestones. The irreverent and genre-bending Scream, the winner of MTV's 1996 Best Movie Award, grossed more than $100 million domestically. Scream 2, the 1997 sequel with an attitude about sequels, also topped $100 million in domestic box office and Scream 3 has currently grossed over $89 million domestically.

This success gave Craven the freedom to pursue a career-long dream. He directed his first non-genre film, Music of the Heart, based on the real-life story of teacher Robert Guaspari and her violin students in East Harlem.

Recently, Craven and his long-time producing partner, Marianne Maddalena, signed a four-year deal with Miramax and Dimension Films. Under that deal, Craven will direct and Maddalena will produce two films for Miramax and/or Dimension. In addition, they will produce four genre films for Dimension under the banner Wes Craven Presents. Craven is also set to direct the screen adaptation of his first novel, the science fiction thriller Fountain Society, for Dreamworks.

Craven reinvented the youth horror genre in 1984 with the classic A Nightmare on Elm Street, a film he wrote and directed. Although he did not direct any of the next five sequels, he deconstructed the genre a decade later with the audacious Wes Craven's New Nightmare, which was nominated Best Feature at the 1995 Independent Spirit Awards. He has also directed Vampire in Brooklyn, The Serpent and the Rainbow and Deadly Friend. He wrote and directed The People Under the Stairs, Shocker and Swamp Thing. He wrote, directed and edited The Hills Have Eyes. Craven's first feature film was the riveting Last House on the Left, which he wrote, directed and edited in 1972.

For television, Craven helped create and produce the series Nightmare Cafe for NBC. He directed the telefilm's Night Visions, A Stranger In Our House, Invitation To Hell, Chiller and Casebusters. He also directed seven classic episodes of the 1980's revival of The Twilight Zone.

Craven was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and holds a Master's Degree in writing and philosophy from John Hopkins University in Baltimore.