Wachowski brothers
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| The Wachowski brothers | |
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 Larry Wachowski (left) and Andy Wachowski (right) |
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| Born | Chicago, Illinois, United States
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| Occupation | Filmmakers |
Laurence "Larry" Wachowski (born June 21, 1965) and Andrew Paul "Andy" Wachowski (born December 29, 1967), collectively known as The Wachowski Brothers, are American film directors, writers and producers, most famous for creating The Matrix series. Their most recent project was producing Ninja Assassin.
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[edit] Life and career
Andy and Larry Wachowski were born to a Polish-American family[1] in Chicago. The Wachowskis jokingly claim they began their collaboration as toddlers. Their mother, Lynne, was a nurse and painter; their father, Ron Wachowski, was a businessman.[2] They went to Kellogg Elementary School, in Chicago's Beverly area, and graduated from Whitney Young High School, known for its performing arts and science curriculum, in 1983 and '86. Former students recall them playing Dungeons & Dragons and working in the school's theater and TV program, but they were always behind the scenes. Andy then attended Emerson College in Boston, while Larry went to Bard College in New York. Both dropped out before graduating, and they ran a carpentry business in Chicago while creating comic books and developing their ideas for the Matrix Trilogy.[3]
[edit] Style
The brothers admit to a love for telling multipart stories. "Because we grew up on comic books and the Tolkien trilogy, one of the things we're interested in is bringing serial fiction to cinema," Larry explains. Andy puts his desire to shake up viewers a bit more bluntly: "We think movies are fairly boring and predictable. We want to screw with audiences' expectations."[4]
[edit] Comic books
Prior to working in the film industry, the Wachowski brothers wrote comic books for Marvel Comics' Razorline imprint, namely Ectokid (created by horror novelist Clive Barker) in 1993 as well as writing for EPIC Comics "Clive Barker's Hellraiser" and "Clive Barker's Nightbreed" comic series.
In 2003, they created Burlyman Entertainment and have released comic books based on The Matrix as well as two original bi-monthly series:
- Shaolin Cowboy - created, written, and art by Geof Darrow (with the Wachowski Brothers contributing an opening dialogue to each issue)
- Doc Frankenstein - created by Geof Darrow and Steve Skroce, written by the Wachowski Brothers, with art by Skroce.
During Skroce's run on the Marvel Comics series Gambit, he helped create a pair of bounty hunters, the Mengo Brothers (Stanislaus and Gregori Mengochauschras), as adversaries, who resemble the Wachowskis.
[edit] Lana Wachowski
Shortly after the release of Matrix Reloaded, it was rumored that Larry Wachowski began to make small public appearances dressed as a woman, using the name Lana Wachowski.[5] In his column, published May 30, 2003, David Poland said "Every indication I have says that Larry Wachowski is now in the process of changing his sex. Dressing in public like a woman, taking female hormones and yes, having a sex change operation." This was further supported by a March 2006 San Francisco Chronicle article on transgender people, which repeated that Larry Wachowski, "has changed his sex and is now living as Lana Wachowski."[6] The rumor is likely exacerbated by Larry Wachowski's reported penchant for cross-dressing, as reported by Rolling Stone.[7]
However, in a 2007 interview Joel Silver, the producer of numerous Wachowski films, stated that the rumors concerning Larry's sex change were "all untrue", further explaining, "they just don’t do interviews, so people make things up." Similar statements were made to Fox news by crew members working on the Speed Racer film, with one employee pointing out, "on the call sheets, it still says Larry."[8] It's worth noting that while Silver denied Wachowski had undergone gender reassignment surgery, he did not say whether Wachowski was undergoing a gender transition.
Wachowski was photographed at an airport in April of 2009 dressed as a woman, complete with make-up and peroxided hair. The photos were published to Perez Hilton's website.[9]
In November of 2009, Wachowski was photographed leaving Los Angeles International Airport dressed as a woman. The photos were again published to Perez Hilton's website.[10]
On December 7th, 2009, journalist Arianna Huffington posted a message to her Twitter page "With Lana Wachowski and her parents", with an attached image of Huffington and Wachowski, dressed as a woman.[11]
[edit] Filmography
| Year | Film | Credited as | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Directors | Writers | Producers | ||
| 1995 | Assassins | No | Yes | No |
| 1996 | Bound | Yes | Yes | No |
| 1999 | The Matrix | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 2003 | The Matrix Reloaded | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| The Matrix Revolutions | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| The Animatrix | No | Yes | Yes | |
| 2006 | V for Vendetta | No | Yes | Yes |
| 2008 | Speed Racer | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 2009 | Ninja Assassin | No | No | Yes |
[edit] Games
- Enter the Matrix (2003) (written and directed)
- The Matrix: Path of Neo (2005) (written and directed)
- The Matrix Online (2005 - 2009) (only provided original concept)
[edit] References
- ^ "Wachowski Brothers Reload". The World of English. http://www.woe.edu.pl/modules.php?mm=2&module=Articles&mode=show_article&art_id=302§ion_id=39&topic_id=18. Retrieved 2007-09-30.
- ^ Andy Wachowski Biography (1967-)
- ^ Matrix Revelations: The Wachowski Brothers FAQ (Wired)
- ^ Larry Wachowski @ Filmbug
- ^ "Lana Wachowski Creator of the Matrix & Transsexual?". 2006-01-14. http://greensboring.com/viewtopic.php?t=340. Retrieved 2007-09-30.
- ^ Veronica Klaus is brassy and confident onstage
- ^ The Mystery of Larry Wachowski
- ^ No Sex Change for 'Matrix' Director Larry Wachowski
- ^ "Reclusive Matrix Director Spotted". PerezHilton.com. 2009-04-27. http://perezhilton.com/2009-04-27-reclusive-matrix-director-spotted. Retrieved 2009-12-08.
- ^ "A Rare Sighting!". PerezHilton.com. 2009-11-19. http://perezhilton.com/2009-11-19-a-rare-sighting-2. Retrieved 2009-12-08.
- ^ "With Lana Wachowski and her parents". Twitter.com. 2009-12-07. http://twitter.com/ariannahuff/status/6440961265. Retrieved 2009-12-08.
[edit] External links
- Lana Wachowski at the Internet Movie Database
- Andy Wachowski at the Internet Movie Database
- Die Wachowski-Geschwister, biography (German).
- Matrix Revelations, Wired Magazine article about the Wachowski brothers.
- The Mystery of Larry Wachowski, Rolling Stone Magazine article about the latest rumours about Larry's gender status, largely dependent on the above Wired Magazine article for background.
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