Wes Craven

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Wes Craven
Born	Wesley Earl Craven August 2, 1939 (1939-08-02) (age 70) Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
Occupation	Film director, writer and producer
Spouse(s)	Bonnie Broecker (1964-1969) Mimi Craven (1984-1987) Iya Labunka
Official website

Wesley Earl "Wes" Craven (born August 2, 1939) is an American film director and writer, perhaps best known as the creator of many horror films, including the famed A Nightmare on Elm Street series featuring the iconic Freddy Krueger character and the Scream films.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Directing and writing career 2.1 Awards and nominations 2.2 Completing his Nightmare Trilogy 3 Personal life 4 Books 5 Filmography 5.1 Wes Craven Presents 5.2 Director 5.3 Producer 5.4 Actor 6 My Soul to Take 7 Trivia 8 References 9 External links

[edit] Early life

Craven was born in Cleveland, Ohio, the son of Caroline (née Miller) and Paul Craven.^[1] He had a strict Baptist upbringing.^[2] Craven earned an undergraduate degree in English and Psychology from Wheaton College in Illinois, and a masters degree in Philosophy and Writing from Johns Hopkins University.^[3] Prior to landing his first job in the film industry as a sound editor for a post-production company in New York, Craven briefly taught English at Westminster College and was a humanities professor at Clarkson College of Technology (now Clarkson University) in Potsdam, NY.

[edit] Directing and writing career

Craven's works tend to share a common exploration of the nature of reality. A Nightmare on Elm Street, for example, dealt with the consequences of dreams in real life. New Nightmare "brushes against" (but doesn't quite break) the fourth wall by having actress Heather Langenkamp play herself as she is haunted by the villain of the film in which she once starred. At one point in the film, we see on Wes Craven's word processor a script he has written, which includes the exact conversation he just had with Heather — as if the script is being written as the action is unfolding. The Serpent and the Rainbow portrays a man who cannot distinguish between nightmarish visions and reality. In Scream, the characters frequently reference horror films similar to their situations, and at one point Billy Loomis tells his girlfriend that life is just a big movie. This concept was emphasized in the sequels, as copycat stalkers reenact the events of a new film about the Woodsboro killings occurring in Scream. Scream included a scene mentioning the well-known Richard Gere gerbil urban legend. Craven stated that he received calls from agents telling him that if he leaves that scene in, he would never work again.^[4][5] Craven was also set to direct Beetlejuice but dropped out to co-write and executive produce the third outing for Freddy Krueger. "The" Elm Street is located in Potsdam,^[6] NY (a small town just south of the Canadian border).

[edit] Awards and nominations

During his career, Wes Craven won nine awards and received three nominations.

In 1977, he won the 'Prize of the International Critics' Jury' in the "Sitges - Catalonian International Film Festival" for his film The Hills Have Eyes.

In 1985, his horror film: "A Nightmare on Elm Street" garnered the 'Critic's Award' at the "Avoriaz Fantastic Film Festival".

In 1992, the Brussels International Festival of Fantasy Film presented him the Pegasus Audience Award for the thriller The People Under the Stairs. His Fantasporto won the International Fantasy Film Award for Best Screenplay while the Best Film Award went to his movie New Nightmare, the final A Nightmare on Elm Street movie. He was also nominated for Best Film for the movie Shocker in 1990.

The Gérardmer Film Festival granted him the Grand Prize in '97, for the movie Scream.

He was nominated for Best Director for Scream at the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA in 1997.

In 2006, he was honored at Spike TV's Scream with the Mastermind Award. The tribute was presented to him by Neve Campbell.

[edit] Completing his Nightmare Trilogy

Though there have been seven different Nightmare on Elm Street films (eight if one includes the crossover Freddy vs. Jason), only two have been directed by Craven. He has said in several interviews and discussions that he considers only his two films to be accurate depictions of his creation. For years, it has been rumored that he would make one more film, essentially completing his trilogy. However Craven was involved in the third Nightmare film Dream Warriors as producer, aiming to make the third film the last. His ideas were largely rejected, and used in his New Nightmare, ten years later. Craven will not participate in a remake of the original, scheduled for an April, 2010 release.

[edit] Personal life

Craven's first marriage to Bonnie Broecker produced two children, Jonathan (born 1965) and Jessica Craven (born 1968). Jonathan is a writer and director with a few credits to his name. Jessica is a singer/songwriter in the group the Chapin Sisters. The marriage ended in 1970. In 1982, Craven married Millicent Eleanor Meyer. However, the two divorced, according to Joe Eszterhas's book American Rhapsody, after she began an affair with actress Sharon Stone. Also according to the book, on the day the divorce was finalized, Stone sent Craven a dozen black roses. Although Craven has never publicly commented on his wife's lesbian affair, he has stated in interviews that the marriage dissolved after he discovered it "was no longer anything but a sham."^[7]

[edit] Books

Year	Title
1999	Fountain Society

[edit] Filmography

[edit] Wes Craven Presents

• They (2002)
• The Breed (2006)

[edit] Director

Year	Title	Notes
1972	The Last House on the Left
1977	The Hills Have Eyes
1978	Summer of Fear	TV
	The Evolution of Snuff
1981	Deadly Blessing
1982	Swamp Thing
1984	Invitation to Hell	TV
	A Nightmare on Elm Street
1985	Chiller	TV
	The Hills Have Eyes Part II
	The New Twilight Zone	TV series
1986	Casebusters	TV
	Deadly Friend
1988	The Serpent and the Rainbow
1989	Shocker
1990	Night Visions	TV
1991	The People Under the Stairs
1992	Nightmare Cafe	TV Series
1994	Wes Craven's New Nightmare
1995	Vampire in Brooklyn
1996	Scream
1997	Scream 2
1999	Music of the Heart
2000	Scream 3
2005	Cursed
	Red Eye
2006	Paris, je t'aime
2007	Agitation
2009	My Soul to Take[8]	Post-production
2010	Scream 4	Confirmed

[edit] Producer

Year	Title	Notes
1971	Together
1981	Kent State'
1987	A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors
1989	The People Next Door	TV Series
	Shocker
1990	Night Visions	TV
1991	The People Under the Stairs
1992	Nightmare Cafe	TV Series
1993	Laurel Canyon	TV
1994	Wes Craven's New Nightmare
1995	Mind Ripper
1997	Wishmaster
1998	Hollyweird	TV
	Carnival of Souls
	Don't Look Down	TV
2000	Dracula 2000
2002	They Shoot Divas, Don't They?	TV
2005	Feast
2006	The Hills Have Eyes	Remake
	The Breed
2007	The Hills Have Eyes 2	Remake
	Home
2009	The Last House on the Left	Remake

[edit] Actor

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1994	Wes Craven's New Nightmare	Himself
1996	Scream	"Fred" (School Janitor/Freddy Look-a-like)	Cameo
2001	Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back	Himself	Cameo
2005	Inside Deep Throat	Himself
2006	Paris, je t'aime	Vampire's Victim (uncredited)
2007	The Tripper	Top hat-wearing hippy	Cameo
2008	Diary of the Dead	Voice on radio	Cameo

[edit] My Soul to Take

Expected for a late 2009 or early 2010 release, My Soul to Take is the first film since New Nightmare that Craven will both write and direct.^[9] It tells the story of an alleged dead serial killer who returns to kill the seven children who were born on the day he was killed fifteen years ago.^[10] Confirmed cast members include Max Thieriot, Nick Lashaway,^[11] Shareeka Epps, Emily Meade and Denzel Whitaker^[12]. On 19 October 2009 was retitled from 25/8.^[13], the film will run in early 2010.^[14]

[edit] Trivia

Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (April 2009)

Wes Craven designed the Halloween 2008 logo for Google,^[15] and was the second celebrity personality to take over the YouTube homepage on Halloween.^[16]

[edit] References

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Wes Craven

[edit] External links

• Official Site
• Wes Craven at Allmovie
• Wes Craven at the Open Directory Project
• Wes Craven at the Internet Movie Database
• Wes Craven interview
• Official Youtube
• Wes Craven on Twitter

v • d • e Wes Craven Films 1970s The Last House on the Left (1972)  • The Hills Have Eyes (1977)  • Summer of Fear (1978) 1980s Deadly Blessing (1981) • Swamp Thing (1982)  • A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)  • Chiller (1985)  • The Hills Have Eyes Part II (1985) • Deadly Friend (1986)  • The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988)  • Shocker (1989) 1990s The People Under the Stairs (1991)  • New Nightmare (1994)  • Vampire in Brooklyn (1995)  • Scream (1996)  • Scream 2 (1997)  • Music of the Heart (1999) 2000s Scream 3 (2000)  • Cursed (2005)  • Red Eye (2005)  • My Soul to Take (2010) Remakes The Hills Have Eyes (2006)  • The Last House on the Left (2009)  • A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010)