Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski
| Scott Alexander | |
|---|---|
| Born |
June 16, 1963 Los Angeles, California, U.S.A. |
| Alma mater | USC School Cinematic Arts |
| Occupation | Screenwriter |
| Years active | 1990–present |
| Children | 3[1] |
| Larry Karaszewski | |
|---|---|
| Born |
November 20, 1961 South Bend, Indiana, U.S.A. |
| Alma mater | USC School of Cinematic Arts |
| Occupation | Screenwriter |
| Years active | 1990–present |
Scott Alexander (born June 16, 1963, Los Angeles, California) and Larry Karaszewski (born November 20, 1961, South Bend, Indiana) are an American screenwriting team. They met at the University of Southern California where they were roommates; they graduated from the School of Cinematic Arts in 1985.[2]
Biography
Their first success was the popular but critically derided comedy Problem Child (1990). Alexander and Karaszewski claim that their original screenplay was a sophisticated black comedy, but that the studio watered it down into an unrecognizable state.[3]
In 1994, Alexander and Karaszewski persuaded Tim Burton to direct a biopic about Edward D. Wood, Jr. They wrote the screenplay in six weeks.[4]
Ed Wood led to a succession of offbeat biopics, including The People vs. Larry Flynt; Man on the Moon, about the short life of comedian Andy Kaufman; and Auto Focus, chronicling the downfall and subsequent murder of Hogan's Heroes star Bob Crane, which they produced. A script they penned about the life of Robert Ripley of Ripley's Believe It or Not! was at one time attached to Jim Carrey, but like their scripts about The Marx Brothers, The Village People, Sid and Marty Krofft and Rollen Stewart a.k.a. "Rainbow Man", it has yet to be produced.
They also adapted Stephen King's short story 1408, did uncredited rewrites on Mars Attacks! and Hulk, and worked on a number of family films, such as Agent Cody Banks and the 1997 remake of That Darn Cat. In 2000, they made their directorial debut with Screwed. The film was not well received.
In 2007, they both appeared in the documentary Dreams on Spec, a film looking at the Hollywood creative process from the perspective of the writer.
The duo wrote Tim Burton's 2014 film Big Eyes, a biopic about painter Margaret Keane. They were slated to direct, but vacated later. They were also set to collaborate with Burton on a new stop-motion The Addams Family film, but the project was axed in 2013.[5]
They are currently working on their first television series, American Crime Story, which will be a true crime anthology drama with season one based on the O. J. Simpson trial.[6]
Filmography
- Problem Child (1990)
- Problem Child 2 (1991)
- Ed Wood (1994)
- The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996)
- That Darn Cat (1997)
- Man on the Moon (1999)
- Screwed (2000) (also directors)
- Auto Focus (2002) (producers only)
- Agent Cody Banks (with Ashley Edward Miller and Zack Stentz) (2003)
- 1408 (2007)
- Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters (2013) (uncredited)
- Big Eyes (2014)
- Goosebumps (2015) (with Darren Lemke)
- American Crime Story (2016–present)
References
- ↑ "Scott Alexander & Larry Karaszewski". Final Draft. Retrieved December 4, 2014.
- ↑ "An Evening with Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski". Cinema.usc.edu. November 2, 2010.
- ↑ "Money-into-light.com". Money-into-light.com. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
- ↑ Yahoo.com Archived August 12, 2014, at the Wayback Machine.
- ↑ Debruge, Peter (July 17, 2013). "Illumination Chief Chris Meledandri Lines Up Originals for Universal". Variety. Retrieved July 18, 2013.
At the same time, Illumination has scrapped a number of planned movie ideas. “Waldo” and a Tim Burton-helmed, stop-motion The Addams Family are dead. The company abandoned a Woody Woodpecker pic, and couldn’t crack “Clifford the Big Red Dog.”
- ↑ Zuckerman, Esther (January 17, 2015). "Ryan Murphy to tackle O.J. Simpson case with 'American Crime Story'". Entertainment Weekly.