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Revision as of 16:50, 31 January 2013

Andy (left) and Lana Wachowski in September 2012, at the Fantastic Fest screening of Cloud Atlas.
Lana Wachowski
Born (1965-06-21) June 21, 1965 (age 59)
Chicago, Illinois, United States
Occupation(s)film director, producer, screenwriter, video game director, video game writer, comic book writer
Years active1994–present
Spouse(s)Thea Bloom (m. October 30, 1993 – December 2002; divorced)[1]
Karin Winslow (aka Ilsa Strix) (2009 – present)[2][3]
Andy Wachowski
Born
Andrew Paul Wachowski

(1967-12-29) December 29, 1967 (age 56)
Chicago, Illinois, United States
Occupation(s)film director, producer, screenwriter, video game director, video game writer, comic book writer
Years active1994–present
SpouseAlisa Blasingame (1991 – present)

Lana Wachowski (born Laurence Wachowski; June 21, 1965) and Andrew Paul "Andy" Wachowski (born December 29, 1967), known together professionally as The Wachowskis, and formerly as the Wachowski Brothers, are Polish-American film directors, screenwriters, and producers.

They made their directing debut in 1996 with Bound, and reached fame with their second film The Matrix (1999), for which they won the Saturn Award for Best Director. They wrote and directed its two sequels The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions (both in 2003), and were heavily involved in the writing and production of other works in the franchise.

Following the commercial success of the Matrix series, they wrote and produced the 2006 film V for Vendetta (an adaptation of the comic of the same name by Alan Moore), and in 2008 released the film Speed Racer. Their most recent film, Cloud Atlas, based on the novel of the same name by David Mitchell and co-written and co-directed by Tom Tykwer, was released on October 26, 2012.

Early life

Lana Wachowski, formerly Laurence Wachowski (known as "Larry"), was born in Chicago in 1965; Andy Wachowski was born in 1967. Their mother, Lynne (née Luckinbill), was a nurse and painter whose brother is actor Laurence Luckinbill. Their father, Ron Wachowski, was a businessman of Polish descent.[4][5] Raised by a hardcore atheist father and an ex-Catholic turned Shamanist mother,[3] the duo once described their religious beliefs as non-denominational.[6] According to actor Bernard White, Lana once told him that while they were raised Catholic, she was influenced heavily by the sacred Hindu texts like the Bhagavad Gita and the Ramayana.[7] Lana and Andy have two sisters, named Julie and Laura.[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 1986, respectively. Growing up in what Andy has described as a middle to upper-middle white Southside Irish neighborhood,[8] the other kids were being hard on them, due to their Polish descent, lower income bracket, public school attendance and being raised by an atheist father and artist mother.[9] According to Lana they were "the family that no one liked", and she was beaten up every day she came home from school. This made the family members bond together and Lana and Andy grew up by playing together. Lana found an escape route from the real world in books. Former students recall them playing Dungeons & Dragons and working in the school's theater and TV program. Andy then attended Emerson College in Boston, while Lana went to Bard College in New York. Both dropped out before graduating and ran a carpentry business in Chicago while creating comic books.[10]

Style

The siblings 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," Lana has said. 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."[11] In terms of themes that run through their body of work, Lana has cited "the inexplicable nature of the universe [being] in constant dialogue with our own consciousness and our consciousness actually affect[ing] the inexplicable nature of the universe."[3] The Wachowskis cited the art of comic book artist Geoff Darrow as an influence on the look of The Matrix. Also, they stated that Ghost in the Shell, Ninja Scroll, and Akira as anime that inspired them. "in anime, one thing that they do that we tried to bring to our film was a juxtaposition of time and space in action beats."[6]

Comic books

File:Wachowski brothers.jpg
Lana (left), then still presenting as male, at the San Diego ComicCon in 2004 with Andy.

Prior to working in the film industry, the Wachowskis 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:

Gaming

Lana and Andy are self-proclaimed gamers. As teens they spent their weekends in the attic playing Dungeons & Dragons.[2] They liken the process of the playing parties imagining the same virtual space to the process of filmmaking. Along with some of their friends they wrote a 350-page role-playing game of their own, called High Adventure. The rights to it are available for publishing.[8]

On the video game front, they had been exchanging letters with Hideo Kojima and finally met him during a Famitsu interview in late 1999.[12] Metal Gear Solid was the first video game they played after finishing work on The Matrix. Candidates for an adaptation of the first Matrix movie to video game form included Kojima, Bungie and Shiny Entertainment whose Messiah PC game impressed them.[13][14] Shiny's David Perry who ultimately had his company develop and collaborate with them on the Enter the Matrix and The Matrix: Path of Neo video games was impressed with their familiarity with the medium which was a big plus during development.[15] The Wachowskis owned both a PlayStation 2 and Xbox video game console and played several games such as Splinter Cell and Halo 2 and in the case of the latter they finished it even before Perry did.[16] Reportedly during a Halo deathmatch they destroyed their Xbox.[13]

Asked about their feelings turning the tightly controlled Matrix saga to the unpredictable form of an MMORPG with The Matrix Online the duo appeared enthusiastic about the nature and possibilities of video games:

The "vagaries of an MMO where unpredictable player behavior is the rule," is the reason for doing it. Our films were never intended for a passive audience. There are enough of those kinds of films being made. We wanted our audience to have to work, to have to think, to have to actually participate in order to enjoy them. This may be because while we enjoy movies, we also spend a lot of time (as in crack-den amounts of time) gaming.

Gaming engages your mind actively whereas most genre films (the films we tend to watch) are designed to provoke as little thinking as possible. Consider why the films in which everyone knows exactly what is going to happen are the films that make the most money.

Yet the fact that the Matrix films are three of the most successful adult films in history (despite of what much of the media would have us believe), suggests that there are other people like us. Those are the people, the people who thought about it, who worked at it, who we ultimately made the trilogy for and it now makes perfect sense to us that they should inherit the storyline. For us, the idea of watching our baby evolve inside the virtual bubble-world of this new radically developing medium, which has in our opinion the potential of combining the best attributes of films and games, of synthesizing reality TV with soap opera, RPGs and Mortal Combat [sic], is fantastically exciting.

— The Wachowskis[17]

Personal life

Rumors that Lana Wachowski, then still presenting as male, was transitioning from male to female spread in the early 2000s, though neither sibling had spoken directly on the subject.[18] In 2003 Gothamist.com suggested that "the Matrix films could be read with a whole new subtext with the news of the dominatrix [companion seen with Lana at film premieres]."[19] According to Rovi, Lana completed her transition after Speed Racer (2008).[20] The Hollywood Reporter and the New York Times have referred to the Wachowskis as "Andy and Lana (formerly Larry) Wachowski",[21][22] and Deadline.com has referred to the duo as "Andy and Lana Wachowski."[23] On some documents she appears as Laurenca Wachowski.[18][24][25] In July 2012, Lana made her first public appearance after transitioning, in a video discussing the creative process behind Cloud Atlas.[26]

In October 2012 Lana received the Human Rights Campaign's Visibility Award.[27] In her acceptance speech she revealed that she had considered committing suicide once in her youth. Lana's acceptance speech was one of the longest public appearances that either of the notoriously reclusive siblings has ever given. She began by explaining that while she and her brother had not publicly commented on her transitioning during the past decade of rumors about it, this was not because she was ashamed of it, nor had she kept it a secret from her family and friends. Rather, Lana had not commented about her transitioning due to a general shyness about the news media that both she and her brother Andy possess. Comparing it to losing one's virginity as an event which only happens once and is irreversible, the Wachowskis had tried to stay out of the public eye and avoided giving interviews due to fear of losing their personal privacy, fearing that they would never be able to go to a public restaurant again without being noticed and harassed as celebrities.[28]

Lana is a vegetarian.[29]

Andy has been married to Alisa Blasingame since 1991.[30]

At Fantastic Fest 2012's screening of Cloud Atlas, Andy Wachowski joked that the duo was now called Wachowski Starship; news outlets mistakenly reported it as a serious statement.[31]

Works

Films

Year Title Functioned as Notes
Directors Writers Producers Executive producers
1995 Assassins No Yes No No Their script was "totally rewritten"[32] by screenwriter Brian Helgeland. They tried to remove their names from the film but failed.[2]
1996 Bound Yes Yes No Yes
1999 The Matrix Yes No No Yes
2003 The Animatrix No Yes Yes No Direct-to-video
Writing credits for "Final Flight of the Osiris,", story credits for "The Second Renaissance Part I", "The Second Renaissance Part II," "Kid's Story".
The Matrix Reloaded Yes Yes No Yes
The Matrix Revolutions Yes Yes No Yes
2006 V for Vendetta No Yes Yes No Also uncredited second unit directing work[33][2][34]
2007 The Invasion No Yes No No Added additional action scenes, uncredited[35]
2008 Speed Racer Yes Yes Yes No
2009 Ninja Assassin No No Yes No
2012 Cloud Atlas Yes Yes Yes No Co-directed with Tom Tykwer
2014 Jupiter Ascending Yes Yes Yes No Pre-production

Video games

Year Title Functioned as Notes
Directors Writers
2003 Enter the Matrix Yes Yes Based on a 244-page script by the Wachowskis, the game features one hour of live action sequences directed by them, and their collaboration with the game's staff for the creation of another hour of in-engine cinematics and more.[36][37] Also directed the game's trailer.[38][39]
The Matrix Online No No The Wachowskis picked Paul Chadwick as the game's writer and provided him with the first year's theme: "Peace and the ways people wreck it" and a starting point: "the death of Morpheus and the hunt for his killer".[17][40] Furthermore they reviewed and dictated changes to Paul Chadwick's early drafts, such as prohibiting the death of one character.[41]
2005 The Matrix: Path of Neo Yes Yes In collaboration with Zach Staenberg,[42] the Wachowskis edited footage from the previously released films, anime and game to retell the story from the point of view of Neo.[43] Additionally they scripted new locations and encounters, some of them being scrapped content from the films,[44] along with their appearance to the player to humorously explain the reasons behind the creation of a new ending for this adaptation of the Matrix trilogy.

Comic books

Year Title Functioned as Notes
Writers Publishers
1989–1994 Clive Barker's Hellraiser Yes No Lana Wachowski is credited as a writer on stories included in issues 8, 9, 12, 13 and the Hellraiser: Spring Slaughter – Razing Hell special.
1992 Clive Barker's Nightbreed Yes No Lana Wachowski is credited as a writer on issue 17.
1993 Clive Barker's Book of the Damned Yes No Lana Wachowski is credited as a writer on volumes 1, 2 and 4.
1993–1994 Ectokid Yes No Lana Wachowski is credited as a writer on issues 4–9. Andy Wachowski reportedly worked on it as well.
1999–2004 The Matrix Comics Yes Yes Written "Bits and Pieces of Information", the first part of a conceived four part story. Parts of it were later incorporated in "The Second Renaissance" short in The Animatrix.

Most of the comics originally published on whatisthematrix.warnerbros.com along with a few new ones were collected on two printed volumes, published by The Wachoskis' comic book company, Burlyman Entertainment.

2004–[45] Doc Frankenstein Yes Yes Based on an original idea of Geof Darrow, later reworked by Steve Skroce, the duo ended up writing it.[46]
2004–2007 Shaolin Cowboy No Yes Issues 2–7 begin with a humorous recap of the story written by The Wachoskis, and narrated by a talking mule named Lord Evelyn Dunkirk Winniferd Esq. the Third.[47]

Future films

In 2009 the Wachowskis were producing for Madhouse an animated film based on their comic book company's Shaolin Cowboy,[48][49] titled Shaolin Cowboy in The Tomb of Doom.[50] The feature is co-directed by the comic book's creator Geof Darrow and a Japanese director. When the American financiers backed out, the film was left half-finished and in need of $3 million. Geof does not believe that the required amount of money to finish it, will be found.[51]

Warner Bros. has expressed interest in Hood, a modern adaptation of the Robin Hood legend, which the Wachowskis wrote and plan to direct. They also wrote an Iraq war-set gay romance conspiracy thriller titled CN-9 (or Cobalt Neural 9); however, the project failed to find financing.[21] However the siblings are still keen to make it, even if it has to be made in a different form than film.[52]

Jupiter Ascending, an original science fiction screenplay by the Wachowskis, is set to be made into a film by Warner Bros. Pictures. The film will be directed and produced by the Wachowskis.[53] It will star Channing Tatum and Mila Kunis, while John Gaeta will work on visual effects again after The Matrix and Speed Racer. It is scheduled to start shooting in early 2013, with an anticipated release date sometime in 2014.[54] It is scheduled to be released in 3-D and IMAX 3D.[55]

The siblings are also shopping around a concept for a TV series dubbed Sense8 that they have developed with Ninja Assassin collaborator J. Michael Straczynski. In their pursuit of the concept the Wachowskis have penned three spec scripts which are said to resemble their unique storytelling style seen in The Matrix films, and they plan to direct at least a few episodes of the series, should it be made. Producer Marc Rosen of Georgeville Television (GTTV), describes the project as "an idea so big in size and scale that it doesn't make sense to try it as a pilot. The only way to let the filmmakers realize their vision on something like this is to do multiple episodes."[56]

References

  1. ^ Silverman, Stephen M. (2004-05-19). "Matrix Maker's Divorce Gets Even Messier". People. Retrieved 2012-08-19. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  2. ^ a b c d e Hemon, Aleksandar (September 10, 2012). "The Wachowskis' World beyond "The Matrix"". newyorker.com. Retrieved September 4, 2012.
  3. ^ a b c "The Wachowski siblings (formerly brothers) seek the meaning of life in Cloud Atlas". UKScreen. 2012-10-20. Retrieved 2012-12-28.
  4. ^ "Andy Wachowski Biography (1967–)". Filmreference.com. Retrieved 2012-07-19. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  5. ^ "Wachowski Brothers Reload". The World of English. Retrieved 2012-07-19. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  6. ^ a b "Internet Archive Wayback Machine". Web.archive.org. 2010-02-13. Retrieved 2012-12-28. {{cite web}}: Cite uses generic title (help)
  7. ^ Bernard White (Rama Kandra) (2007). "My Defense of Zion". MatrixFans.net.
  8. ^ a b http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/wachowskis-tom-tykwer-cloud-atlas-378824
  9. ^ http://www.spiegel.de/kultur/kino/cloud-atlas-interview-mit-lana-und-andy-wachowski-und-tom-tykwer-a-866337.html Interview in German, machine translation
  10. ^ Miller, Mark (2003-11-11). "Matrix Revelations". Wired News. Retrieved 2012-07-19. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  11. ^ "Larry Wachowski". Filmbug. 2005-02-25. Retrieved 2012-07-19. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  12. ^ http://www.gamespot.com/news/hideo-kojima-speaks-about-the-matrix-2448486
  13. ^ a b http://www.matrixfans.net/dave-perry-talks-enter-the-matrix/
  14. ^ http://www.matrixfans.net/interview-with-gabe-rountree-animation-director-from-enter-the-matrix/
  15. ^ http://uk.gamespy.com/pc/enter-the-matrix/6531p1.html
  16. ^ http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/i_pathofneodaveperry
  17. ^ a b "The Matrix Online - IGN". Uk.ign.com. Retrieved 2012-12-28.
  18. ^ a b Wise, Damon (2008-05-03). "Cut and run". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 2012-07-19. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  19. ^ "Sex Change for Larry Wachowski?". gothamist.com. 2003-06-05. Retrieved 2012-08-19. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  20. ^ Buchanan, Jason. "Larry Wachowski Movies". Blockbuster. Rovi. Retrieved 2012-08-20.
  21. ^ a b Kit, Borys (2010-07-12). "EXCLUSIVE: Wachowskis, Warner Bros. Take Aim With 'Hood'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2012-07-19. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  22. ^ Kulish, Nicholas; Cieply, Michael (2011-12-05). "Around the World in One Movie: Film Financing's Global Future". The New York Times. Retrieved 2012-07-19.
  23. ^ Fleming, Mike (2011-04-12). "Focus Features And Tom Hanks Sign On For Wachowski-Directed 'Cloud Atlas'". Deadline.com. Retrieved 2012-07-19. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  24. ^ "Pictures fuel Matrix sex change rumours". News.ninemsn.com.au. 2009-04-28. Retrieved 2012-07-19. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  25. ^ Miller, Mark (2003-11-11). "Matrix Revelations (archive)". Wired News. Retrieved 2012-07-19. In response, the judge issued a freeze order on the assets of "Laurence Wachowski, aka Laurenca Wachowski." {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  26. ^ Doty, Meriah (2012-07-30). "'Cloud Atlas' directors reveal more than just back story". Yahoo! Movies. Retrieved 2012-07-30. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  27. ^ Abramovitch, Seth (October 24, 2012). "Lana Wachowski Reveals Suicide Plan, Painful Past in Emotional Speech". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved October 30, 2012.
  28. ^ THR Staff (October 24, 2012). "Lana Wachowski's HRC Visibility Award Acceptance Speech (Transcript)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved October 30, 2012.
  29. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MXR4MCuA0o
  30. ^ "Andy Wachowski Biography". Yahoo! Movies. 2011-12-03. Retrieved 2012-07-19. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  31. ^ October 24, 2012 (2012-10-24). "Inside Cloud Atlas and The Matrix directors Lana and Andy Wachowski's Chicago workshop - Chicago Tribune". Articles.chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 2012-12-28. {{cite web}}: Text "Christopher Borrelli" ignored (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  32. ^ "The Lost Wachowski Brothers Interview". Asitecalledfred.com. Retrieved 2012-12-28.
  33. ^ "Sin City, V For Vendetta, Ghost Rider, Batman Begins: April 28th Comic Reel Wrap". Comic Book Resources. 2005-04-28. Retrieved 2012-12-28.
  34. ^ "V for Vendetta". Pdl.warnerbros.com. Retrieved 2012-12-28.
  35. ^ Sperling, Nicole; Spines, Christine (2007-08-10). "Hidden 'Invasion'". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2012-07-19. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  36. ^ By MICHEL MARRIOTTPublished: February 20, 2003 (2003-02-20). "FROM PROJECTOR TO POLYGONS; A Thin Line Between Film And Joystick - New York Times". Nytimes.com. Retrieved 2012-12-28.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  37. ^ Author Name (2012-12-21). "Interview with Stuart Roch (Executive Producer) from Enter the Matrix". MatrixFans.net. Retrieved 2012-12-28. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  38. ^ http://web.archive.org/web/20090423040748/http://www.enterthematrixgame.com/index-niobe.html
  39. ^ http://www.shacknews.com/file/2522/enter-the-matrix-trailer-2-high-res
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  41. ^ "Matrix Online Q&A with Paul Chadwick". Phase9.tv. Retrieved 2012-12-28.
  42. ^ "The Matrix: Path of Neo for PlayStation 2 (2005) Ad Blurbs". MobyGames. 2008-02-21. Retrieved 2012-12-28.
  43. ^ Reed, Kristan (2005-07-12). "Enter The Bank Balance Interview • Interviews •". Eurogamer.net. Retrieved 2012-12-28.
  44. ^ "Path of Neo: The Matrix Interview - IGN". Uk.ign.com. Retrieved 2012-12-28.
  45. ^ "Chicago Comic-Con 2010: Geof Darrow - Broken Frontier - Comic Book and Graphic Novel News & Community | Articles and Interviews". Broken Frontier. Retrieved 2012-12-28.
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  47. ^ "Internet Archive Wayback Machine". Web.archive.org. 2008-05-11. Retrieved 2012-12-28. {{cite web}}: Cite uses generic title (help)
  48. ^ C2E2 Announces Ten Top Artist Appearances Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo press release.
  49. ^ "Circle of Confusion hires Emery". April 28, 2009. Variety.
  50. ^ http://www.bleedingcool.com/2012/07/13/geof-darrow-wachowski-shaolin-cowboy-hard-boiled-sf-superhero/
  51. ^ http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=40071
  52. ^ Robinson, Tasha (2012-10-25). "The Wachowskis explain how Cloud Atlas unplugs people from the Matrix | Film | Interview". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 2012-12-28.
  53. ^ Fleming, Mike (2011-10-20). "Lana and Andy Wachowski Return To Sci-Fi Action Arena With 'Jupiter Ascending'". Deadline. Retrieved 2012-07-19.
  54. ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1617661/?ref_=sr_1
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