Wachowski brothers

Wachowski Siblings
San Diego ComicCon 2004
Born	Laurence Wachowski Andrew Paul Wachowski * Larry (Laurence): June 21, 1965 (1965-06-21) (age 45) Andy (Andrew): December 29, 1967 (1967-12-29) (age 43) Chicago, Illinois, United States
Occupation	Filmmakers, Producers. Comic Book, Screenwriter
Years active	1994-Present
Spouse	Spouse(Larry): Thea Bloom (30 October 1993 - December 2002) (filed for divorce)

Laurence "Larry" Wachowski (born June 21, 1965) and Andrew Paul "Andy" Wachowski (born December 29, 1967), siblings collectively known as The Wachowskis (formerly 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.

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]

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," 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]

Comic books

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:

• Shaolin Cowboy - created, written, and art by Geof Darrow (with the Wachowskis contributing an opening dialogue to each issue)
• Doc Frankenstein - created by Geof Darrow and Steve Skroce, written by the Wachowskis, 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.

Personal life

Beginning in 2001, Larry Wachowski was regularly seen with Los Angeles-area professional Dominatrix Ilsa Strix. Eventually these appearances led to a romantic relationship, culminating with Larry's divorce from Thea Bloom in 2002. Larry and Strix subsequently began living together.^[5]

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.^[6] 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."^[7] The rumor was exacerbated by Larry Wachowski's reported penchant for cross-dressing, as reported by Rolling Stone.^[8]

In a 2007 interview Joel Silver, the producer of numerous Wachowski films, stated otherwise, saying 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."^[9]

Future films

The Wachowski Brothers are currently collaborating with writer Tom Tykwer to adapt Cloud Atlas to a movie.^[10] In late 2009 they've shot test footage^[11] for the film and recently they started the casting process^[12]. Production for the film will start in spring 2011.

Filmography

Games

• Enter the Matrix (2003) (written and directed)
• The Matrix: Path of Neo (2005) (written and directed)
• The Matrix Online (2005–2009) (provided the theme for the first year^[14])

References

External links

• Lana Wachowski at the Internet Movie Database
• Andy Wachowski at the Internet Movie Database
• Die Wachowski-Geschwister, biography (German).
• Matrix Revelations, Wired article about the Wachowski brothers.