Wachowski brothers

Laurence "Larry" Wachowski (born June 21, 1965) and Andrew "Andy" Wachowski (born December 29, 1967) are Polish American film directors most famous for the Matrix series.

Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, the Wachowskis jokingly claim to have begun their collaboration as toddlers. They at a time went to Kellogg Elementary School, in Chicago's Beverly Area. Both dropped out of college to pursue show business and both overcame some major hurdles on their way to success. Before entering show business, they ran a carpentry business in Chicago while creating comic books in their free time.

Since their hit with The Matrix, studios are clamoring for whatever else they have ever worked on. Trimark has bought an unproduced script they wrote years ago, Carnivore, a creepy tale about a boarding house whose residents keep disappearing. The brothers will executive-produce it, while horror veteran George A. Romero (Dawn of the Dead) will likely direct.

The brothers admit to a love for telling multi-part 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. "If you could have a film where you don't get to the hour-and-a-half mark and know, 'Okay, here it comes, the big wrap-up,' but instead you have no idea how the movie's going to end, I think that would be very exciting." 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 audience's expectations."

Their mother was a nurse and their father a businessman. Both brothers graduated from Whitney Young High, a public high school known for its performing arts and science curriculum, in 1983 and '85. They weren't seen as stand outs at Whitney Young - students recall them playing Dungeons & Dragons and working in the school's theater and TV program, but they were always behind the scenes. Afterwards, Andy went to Emerson College in Boston. He was a top student in his introductory film class but dropped out because of failing a test says former professor, Claire Andrade-Watkins. Larry went to Bard in upstate New York. After dropping out of college, both entered the carpentry business, and began to unleash their ideas for the Matrix Trilogy.


Personal lives

In 2003, Larry's wife of nine years, Thea Bloom, divorced him on the grounds that she felt there had been dishonesty in their personal and financial lives, and sought financial remedy. It has been speculated that this "personal dishonesty" is related to the long-standing rumor about Larry being transgendered. Following his separation from Thea Bloom, he has been romantically linked to the famous ex-professional dominatrix, Ilsa Strix.


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.

In 2004, they created Burlyman Entertainment and have released comic books based on The Matrix as well two original bi-monthly series:

* Shaolin Cowboy - created, written, and art by Geoff Darrow (with the Wachowski Brothers contributing an opening ass-ologue to each issue)
* Doc Frankenstein - created by Geoff Darrow and Steve Skroce, written by the Wachowski Brothers, and art by Steve 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.


Filmography

* V for Vendetta (2006) (written, based on the graphic novel of the same name by Alan Moore) – Unreleased, March 17, 2006.
* The Matrix Revolutions (2003) (written & directed)
* The Matrix Reloaded (2003) (written & directed)
* The Matrix (1999) (written & directed)
* Bound (1996) (written & directed)
* Assassins (1995) (story, screenplay credits)
* Carnivore – unreleased
* Plastic Man – unreleased
* Primavista – online