Daniel Waters (born November 10, 1962) is an American screenwriter and film director. He is the older brother of director

Mark Waters Mark Stephen Waters (born June 30, 1964) is an American director. Early life Waters was raised in South Bend, Indiana. He studied at the University of Pennsylvania in theatre arts before studying at the American Film Institute. When studying a ...

Early life

Waters was born in Cleveland, Ohio and raised in South Bend, Indiana. In high school, Waters wrote a popular column titled "Troubled Waters" for his high school newspaper, where he wrote fictitious stories about his real-life classmates—not unlike the writing that appeared in his screenplay for ''Heathers''. He then wrote, directed and starred alongside Larry Karaszewski in a local sketch comedy titled ''Beyond Our Control'' in the early 1980s. Waters moved to Montreal where he graduated from

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

. After graduation, he moved to Los Angeles, and was the manager of a video store.

Screenwriting credits

Waters came to prominence in 1988 for writing the black comedy '' Heathers'', for which he received a 1990

Edgar Award The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, popularly called the Edgars, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America which is based in New York City. Named after American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), a pioneer in the genre, the awards hon ...

. ''Heathers'' was an attempt for him to write of the true nature of teenagers and high-school society. ''Heathers'' was not a box-office hit for Waters when it was released, but the movie has become a

cult classic A cult following is a group of Fan (person), fans who are highly dedicated to a person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some List of art media, medium. The latter is often cal ...

. Waters won the

Edgar Allan Poe Award The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, popularly called the Edgars, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America which is based in New York City. Named after American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), a pioneer in the genre, the awards honor ...

for Best Motion Picture. Over the next four years, Waters served as co-writer on the comedy ''

The Adventures of Ford Fairlane ''The Adventures of Ford Fairlane'' is a 1990 American mystery action comedy film directed by Renny Harlin and written by David Arnott, James Cappe, and Daniel Waters based on a story by Arnott and Cappe. The film stars comedian Andrew Dic ...

'', wrote the sequel ''

Batman Returns ''Batman Returns'' is a 1992 American superhero film directed by Tim Burton and written by Daniel Waters (screenwriter), Daniel Waters. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, it is the sequel to ''Batman (1989 film), Batman'' (1989) and th ...

'', and then wrote the films '' Hudson Hawk'' (for which he re-teamed with ''Heathers'' director Michael Lehmann) and '' Demolition Man.'' He received the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Screenplay for both ''Hudson Hawk'' and ''Ford Fairlane''. In 1995, he authored the first draft of the ''

Catwoman Catwoman is a character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane, she debuted as "the Cat" in ''Batman (comic book), Batman'' #1 (spring 1940). She has become one of the superhero Batman' ...

'' solo movie. The story about Selina moving to a Vegas-like city called 'Oasisburg' and fighting parodies of male superheroes failed to resonate with

Tim Burton Timothy Walter Burton (born August 25, 1958) is an American filmmaker and producer. Known for popularizing Goth subculture, Goth culture in the American film industry, Burton is famous for his Gothic film, gothic horror and dark fantasy films. ...

or anyone at Warner.

Turn as a director

In 2001, Waters made his directorial debut with '' Happy Campers'', another teen comedy in a black vein that, after a long delay, was released straight to DVD. His follow-up, '' Sex and Death 101'', a hybrid of science fiction,

dark comedy Black comedy, also known as black humor, bleak comedy, dark comedy, dark humor, gallows humor or morbid humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally ...

, and romantic thriller, won the Golden Space Needle Award for Best Director at the 2007

Seattle International Film Festival The Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) is a film festival held annually in Seattle, Washington, United States, since 1976. It usually takes place in late May and/or early June. It is one of the largest festivals in the world, and feature ...

. It was released theatrically on April 4, 2008, in New York and Los Angeles. The film re-teamed Waters with ''Heathers'' star

Winona Ryder Winona Laura Horowitz (born ), known professionally as Winona Ryder, is an American actress. Having come to attention playing quirky characters in the late 1980s, she achieved success with her more dramatic performances in the 1990s. Ryder's L ...

Filmography

As writer

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Waters, Daniel 1962 births Living people 20th-century American screenwriters 21st-century American screenwriters American male screenwriters Edgar Award winners Film directors from Ohio McGill University alumni Screenwriters from Ohio Writers from Cleveland