Photo by David Slade Wes Craven has been challenging audiences with his bold visions since the release of his first feature film, THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT, which he wrote, directed, and edited in 1972. In the 34 years since that controversial film's arrival, Craven has demonstrated that he is a filmmaker with heart, guts, humor - and an unbridled imagination expanding into films, television, and literature. Recently, Craven has made a deal with Rogue Pictures to write and direct his first horror project in 12 years. He has also formed Midnight Entertainment, a Rogue-based shingle that will concentrate on horror films with budgets under $15 million. The first film under the Midnight Entertainment banner will be the remake of THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT. Craven's last film was RED-EYE, a psychological thriller starring Rachel McAdams, Cillian Murphy, and Brian Cox for DreamWorks, SKG. Craven and longtime collaborator Marianne Maddalena produced a remake of Wes' second feature, THE HILLS HAVE EYES, with Fox Searchlight and French filmmakers Alexandre Aja and Gregory Levasseur. Fox Atomic released the sequel, THE HILLS HAVE EYES II, written by Craven and son Jonathan and directed by Martin Weisz, last March and it is now available on dvd. Craven produced with Maddalena and Peter Locke. Under his deal with Miramax Films and Dimension, Craven created a string of films which included the SCREAM trilogy, MUSIC OF THE HEART, and CURSED. CURSED reteamed Craven with fellow SCREAM alum, writer Kevin Williamson, and stars Christina Ricci, Joshua Jackson and Jesse Eisenberg. Craven's career has been marked by both creative and commercial milestones. He literally reinvented the youth horror genre in 1984 with the classic A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, a film he wrote and directed. Although he did not direct any of its next five sequels, he deconstructed the genre a decade later with the audacious WES CRAVEN'S NEW NIGHTMARE, which was nominated as Best Feature at the 1995 Independent Spirit Awards. Craven directed the phenomenal hits SCREAM (1996), SCREAM 2 (1997), and SCREAM 3 (2000). With SCREAM, Craven reached a new level of success. The irreverent, genre-bending winner of MTV's 1996 Best Movie Award grossed more than $100 million domestically, as did SCREAM 2. Between SCREAM 2 and SCREAM 3 Craven, excited at the opportunity to direct a non-genre film for Miramax, jumped into production on MUSIC OF THE HEART (1999), a film based on the Oscar-nominated documentary "Small Wonders" and starring Meryl Streep and Angela Bassett. For her performance, Streep was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress. In the same year, in the midst of directing, Craven wrote and published his first novel The Fountain Society. Craven has also directed VAMPIRE IN BROOKLYN (1995), for Paramount Pictures, THE SERPENT AND THE RAINBOW (1988) and DEADLY FRIEND (1986). He wrote and directed THE PEOPLE UNDER THE STAIRS (1991), SHOCKER (1989) and SWAMP THING (1980); he wrote, directed and edited THE HILLS HAVE EYES (1975). For television, Craven helped create and produce the series "Nightmare Cafe" for NBC. He directed the telefilms "Night Visions," "A Stranger in our House," "Invitation to Hell," "Chiller," and "Casebusters." He also directed seven classic episodes of the 1980's revival of "The Twilight Zone", which have now been released on DVD. He discovered both Johnny Depp and Sharon Stone. Craven was born in Cleveland, Ohio and holds a Master's degree in writing and philosophy from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD.