Lana Wachowski

Born June 21, 1965, Lana Wachowski was raised in Chicago by her parents, Ron and Lynne. After attending Bard College, she ran a carpentry business and wrote for Marvel Comics' Razorline imprint, notably on Clive Barker's Ectokid-a series about a teen who sees into another dimension, foreshadowing her later work in "The Matrix." Inspired by Roger Corman's autobiography, she entered show business and co-wrote the script "Carnivorous," which became "Assassins." When director Richard Donner altered "Assassins" to tone down its violence, Wachowski unsuccessfully tried to remove her name, sharing credit with Brian Helgeland. She then pitched "The Matrix" to producer Joel Silver, who first hired her to direct the acclaimed indie noir "Bound" starring Gina Gershon and Jennifer Tilly. Its success led to "The Matrix," which grossed over $440 million, won four Oscars. "The Matrix" revolutionized action cinema almost to the same extent that "Star Wars" (1977) revolutionized special effects two decades earlier. Wachowski had conceived "The Matrix" as a serial, and in 2003, the second and third installments of the trilogy, "The Matrix: Reloaded" and "The Matrix: Revolutions" were released. Wachowski next wrote and produced "V for Vendetta" (2006). In 2009, Wachowski reunited with "V for Vendetta" director James McTeigue to produce "Ninja Assassin," a blood-soaked martial arts film. In the meantime, she began work on an adaptation of British author David Mitchell's post-modern novel "Cloud Atlas" (2012) co-directed by German writer-director Tom Twyker. Three years later, Wachowski co-wrote and co-directed "Jupiter Ascending" (2015), a science fiction action-adventure story starring Mila Kunis. That same year, she created and produced her first venture for television, the telepathy-based thriller "Sense8" (Netflix 2015-17). The fourth installment of "The Matrix" film series, "The Matrix Resurrections" was released in 2021.