Larry Karaszewski

Scott Alexander (born June 16, 1963) and Larry Karaszewski (born November 20, 1961) are an American screenwriting duo, best known for writing postmodern biopics with larger-than-life characters.

They coined the term "anti-biopic" to describe the genre they invented: Movies about people who don't deserve one.

They are uninterested in the traditional "great man" story, focusing instead on obscure strivers in American pop culture.

Their works in this genre include Ed Wood, The People vs. Larry Flynt, Man on the Moon, Big Eyes, Dolemite Is My Name, and the series The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story.

The two met at the University of Southern California where they were freshman roommates; they graduated from the School of Cinematic Arts in 1985.

Their first success was the popular but critically derided comedy Problem Child (1990).

Alexander and Karaszewski claim that their original screenplay was a sophisticated black comedy, but that the studio replaced them and watered it down into an unrecognizable state.

With the studio in a hurry to make a sequel, they returned to write Problem Child 2.

Problem Child was Universal Pictures most profitable film of 1990.

In 1992, dissatisfied with their career, they decided to write a biopic about Edward D. Wood, Jr. Rather than mocking him, they identified with the obscure filmmaker and his struggles.

Tim Burton loved their script Ed Wood and agreed to direct it.

They had written the screenplay in six weeks.

Ed Wood won two Academy Awards and was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival.

Ed Wood's acclaim led to a succession of offbeat biopics.

They wrote The People vs. Larry Flynt and Man on the Moon (about the short life of comedian Andy Kaufman), both films directed by Milos Forman.

Karaszewski and Alexander won the Best Screenplay Golden Globe for their work on Larry Flynt.

Flynt also won the top award at the 1997 Berlin International Film Festival.

In 2000, they made their directorial debut with Screwed.

The hit Bollywood musical De Dana Dan is an unauthorized remake of Screwed.

In 2021, they were hired by director Martin Scorsese to write a screenplay about the legendary rock band The Grateful Dead.

Jonah Hill is slated to play Jerry Garcia.

Karaszewski and Alexander have been inducted into the Final Draft Screenwriter Hall of Fame.

Other inductees include Quentin Tarantino and Robert Towne..

They have also served as advisors to the Sundance Screenwriting Labs.

In 2022, Film Forum screened a week long retrospective of their biographical films. The duo received the Bill Wittliff Award for Screenwriting at the 30th annual Austin Film Festival.

Karaszewski served six years as a Governor for the Writers Branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

The duo wrote and produced Tim Burton's 2014 film Big Eyes, a biopic about painter Margaret Keane.

They were slated to direct but vacated later.

The film took them eleven years to get made.

Amy Adams won the Best Actress Golden Globe for her portrayal of Keane.

They also produced the Paul Schrader film Auto Focus, chronicling the downfall and subsequent murder of Hogan's Heroes star Bob Crane.

In 2016, the team created their first television series, American Crime Story, which is a true crime anthology drama.

The first season is based on the O. J. Simpson trial.

The show won nine Primetime Emmys after it aired on FX in 2016, with Alexander and Karaszewski nominated for Outstanding Writing for a Limited Series, Movie, or Dramatic Special.

They won the Emmy, Golden Globe, Writers Guild Award, and Producers Guild Award for this miniseries.

It was also a ratings juggernaut becoming cable television’s most watched new show.

In 2019, they wrote the biopic Dolemite Is My Name, Eddie Murphy's return to the big screen, which has a 97% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

The film was nominated for Best Picture and Best Actor at the 2020 Golden Globes.

They also adapted Stephen King's short story 1408 and worked on a number of family films, such as Agent Cody Banks, a remake of That Darn Cat, and Goosebumps.

They did uncredited rewrites on Mars Attacks! inventing the Martian language of “Ack Ack Ack” Unproduced screenplays include projects about the life of Robert Ripley of Ripley's Believe It or Not!, The Marx Brothers, and the kidnapping of Patty Hearst.