Daniel Bilson (born July 26, 1956) is an American writer, director, and producer of movies, television, video games, and comic books. Together with his frequent collaborator,
Paul De Meo
Paul James De Meo (June 4, 1953 – February 26, 2018) was an American screenwriter and producer for film, television and video games. He frequently worked with Danny Bilson. Together, they wrote '' Eliminators'' (1986), ''The Rocketeer'' (1991), ...
, he is best known as the writer for the film ''
The Rocketeer
The Rocketeer is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books originally published by Pacific Comics. Created by writer/artist Dave Stevens, the character first appeared in 1982 and is an homage to the Saturday matinee serial heroes ...
'' (1991) and creator, writer, producer and director for the television series ''
Viper
The Viperidae (vipers) are a family of snakes found in most parts of the world, except for Antarctica, Australia, Hawaii, Madagascar, and various other isolated islands. They are venomous and have long (relative to non-vipers), hinged fangs tha ...
'' (1994, 1996)'',
The Sentinel'' (1996) and ''
The Flash
The Flash (or simply Flash) is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Harry Lampert, the original Flash first appeared in ''Flash Comics'' #1 (cover date ...
'' (1990). He has written multiple issues of the comic book ''
The Flash
The Flash (or simply Flash) is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Harry Lampert, the original Flash first appeared in ''Flash Comics'' #1 (cover date ...
'', as well as scripts for multiple video games, including ''
James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing'' (2003). ''
Da 5 Bloods
''Da 5 Bloods'' is a 2020 American war drama film directed, produced, and co-written by Spike Lee. It stars Delroy Lindo, Jonathan Majors, Clarke Peters, Johnny Trí Nguyễn, Norm Lewis, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Mélanie Thierry, Paul Walter Hause ...
'' (2020), based on a screenplay written by Bilson & De Meo, was released following De Meo's death.
While actively working as a writer and producer, Bilson is also a tenured faculty member at the
University of Southern California (USC), where he holds the positions of Director of USC Games and the Chair of
USC's School of Cinema's Interactive Media and Games Division.
Personal life
Bilson was born into a show business family in Los Angeles, California, the son of Mona (Weichman) and the director
Bruce Bilson
Bruce Bilson (born May 19, 1928) is an American film director and television director. He is most notable for his work as a regular director on the spy spoof ''Get Smart''. He won the 1967–1968 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing f ...
(''
Bewitched
''Bewitched'' is an American fantasy sitcom television series that originally aired for eight seasons on ABC from September 17, 1964, to March 25, 1972. It is about a witch who marries an ordinary mortal man and vows to lead the life of a typic ...
'', ''
Get Smart
''Get Smart'' is an American comedy television series parodying the secret agent genre that had become widely popular in the first half of the 1960s, with the release of the ''James Bond'' films. It was created by Mel Brooks and Buck Henry, an ...
'', ''
Hogan's Heroes
''Hogan's Heroes'' is an American television sitcom set in a Nazi German prisoner-of-war (POW) camp during World War II. It ran for 168 episodes (six seasons) from September 17, 1965, to April 4, 1971, on the CBS network, the longest broadcast ...
''). As a child, he discovered his passion for both storytelling and games, both of which would greatly influence his career.
He has three daughters; his eldest,
Rachel Bilson
Rachel Sarah Bilson (born August 25, 1981) is an American actress. Born to a Californian show-business family, Bilson made her television debut in 2003, and then landed the role of Summer Roberts on the prime-time drama series ''The O.C.'' Bils ...
(born on August 25, 1981) is an actress, notable for her role in ''
The O.C.
''The O.C. '' is an American teen drama television series created by Josh Schwartz that originally aired on the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox network in the United States from August 5, 2003, to February 22, 2007, running a total of four seaso ...
'' and ''
Hart of Dixie
''Hart of Dixie'' is an American comedy-drama television series that aired on The CW from September 26, 2011, to March 27, 2015. The series, created by Leila Gerstein, stars Rachel Bilson as Dr. Zoe Hart, a New Yorker who, after her dreams of b ...
''. He, his wife Heather Medway, and two younger daughters, Hattie “Stinker” Elizabeth Bilson, born December 19, 2001, and Rosemary, born February 10, 2007, reside in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
.
Career
Bilson graduated from
California State University, San Bernardino
California State University, San Bernardino (Cal State San Bernardino or CSUSB) is a public research university in San Bernardino, California. Founded in 1965, it is one of the 23 general campuses of the California State University system. The m ...
. There he met and teamed up with his best friend and long-time writing partner,
Paul DeMeo
Paul James De Meo (June 4, 1953 – February 26, 2018) was an American screenwriter and producer for film, television and video games. He frequently worked with Danny Bilson. Together, they wrote '' Eliminators'' (1986), ''The Rocketeer'' (1991), ...
, and together they founded Pet Fly Productions.
''Trancers''
After graduating from college, Bilson worked aggressively to build a career in the movie business, working as an extra while writing screenplays. Bilson and DeMeo produced their first script, ''
Trancers
''Trancers'' (also released as ''Future Cop'') is a 1984 American science fiction action film directed by Charles Band and starring Tim Thomerson, Helen Hunt, and Art LaFleur. It is the first film in the ''Trancers'' series. Thomerson plays Jac ...
'' (1985), a
noir tale about a
time-travelling detective from the future. The movie became a cult classic, and the narrative was so engaging that it evolved into a franchise that generated
five sequels. Trancers currently holds an 83% Freshness Score on
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
.
In 2021, Bilson appeared on late night radio show,
The Ghost of Hollywood
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
, where he would discuss his work on Trancers.
''Zone Troopers'' and ''The Wrong Guys''
Bilson debuted as a director for another cult classic ''
Zone Troopers
''Zone Troopers'' is a 1985 American science fiction film directed by Danny Bilson and starring Tim Thomerson. It was filmed in Italy by Empire Pictures with Charles Band as executive producer. The original music score was composed by Richard Band ...
'' (1985), also co-written by DeMeo, a tale of American
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
soldiers who find an alien spacecraft. The movie was filmed in Italy.
Following this, the duo performed the same roles in ''
The Wrong Guys
''The Wrong Guys'' is a 1988 American comedy film directed by Danny Bilson
Plot
Thirty years ago Louie Anderson was the leader of a group of Cub Scouts, Den 7: "The Owl Patrol", consisting of himself, neurotic Richard, ladies man Belz, smooth t ...
'' (1988) a comedic spoof of boy scouting.
Larry David
Lawrence Gene David (born July 2, 1947) is an American comedian, writer, actor, and television producer. He and Jerry Seinfeld created the television sitcom ''Seinfeld'', on which David was head writer and executive producer for the first seve ...
also visited the set of The Wrong Guys during production.
''The Rocketeer''
Bilson and DeMeo began their screenplay adaptation of the comic book ''
The Rocketeer
The Rocketeer is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books originally published by Pacific Comics. Created by writer/artist Dave Stevens, the character first appeared in 1982 and is an homage to the Saturday matinee serial heroes ...
'' in 1985. While writing for
Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
, the partners weathered the ups and downs of five years of movie development. The film was released in theaters in 1991, missing key deleted scenes that were only restored years later as part of the home video release.
''The Rocketeer'' has become one of the most beloved Disney live action films of the '90s, with a recent announcement to reboot it as a film franchise as well as an animated series.
1990s Television and Showrunning
For most of the 1990s, Bilson and DeMeo worked as Executive Producers and creators on various action-adventure and sci-fi series for multiple studios and networks, including the first TV incarnation of
The Flash
The Flash (or simply Flash) is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Harry Lampert, the original Flash first appeared in ''Flash Comics'' #1 (cover date ...
, and multiple action series
''Viper'', ''
Human Target
The Human Target is the name of two fictional character (arts), characters in American comic books published by DC Comics. The first is Fred Venable, while the second is private investigator and bodyguard Christopher Chance who assumes the identit ...
,'' and ''
The Sentinel.''
During an interview on
The Ghost of Hollywood
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
, Bilson discusses he and DeMeo's transition into writing for television and video games after their time working for Empire Pictures.
''Electronic Arts & The Sims''
After a chance meeting with then-President of Electronic Arts in 2000,
Don Mattrick
Donald Allan Mattrick (born 13 February 1964) is a Canadian businessman known for being the former CEO of social gaming company Zynga, as well as a member of its board of directors. Previously, Mattrick was the president of the Interactive Enter ...
, Bilson—an avid tabletop and video gamer his entire life—was brought on as a production lead to focus on guiding creative and narrative IP development at EA. During that time, he was a consulting producer for the video game ''
The Sims
''The Sims'' is a series of life simulation video games developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts. The franchise has sold nearly 200 million copies worldwide, and it is one of the best-selling video game series of all time.
The games ...
'' (2000), as well as creative executive on the EA's
Harry Potter video game franchise, working directly with
JK Rowling
Joanne Rowling ( "rolling"; born 31 July 1965), also known by her pen name J. K. Rowling, is a British author and philanthropist. She wrote ''Harry Potter'', a seven-volume children's fantasy series published from 1997 to 2007. The ser ...
and acting as a liaison between the acclaimed author, EA, and
Harry Potter film distributor
Warner Bros
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Di ...
. He also wrote for multiple EA game franchises, including ''
Command & Conquer
''Command & Conquer'' (''C&C'') is a real-time strategy (RTS) video game franchise, first developed by Westwood Studios. The first game was one of the earliest of the RTS genre, itself based on Westwood Studios' influential strategy game ''Dune I ...
'', ''
Medal of Honor
The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor. ...
'', and
''James Bond 007''.
THQ
In 2008, THQ approached Bilson to take on the role of VP of Creative Production, formally taking on the same function there as he had done informally at EA. Executives at the company, after seeing the positive impact his input had on titles in their development pipeline, and his leadership skills when it came to interacting with developers as well marketing staff, promoted him to Executive Vice President of Global Production and Marketing.
In that role, Bilson led over a dozen internally owned production studios, and 30+ marketing, administrative and operations staff at THQ's headquarters in
Agoura Hills
Agoura Hills () is a city in the Santa Monica Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California, United States. Its population was 20,330 at the 2010 census, which decreased to
20,299 in 2020. It is in the eastern Conejo Valley between the S ...
. One of his first tasks was to develop a clear strategic framework for the inherited portfolio of studios the company owned, as many had previously been purchased without one in place, resulting in the company owning over 20 studios at its peak.
After the painful process of having to streamline staff and studios, Bilson—with his partner DeMeo acting as a narrative design executive—focused on building and cultivating "Core game" franchises, lobbying executives for sufficient production and marketing funds to launch and/or maintain new and ongoing franchises such as
Saints Row
''Saints Row'' is a series of action-adventure video games created by Volition and published by THQ and Deep Silver. The series follows the 3rd Street Saints, a fictional street gang originally operating out of the Saints Row district, hence ...
,
Red Faction
''Red Faction'' is a series of shooter video games developed by Volition and owned by Koch Media. Originating in 2001, the ''Red Faction'' games have spanned Microsoft Windows, macOS and consoles, including the PlayStation 2, GameCube, Xbox, P ...
,
Darksiders
''Darksiders'' is a hack and slash action-adventure video game franchise created by Vigil Games, now developed by Gunfire Games, which consists of some of the original members of Vigil. The series is set on a post-apocalyptic Earth, where mank ...
,
MX vs ATV,
Homefront,
De Blob
''De Blob'' (stylized as ''de BLOB'') is a puzzle-platform game. Players explore and liberate an alien city from the evil, monochromatic INKT Corporation that has taken over the city and outlawed all color and fun from daily life. Playing as Blob, ...
, and
Metro 2033 Metro 2033 may refer to:
* ''Metro 2033'' (novel), a 2002 novel by Russian author Dmitry Glukhovsky
* ''Metro 2033'' (video game), a 2010 first-person shooter video game based on the novel
See also
* ''Metro'' (franchise), originating from t ...
. He also led the launches for new installments of Core licensed IP such as
WWE Smackdown vs Raw and the successful launch of the
UFC video game franchise.
Despite the positive early results in the Core Business Unit that Bilson managed, the company's outsize investments in its separately led, declining Kids & Family Business Unit continued to drag on its overall financials. After successfully launching a
Nintendo Wii
The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America and in December 2006 for most other regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major home game console, f ...
peripheral—the
uDraw Gaming Tablet—in 2010, executives at THQ made an aggressive investment in launching a uDraw peripheral for the then-new consoles
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox series. It competed with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation ...
and
PlayStation 3
The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. The successor to the PlayStation 2, it is part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. It was first released on Novemb ...
in 2011. The product did not sell, resulting in a massive write-off, the shuttering of the Kids & Family division, and sole reliance on the Bilson's Core Games business to drive the company's revenue.
Unfortunately the $100 million shortfall created by uDraw, coupled with ongoing Kids and Family licensing expenses, put the company in dire financial straits from which it never recovered. Bilson left THQ in 2012, succeeded by
Jason Rubin
Jason Rubin (born 1970) is an American video game director, writer, and comic book creator. He is best known for the ''Crash Bandicoot'' and ''Jak and Daxter'' series of games which were produced by Naughty Dog, the game development studio he co- ...
, who was the president of THQ before its closure due to bankruptcy on January 23, 2013.
Comics, teaching and writing
Overlapping with his time at EA and THQ, Bilson and DeMeo continued writing comics, sometimes to support internal THQ IP, but also co-writing ''
The Flash: The Fastest Man Alive'' for
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery.
DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...
with actor
Adam Brody
Adam Jared Brody (born December 15, 1979) is an American actor, writer, musician, and producer. He is known for his breakthrough role as Seth Cohen on the Fox television series ''The O.C.'', which premiered in 2003. Subsequently, Brody appeared ...
, as well a mini-series for
Wildstorm Comics
Wildstorm Productions, (stylized as WildStorm), is an American comic book imprint. Originally founded as an independent company established by Jim Lee under the name "Aegis Entertainment" and expanded in subsequent years by other creators, Wildst ...
''called
Red Menace''.
During his time at EA, Bilson began teaching at the
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...
, after being encouraged to do so by his friend and ''
World of Warcraft
''World of Warcraft'' (''WoW'') is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) released in 2004 by Blizzard Entertainment. Set in the ''Warcraft'' fantasy universe, ''World of Warcraft'' takes place within the world of Azeroth ...
'' guildmate,
Bing Gordon
William "Bing" Gordon is a video game executive and technology venture capitalist. He served ten years as Chief Creative Officer of video game publisher and developer Electronic Arts (EA) prior to his current partnership with Kleiner Perkins Cauf ...
. There he instructs as an adjunct professor at
USC School of Cinematic Arts
The University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts (SCA) houses seven academic divisions: Film & Television Production; Cinema & Media Studies; John C. Hench Division of Animation + Digital Arts; John Wells Division of Writing for Sc ...
, where he teaches traditional screenwriting, as well as character development and storytelling for video games.
Bilson continues to work full-time as a screenwriter and producer, while teaching part-time at USC, where he was appointed Chair of th
USC's Interactive Media and Games Divisionin 2017.
He was appointed Director of USC Games, a joint education program co-managed by
USC's School of Cinematic Arts and
USC Viterbi School of Engineering
The USC Viterbi School of Engineering (formerly the USC School of Engineering) is the engineering school of the University of Southern California. It was renamed following a $52 million donation by Andrew J. Viterbi, co-founder of Qualcomm.
W ...
, in March 2019.
Bilson's lifelong writing partner and best friend of over 40 years,
Paul De Meo
Paul James De Meo (June 4, 1953 – February 26, 2018) was an American screenwriter and producer for film, television and video games. He frequently worked with Danny Bilson. Together, they wrote '' Eliminators'' (1986), ''The Rocketeer'' (1991), ...
, died in 2018, just prior to the finalization of the sale of a script they co-wrote--''
Da 5 Bloods
''Da 5 Bloods'' is a 2020 American war drama film directed, produced, and co-written by Spike Lee. It stars Delroy Lindo, Jonathan Majors, Clarke Peters, Johnny Trí Nguyễn, Norm Lewis, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Mélanie Thierry, Paul Walter Hause ...
''—to acclaimed writer/director/producer
Spike Lee
Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee (born March 20, 1957) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. His production company, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, has produced more than 35 films since 1983. He made his directorial debut ...
, fresh off his 2019
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
win for
Best Adapted Screenplay for the critically acclaimed film ''
BlacKkKlansman
''BlacKkKlansman'' is a 2018 American biographical black comedy crime thriller film directed by Spike Lee and written by Charlie Wachtel, David Rabinowitz, Kevin Willmott and Lee, based on the 2014 memoir ''Black Klansman'' by Ron Stallworth. ...
''. ''Da 5 Bloods'' was distributed by
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
and the film starred
Chadwick Boseman
Chadwick Aaron Boseman (; November 29, 1976August 28, 2020) was an American actor. During his two-decade career, Boseman received two Screen Actors Guild Awards, a Golden Globe Award, a Critics' Choice Movie Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award, ...
, along with
Delroy Lindo
Delroy George Lindo (born 18 November 1952) is an English-American actor. He is the recipient of such accolades as a NAACP Image Award, a Satellite Award, and nominations for a Drama Desk Award, a Helen Hayes Award, a Tony Award, two Critics' Cho ...
and
Jean Reno
Jean Reno () (born 30 July 1948), is a French actor. He has worked in American, French, English, Japanese, Spanish and Italian movie productions; Reno appeared in films such as ''Crimson Rivers'', ''Godzilla'', ''The Da Vinci Code'', '' Mission: ...
.
Filmography
Film
Television
Games
Comics
Award nominations
* ''
The Rocketeer
The Rocketeer is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books originally published by Pacific Comics. Created by writer/artist Dave Stevens, the character first appeared in 1982 and is an homage to the Saturday matinee serial heroes ...
'' nominated for Best Dramatic Presentation
Hugo Awards 1991.
* ''
The Sentinel'' nominated for Outstanding Directing – Science fiction, .
* ''
Rocketeer Adventure Magazine'' No. 1 nominated for Best Story or Single Issue
References
External links
*
Danny Bilson at Moby GamesDanny Bilsonat
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...
Danny Bilson and Paul DeMeo interview by DVD Verdict*
Facebook - Pet Fly ProductionsMySpace - Pet Fly Productions Podcasts
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bilson, Danny
1956 births
Living people
American comics writers
Film producers from California
American male screenwriters
American male writers
American television directors
Television producers from California
American television writers
American video game designers
Jewish video game developers
California State University, San Bernardino alumni
Jewish American screenwriters
Screenwriting instructors
Video game writers
Writers from Los Angeles
Screenwriters from California
American male television writers
21st-century American Jews