BRENT MADDOCK
Writer/Director/Producer
Partner – Stampede Entertainment

Brent Maddock is no stranger to dealing with different personalities and fast flying dialogue. With five brothers, it came as part of the territory.

So it’s no surprise that Maddock’s strengths as a writer include understanding people’s attitudes and how they talk. He approaches screenwriting through character, and it shows up in slick repartee and interesting, offbeat characters.

Born and raised just outside New York City, Maddock was the classic English major while attending Colgate University. Bitten by the theater bug, he also directed and acted in college stage productions and made lots of Super 8mm films. Pursuing his dream of making movies professionally, he then earned his M.A. in Cinema at USC where he met writing partner S.S. Wilson and director Ron Underwood.

After graduation, Maddock found work editing educational and industrial films before segueing into scripting and directing them. Teamed with S.S. Wilson, he worked as a writer for Chuck Jones on Roadrunner cartoons. Later, the duo wrote for Friz Freleng at DePatie-Freleng a prime-time animated television special starring Daffy Duck.

SHORT CIRCUIT, co-written with S.S. Wilson and directed by John Badham, marked Maddock’s feature film breakthrough.

Maddock and Wilson then wrote SHORT CIRCUIT II, BATTERIES NOT INCLUDED and GHOST DAD. They also served as writing consultants on Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment production, THE LAND BEFORE TIME.

Maddock’s gift for sharply etched characters and good old boy comedy helped make the team’s next feature, TREMORS, a cult favorite widely acclaimed for its balance of horror and humor. It paved the way for TREMORS 2: AFTERSHOCKS, also co-written by the team.

During the same time period, Wilson and Maddock wrote the greenlight draft of WILD WILD WEST. They also joined forces with manager Nancy Roberts to form Stampede Entertainment.

Next came TREMORS 3: BACK TO PERFECTION, which marked Maddock’s directorial debut and was the springboard for launching TREMORS: THE SERIES for the Sci-Fi network on which Maddock, Wilson and Roberts were co-creators and co-executive producers. Writing the story for TREMORS 4: THE LEGEND BEGINS took place almost simultaneously.

In addition to developing new projects at Stampede, Wilson and Maddock have recently scripted the family comedy-adventure THE C-TEAM for Disney plus a remake of SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT at Universal. A book adaptation, THE ADVENTURES OF SLIM AND HOWDY, for Sony BMG is slated for early 2008.

2008 also marks an unusual turn in their careers. They have struck a deal to write the remake of their own first movie, SHORT CIRCUIT, to be done at Dimension Films.

Realizing he’s got his own uniquely humorous perspective, Brent confesses, “I tend to push things towards comedy. It’s my point of view, sort of cynical, sarcastic and maybe a little frustrated. But it helps me get through life.”

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