Andrew Kevin Walker

Walker was born in Altoona, Pennsylvania, though some time during his childhood, he moved to Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, where he was raised. He attended the Mechanicsburg Area Senior High School until his graduation in 1982. Walker soon enrolled in Penn State University to pursue a career in film production. He graduated from Penn State in 1986, with a Bachelor of Arts in film and video. Shortly after completing his education, he moved to New York City and took a job at Tower Records. During that time, he worked on several projects, but Walker was unable to find much success until 1991, when he completed the script for Seven. Walker decided to move to Los Angeles to sell his screenplay. There, he personally contacted screenwriter David Koepp, who showed the script to executives at New Line Cinema, who ended up purchasing the rights to it. The film, however, took nearly three years to begin production. Christmas Vacation director Jeremiah Chechik was originally chosen to direct the optioned film but he asked for a number of modifications, including the changes to the ending, particularly the removal of the head in a box scene. Walker continued reworking the script but the film got passed around in Hollywood. The project finally went ahead when David Fincher agreed to direct the film after he read the original draft, which was accidentally sent with the ending intact. While the project was ongoing, Walker found other work as a screenwriter, including a short stint with HBO's television series Tales From the Crypt, as well as writing two other films, Brainscan (1994) and the novel adaptation Hideaway (1995).