Paul W. Cooper

Paul W. Cooper has been a working freelance television and motion picture screenwriter for more than thirty years. With over 70 television credits and one motion picture, his awards include three Emmys, the Humanitas Prize and the Writers Guild Award. He wrote the critically acclaimed film ONCE UPON A TIME WHEN WE WERE COLORED winning Best Picture honors at the Movie Guide Awards. His television credits include MURDER, SHE WROTE, HIGHWAY TO HEAVEN, LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE and THE WALTONS. He served as Story Editor on Oprah Winfrey's dramatic series BREWSTER PLACE. Paul has written 21 ABC and CBS AFTERSCHOOL SPECIALS dealing with subject matter exploring every significant social issue including incest, alcoholism, physical abuse, homosexuality and racism. A number of these projects won Emmys as Best Television Specials for their significant social and dramatic impact. Paul has written a number of films for cable television, which have appeared on Showtime, Disney, the Animal Planet and Family Channels. Additionally, he wrote and directed the interactive CD-Rom video game, CHESS WARS: A MEDIEVAL FANTASY, which won Best New Game, 1996. Paul has instructed Film and Television writing at Pepperdine University. Upon graduation from the University of Tulsa as a business major, Paul served for six years as a pilot in the U.S. Air Force. A Vietnam veteran, Paul began script writing while sitting long hours of alert as an aircraft commander in the Strategic Air Command. After many years of agent rejections, he eventually attracted the attention of Earl Hamner, creator of THE WALTONS, who encouraged him to come to Hollywood and give television writing a try. Paul and his wife, Donna, currently live in the Los Angeles area.