William F. Zorzi

Infobox Writer


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name = William F. Zorzi
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birthplace = United States
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occupation = Journalist, Television Writer
nationality = American
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notableworks = "The Wire"
subject = Politics
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William F. Zorzi is a journalist and screenwriter. He worked at "The Baltimore Sun" for almost twenty years and covered politics for the majority of his career. He has also written for the HBO TV series "The Wire".

Career

Journalism

He worked at "The Baltimore Sun" for almost twenty years and covered politics for the majority of his career.Cite web|url=http://www.hbo.com/thewire/cast/crew/william_f_zorzi.shtml|title=William F. Zorzi biography|accessdate=2007-10-17|publisher=HBO|year=2007] He has also covered the courts and the crime beat. As a reporter Zorzi has been described as tough and cranky and characteristically refused to accept free gifts (including food) from the politicians he was covering.Cite web|url=http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/10/22/071022fa_fact_talbot?printable=true|title=Stealing life|accessdate=2007-10-17|publisher=The New Yorker|year=2007|author=Margaret Talbot] He wrote a weekly column called "The Political Game" for five years in the mid nineties. He left reporting in 1998 and became "The Sun's" Weekend Metropolitan Editor. He later became Assistant City Editor.

Television

Zorzi left "The Sun" in 2002 to write a script for HBO. The project was to be "about the volatile events surrounding a federal public housing desegregation case in Yonkers, NY." It is still in production.

Zorzi joined the writing staff of "The Wire" in 2004 for the shows third season when he was credited as a staff writer.Cite web|url=http://www.hbo.com/thewire/cast/crew/season_3.shtml|title="The Wire" season 3 crew|accessdate=2007-10-14|publisher=HBO|year=2007] He had previously worked with show runner David Simon at "The Sun". He also had a brief cameo appearance in the 2002 episode "The Buys." Zorzi was brought in to ensure authenticity in the new political story line introduced in the season. Fellow writer George Pelecanos has commented that he knew that anything he wrote for the political story line would be extensively re-written by Simon and Zorzi. Zorzi remained on the staff for the fourth season and he was credited as story editor.Cite web|url=http://www.hbo.com/thewire/cast/crew/season_4.shtml|title="The Wire" season 4 crew|accessdate=2007-10-14|publisher=HBO|year=2007] For episode 4.07 "Unto Others" he co-wrote the story (with Ed Burns) and wrote the teleplay.cite web
year = 2006
title = Episode guide - episode 44 Unto Others
publisher = HBO
accessdate = 2006-11-01
url = http://www.hbo.com/thewire/episode/season4/episode07.shtml] cite episode
title = Unto Others
episodelink = Unto Others (The Wire episode)
series = The Wire
serieslink = The Wire (TV series)
credits = Ed Burns, William F. Zorzi
writers =
network = HBO
station =
city =
airdate = 2004-10-29
season = 4
number = 07]

Zorzi returned to work on "The Wire's" fifth season as part of the writing staff. He also joined the cast as a fictionalized version of himself.Cite web|url=http://www.hbo.com/thewire/cast/characters/paper/bill_zorzi.shtml|title=Character profile - Bill Zorzi|accessdate=2008-01-07|publisher=HBO|year=2008]

Teaching

Following production of the fourth season Zorzi spent a year teaching Journalism at the Baltimore Freedom Academy, a public high school in the city. He also helped the school to launch a newspaper.

External links

*imdb name|1743485|William F. Zorzi

References