William Electric Black (a.k.a. Ian James) has written, directed and produced plays off-Broadway. His productions have been seen at The Open Eye Theater, Nat Horne Musical Theater, Theater for the New City, La MaMa and the Boston Center for the Performing Arts. In children's television, Black won three Emmy Awards as a writer for Sesame Street. He has written for Lancit Media's Backyard Safari and Puzzle Place. He has also written for Jumbo Pictures' Allegre's Window and for Scholastic's Magic School Bus. He wrote scripts for St. Bear's Dolls Hospital, Winchester TV & Film, in London. In film, Black has served as a creative consultant for Regge Life at Lifecycle Productions and Arnold Bruck at Cinema Ventures. His screenplay Slave Ball was optioned by Joel Silver, Warner Brothers. He wrote, produced and directed his first feature film entitled Copy Shop, a hip, quirky fairy tale about a day in the life of an Upper Westside Xerox shop in New York City. Black lives in New York City with his wife, Lucille, and his daughters Erikka, Carllee and Skyye.
