[3] Bilson debuted as a director for another cult classic Zone Troopers (1985), also co-written by DeMeo, a tale of American World War II soldiers who find an alien spacecraft.
During an interview on The Ghost of Hollywood, Bilson discusses he and DeMeo's transition into writing for television and video games after their time working for Empire Pictures.
[5][4] After a chance meeting with then-President of Electronic Arts in 2000, Don Mattrick, Bilson—an avid tabletop and video gamer his entire life—was brought on as a production lead to focus on guiding creative and narrative IP development at EA.
[8] In that role, Bilson led over a dozen internally owned production studios, and 30+ marketing, administrative and operations staff at THQ's headquarters in Agoura Hills.
The product did not sell,[9] resulting in a massive write-off, the shuttering of the Kids & Family division, and sole reliance on the Bilson's Core Games business to drive the company's revenue.
[10] Unfortunately the $100 million shortfall created by uDraw,[11] coupled with ongoing Kids and Family licensing expenses, put the company in dire financial straits from which it never recovered.
During his time at EA, Bilson began teaching at the University of Southern California, after being encouraged to do so by his friend and World of Warcraft guildmate, Bing Gordon.
There he instructs as an adjunct professor at USC School of Cinematic Arts, where he teaches traditional screenwriting, as well as character development and storytelling for video games.
[16] Bilson's lifelong writing partner and best friend of over 40 years, Paul De Meo, died in 2018,[17] just prior to the finalization of the sale of a script they co-wrote--Da 5 Bloods—to writer/director/producer Spike Lee,[18] fresh off his 2019 Academy Award win for Best Adapted Screenplay for the critically acclaimed film BlacKkKlansman.