Alex Kurtzman

Alex Kurtzman

Alex Kurtzman speaking at San Diego Comic-Con International 2014
Born (1973-09-07) September 7, 1973
Los Angeles, California, United States
Other names Alexander Kurtzman, Alexander Hilary Kurtzman
Occupation Writer, producer, director
Spouse(s) Samantha Counter (m. 2002)

Alex Kurtzman (born September 7, 1973) is an American film and television writer, producer and director.

Life and career

Kurtzman was born and raised in Los Angeles, California,[1] where he met his high school friend and longtime collaborator Roberto Orci. He attended Wesleyan University.[2]

Kurtzman first teamed with Orci on television on the syndicated series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, for the television unit of Pacific Renaissance Pictures, then operating out of Universal International. After they produced several storylines to cope with the absence of lead actor Kevin Sorbo following a stroke that Sorbo had suffered during the fourth season, Kurtzman and Orci were placed in charge of the show.[3] They were both aged 24.[3] They moved into films after they were asked to rewrite Michael Bay's The Island. The film earned $162 million at the worldwide box office, on a budget of $126 million, which was a sufficient enough success that they were brought to write Bay's Transformers, which earned $710 million. Though The Island, Transformers and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen were not particularly well received by critics, the three films earned a combined $1.7 billion.[3] They wrote the 2009 film Star Trek alongside J. J. Abrams, with whom they had co-created the Fox science-fiction series Fringe. After the pilot, Kurtzman served as consulting producer on the show for the remainder of its run.[3]

In 2011, Forbes magazine described Orci and Kurtzman as "Hollywood's Secret Weapons" as, over the course of the previous six years, their films had grossed a combined total of over $3 billion at the box office.[3] The partnership also wrote People like Us, originally known as Welcome to People, which was Kurtzman's directorial debut.[3]

In April 2014, both Orci and Kurtzman confirmed to Variety that they would no longer work together on film projects; they added that they would still work together—but only on television projects.[4]

Personal life

In 2002, Kurtzman married Samantha Counter, the daughter of lawyer Nick Counter.[5]

Filmography

Year Film Credit Notes
2005 The Island co-writer
2005 The Legend of Zorro co-writer
2006 Mission: Impossible III co-writer
2007 Transformers co-writer
2008 Eagle Eye producer
2009 Watchmen co-writer uncredited script polish[6]
2009 Star Trek co-writer and executive producer
2009 Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen co-writer
2009 The Proposal executive producer
2011 Cowboys & Aliens co-writer, producer
2012 People Like Us director, co-writer, co-producer
2013 Star Trek Into Darkness co-writer, producer
2013 Now You See Me producer
2013 Ender's Game producer
2014 The Amazing Spider-Man 2 co-writer, executive producer[7]
2016 Now You See Me 2 Producer Filming
2017 The Mummy producer, director Filming

Television credits

Year TV Series Credit Notes
1997-1999 Hercules: The Legendary Journeys co-executive producer, writer
1999-2000 Xena: Warrior Princess co-executive producer, writer
2000 Jack of All Trades executive producer, writer
2001-2003 Alias supervising producer, co-executive producer, executive producer, writer
2004 The Secret Service co-creator, executive producer, co-writer pilot
2008–2013 Fringe co-creator, executive producer, consulting producer, writer
2010–2013 Transformers Prime executive producer
2010–present Hawaii 5-0 co-developer, executive producer, writer
2011 Exit Strategy co-creator, executive producer, co-writer pilot
Locke & Key co-developer, executive producer, co-writer pilot
2013–present Sleepy Hollow co-creator, co-writer, executive producer
2014 Matador executive producer
2014-present Scorpion executive producer
2015 Limitless executive producer
2017 Star Trek producer no official

title yet

References

  1. ↑ "Alex Kurtzman Biography". IGN.com. Retrieved 2012-08-16.
  2. ↑ Itzkoff, Dave. "Character-Driven Films (but Keep the Kaboom)". New York Times.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Pomerantz, Dorothy (May 18, 2011). "Roberto Orci And Alex Kurtzman: Hollywood's Secret Weapons". Forbes.
  4. ↑ "Alex Kurtzman & Roberto Orci Splitting Up on Bigscreen (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. April 22, 2014. Retrieved 2014-04-22.
  5. ↑ Hubler, Shawn (June 27, 2007). "Reel life was his real love". Los Angeles Times.
  6. ↑ Roberto Orci (2008-08-10). "The All New "Hey Roberto" Thread". Don Murphy. Retrieved 2008-10-22.
  7. ↑ Fleming, Mike (April 24, 2012). "Alex Kurtzman & Roberto Orci Re-Writing Sequel To ‘Amazing Spider-Man’". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 2012-04-24.

External links

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