Alex Kurtzman

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Alex Kurtzman at Comic-Con International 2014

Alexander "Alex" Hilary Kurtzman (born September 7, 1973 in Los Angeles , California ) is an American film and television producer , screenwriter and director . Over the years he has worked many times on JJ Abrams and Michael Bay projects . With his best friend Roberto Orci he has been a successful producer and writer duo for many years.

Since 2018 he has been the main person responsible for all Star Trek series products.

life and career

Youth and Beginnings

After Kurtzman was born in 1973 in Los Angeles , California , and grew up there, he attended high school as a youngster, where he met his long-time friend and companion in the film and television business, Roberto Orci . While Orci, of Mexican Cuban origin, enrolled at the University of Texas at Austin , Kurtzman moved to Wesleyan University in Middletown , Connecticut . After or even during their studies, the two found each other again and began working on various television series from around 1995. Kurtzman was involved in four episodes of Xena - Die Kriegerprinzessin published in 1996 as a creative collaborator or as a creative companion. His essential collaboration with Orci did not begin until the 1997 episodes of Hercules . Kurtzman was involved in the scripts for a total of 14 episodes and worked most of the time on the side of Orcis, who came up with a balance of 13 episodes. In an episode of Hercules , reference was also made to the writing duo and in this episode, actors were portrayed. Here took Ted Raimi the role of Alex Kurtzman and Paul Glover that of Roberto Orci . Together with Orci, Kurtzman appeared in a Hercules episode in 1999 as co- executive producer and, together with his colleague, was also involved in four other episodes of Xena - The Warrior Princess as a creative consultant. Also from 1999 to 2000, the team acted as co-executive producer of six episodes from the Xena series. They also wrote the screenplay for the television film format Xena episode God Fearing Child in the Millennium Year . That same year they joined the production team for the 22-episode TV series Jack of All Trades . They wrote the script for three different episodes and worked as executive producers in another eight episodes.

Collaboration with JJ Abrams and Michael Bay

In the following year 2001 the duo came to the television series Alias ​​- The Agent , with which they were also very successful. From 2001 to 2003 they wrote scripts for ten different episodes together and also acted as supervising producer in nine episodes from 2001 to 2002, with Roberto Orci even having eleven episodes in this position. But the two were also significantly involved in the production of the series. Both were co-executive producers behind the production from 2002 to 2003 in 33 episodes and then from 2003 to 2004 in 13 episodes in the full position of executive producer. In 2003 Kurtzman made his debut as a director in one episode, but was no longer used in this position. After working on the television series Alias for several years , the duo announced their withdrawal from the series during the third season. Their first joint assignment after leaving Alias was in 2004 with the television film The Secret Service , for which they both wrote the screenplay and in which both also appeared as executive producers. From 2005 the first really big film productions followed for the two. In 2005 they worked on the script for Die Insel , where they worked for the first time in a key position with Michael Bay . In the same year the film Die Legende des Zorro was published, in which the two also appeared as screenwriters.

In 2006, Kurtzman, who grew up traditionally Jewish , and his colleague Roberto Orci were engaged in Mission: Impossible III , where they assisted JJ Abrams as authors, who made his debut as a film director and with whom she had been working for many years at Alias ​​- The agent had worked together. In the following year they were finally used in the next Michael Bay film, when they were brought into the Transformers team as screenwriters . Along with Bay, the successful duo also attended a three-day Hasbro - Transformers boot camp, during which they prepared for the film. In 2008 the two of them worked as producers on DJ Caruso's blockbuster Eagle Eye . In the same year, the duo also joined the team around the production of J. J. Abrams' latest work, the television series Fringe - Grenzfalls des FBI , whereby they, in addition to the all-rounder Abrams, are the two main pillars of Abrams in the production of the series and the writing of the scripts act. Kurtzman has worked as a co-creator of the series in all 65 episodes produced so far (i.e. up to season 3) in an essential activity. He was involved in the scripts for all previously published episodes, appeared as executive producer in 13 episodes from 2008 to 2009 and is still working as a consultant producer in the remaining 52 episodes. For their work in Fringe, Kurtzman, J. J. Abrams and Roberto Orci were nominated in 2009 for a Writers Guild of America Award in the "Long Form - Original" category. Kurtzman and another team of eleven were also nominated for another Writers Guild of America Award in the New Series category.

Kurtzman and Orci also worked as scriptwriters and executive producers on Abrams' second feature film , Star Trek , after his 2006 debut, Mission: Impossible III, while the FBI was still working on Fringe Borderline Cases . For their achievements in the four-time award-winning and even Oscar-winning film, the duo was nominated in 2010 for a Writers Guild of America Award in the “Best Adapted Screenplay” category and a Saturn Award in the “ Best Writing ” category. Also in 2009, the Kurtzman-Orci duo was used as screenwriter for the second Transformers film, Transformers - The Revenge , which was again directed by Michael Bay.

In 2010, the two of them were honored for their long-term achievements at the highest level with a George Pal Memorial Award , which is presented every year at the presentation of the Saturn Awards. For their screenplay for Transformers - Die Rache the two were awarded a Golden Raspberry in the category "Worst Screenplay" together with Ehren Kruger .

Kurtzman also wrote and co-produced the sequel to the 2009 film Star Trek with Orci . J. J. Abrams directed it again. The film was released in theaters in 2013 with the title Star Trek Into Darkness .

further activities

Kurtzman is working on the 2009 comedy Self Is the Bride as Executive Producer.

Since 2010 he has been involved with Orci as a development team in the series Hawaii Five-0 , a remake of the formerly very successful series Hawaii Five-Zero . Kurtzman and Orci have been listed as developers for 232 episodes so far and have appeared as executive producers for 180 different episodes so far. From 2010 to 2013, Kurtzman was involved in 57 episodes of the computer-animated series Transformers: Prime .

The duo wrote the script for the film Cowboys & Aliens , which was released in US theaters on July 29, 2011. In this case, too, you worked as executive producers.

In June 2012, Kurtzman's film debut as a film director Time to Live was released . Chris Pine and Elizabeth Banks played the leading roles . Kurtzman also served as executive producer on the film and co-wrote the script with Orci and Jody Lambert .

Kurtzman was also one of the initiators of the Dark Universe film series with Chris Morgan . He directed and produced the first film, The Mummy . The main roles were played by Tom Cruise and Sofia Boutella . He left the Dark Universe project with Morgan after his film, which was to be the first part of a planned film franchise, failed to achieve the expected success.

Mainly responsible for the new Star Trek series

For CBS Kurtzman developed the Star Trek series Star Trek: Discovery together with Bryan Fuller , which has been published on the streaming service CBS All Access since 2017 . In June 2016, Kurtzman signed a five-year deal with CBS to produce additional Star Trek series that will come under his supervision. Kurtzman acts as screenwriter, showrunner and production manager for all series.

The anthology series Star Trek: Short Treks , which consists of several 8 to 15-minute self-contained episodes, has been published since autumn 2018 . He also directed the first episode of the second season of Star Trek: Discovery .

The series Star Trek: Picard , which is the follow-up series to Spaceship Enterprise - The Next Century , has also been running since 2020 . Patrick Stewart plays the main role again in his role as Jean-Luc Picard . In the same year, the animated series Star Trek: Lower Decks will appear, which will be the first Star Trek animated series after The Enterprise from 1973. In addition, further series are being planned under Kurtzman's direction.

Private

Kurtzman has been married for years to Samantha Counter, who is also a filmmaker and the daughter of Judge Nick Counter, who died in 2009 and was president of the association from the founding of Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers in 1982 until his death. Since his marriage to Counter, Alex Kurtzman has often appeared under the double name Alex Kurtzman-Count.

Filmography (selection)

Movies

Director

Screenwriter

Film producer and executive producer

TV Shows

Director

Screenwriter

Co- / Executive Producer

Creative consultant

Nominations and Awards

Web links

Commons : Alex Kurtzman  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Screenwriter Alex Kurtzman 'Transforms' filmdom's giant robot genre ( Memento from July 28, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) (English), accessed on April 26, 2011
  2. ↑ INTERVIEW: Star Trek Writers Alex Kurtzman & Roberto Orci (English), accessed April 26, 2011
  3. ↑ Star Trek 2 Movie in 2012 , accessed April 26, 2011
  4. ^ Official homepage of Cowboys & Aliens (English), accessed on April 26, 2011
  5. ↑ Steven Spielberg Gives Star Writer Alex Kurtzman His First Directing Gig , accessed April 26, 2011
  6. ↑ Universals Dark Universe about to end? In: mediabiz.de. Blickpunkt: Film , November 8, 2017, archived from the original on November 8, 2017 ; Retrieved November 9, 2017 .
personal data
SURNAME Kurtzman, Alex
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Kurtzman, Alexander Hilary (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American film and television producer and screenwriter
DATE OF BIRTH 7th September 1973
PLACE OF BIRTH Los Angeles , California, United States