Alex Kurtzman

Alexander Hilary Kurtzman (born September 7, 1973) is an American film and television writer, producer, and director. He is best known for executive producing the Star Trek franchise since 2009, co-writing the scripts to Transformers (2007), Star Trek (2009), Star Trek Into Darkness (2013), and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014) with his writing and producing partner Roberto Orci, and directing and co-writing The Mummy (2017).

Alex Kurtzman
Kurtzman in May 2017
Born
Alexander Hilary Kurtzman

(1973-09-07) September 7, 1973
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
OccupationWriter, producer, director
Years active1996–present
Spouse(s)
Samantha Counter (m. 2002)

Early life

Kurtzman was born and raised to a secular Jewish family[1][2][3] in Los Angeles, California,[4] where he met his high school best friend and longtime screenwriting partner Roberto Orci. He attended Wesleyan University.[5]

Career

Kurtzman first teamed with Orci 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, both aged 24, were placed in charge of the show. They moved into films after they were asked to rewrite Michael Bay's The Island. The film earned nearly $163 million at the worldwide box office, on a budget of $126 million, which was enough of a success that they were brought in 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. They co-created the Fox TV series Fringe in 2008 along with J. J. Abrams. After the pilot, Kurtzman served as consulting producer on the show for the remainder of its run.[6] They then co-wrote the 2009 film Star Trek.

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. The partnership also wrote People Like Us, originally known as Welcome to People, which was Kurtzman's theatrical directorial debut.[6]

Kurtzman has frequently collaborated with a tight-knit group of film professionals which include J.J. Abrams, Damon Lindelof, Adam Horowitz, Roberto Orci, Edward Kitsis, Andre Nemec, Josh Appelbaum, Jeff Pinkner, and Bryan Burk.[2] 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.[7]

In 2018, Kurtzman signed a new five-year deal with CBS Television Studios to oversee and expand the Star Trek franchise on television, including serving as Executive Producer on Star Trek: Discovery (which he also co-showruns with Michelle Paradise[8]), Star Trek: Short Treks and Star Trek: Picard.[9]

Personal life

In 2002, Kurtzman married Samantha Counter, the daughter of lawyer Nick Counter.[10]

Filmography
Year Title Credited as Notes
Director Writer Producer
2005 The Island No Yes No Co-wrote with Roberto Orci and Caspian Tredwell-Owen
The Legend of Zorro No Yes No Co-wrote with Roberto Orci, Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio
2006 Mission: Impossible III No Yes No Co-wrote with J. J. Abrams and Roberto Orci
2007 Transformers No Yes No Co-wrote with Roberto Orci and John Rogers
2009 Watchmen No Uncredited No Script polish[11]
Star Trek No Yes executive Co-wrote with Roberto Orci
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen No Yes No Co-wrote with Ehren Kruger and Roberto Orci
2011 Cowboys & Aliens No Yes Yes Co-wrote with Roberto Orci, Damon Lindelof, Steve Oedekerk,
Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby
2012 People Like Us Yes Yes executive Directorial debut; co-wrote with Roberto Orci and Jody Lambert
2013 Star Trek Into Darkness No Yes Yes Co-wrote with Roberto Orci and Damon Lindelof
2014 The Amazing Spider-Man 2 No Yes executive[12] Co-wrote with Roberto Orci, Jeff Pinkner, and James Vanderbilt
2017 The Mummy Yes Yes Yes Wrote the story; co-wrote with Jon Spaihts, Jenny Lumet, David Koepp,
Christopher McQuarrie and Dylan Kussman

Producer only

Year Title Notes
2008 Eagle Eye
2009 The Proposal Executive producer
2013 Now You See Me
Ender's Game
2016 Now You See Me 2

Television credits
Year Title Director Writer Executive
Producer		 Notes
1997–1999 Hercules: The Legendary Journeys No Yes Yes
1999–2000 Xena: Warrior Princess No Yes Yes
2000 Jack of All Trades No Yes Yes
2001–2003 Alias No Yes Yes Also supervising producer
2004 The Secret Service No Yes Yes Pilot
2008–2013 Fringe No Yes Yes Also co-creator and consulting producer
2010–2020 Hawaii Five-0 No Yes Yes Also developer
2011 Exit Strategy No Yes Yes Pilot
Locke & Key No Yes Yes
2013–2017 Sleepy Hollow No Yes Yes Also creator
2017–present Star Trek: Discovery Yes Yes Yes Episode "Brother";
Also co-creator
2018–present Star Trek: Short Treks No Yes Yes Also creator
2020–present Star Trek: Picard No Yes Yes Also creator
2021 Clarice No Yes Yes Also creator

Executive producer only

References
  1. Jewish Journal: "Screenwriter Alex Kurtzman ‘Transforms’ filmdom’s giant robot genre" by Adam Wills Archived 2016-09-20 at the Wayback Machine July 5, 2007
  2. Variety Magazine: "Abrams keeps it all in the fan family - J.J. and his collaborators conquer Hollywood" By Cynthia Littleton Archived 2018-12-11 at the Wayback Machine October 16, 2009 |"We’re all self-deprecating short Jews, with the exception of Bob Orci”
  3. Jewish Journal: "Jews Get Geek on at Comic-Con" by Adam Wills Archived 2018-07-08 at the Wayback Machine July 22, 2009
  4. "Alex Kurtzman Biography". IGN. Archived from the original on 2012-01-06. Retrieved 2012-08-16.
  5. Itzkoff, Dave. "Character-Driven Films (but Keep the Kaboom)". New York Times. Archived from the original on 2017-08-16. Retrieved 2017-02-21.
  6. Pomerantz, Dorothy (May 18, 2011). "Roberto Orci And Alex Kurtzman: Hollywood's Secret Weapons". Forbes. Archived from the original on August 1, 2017. Retrieved August 24, 2017.
  7. "Alex Kurtzman & Roberto Orci Splitting Up on Bigscreen (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. April 22, 2014. Archived from the original on April 23, 2014. Retrieved 2014-04-22.
  8. "'Star Trek: Discovery' Renewed For Season 3 At CBS All Access, Michelle Paradise Joins Alex Kurtzman As Co-Showrunner". Deadline. February 27, 2019. Archived from the original on November 22, 2019. Retrieved 2020-02-07.
  9. "Alex Kurtzman To Shepherd 'Star Trek' Franchise Expansion Under New 5-Year Overall Deal With CBS TV Studios". Deadline. June 19, 2018. Archived from the original on November 21, 2019. Retrieved 2020-02-07.
  10. Hubler, Shawn (June 27, 2007). "Reel life was his real love". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on July 15, 2014. Retrieved May 2, 2013.
  11. Roberto Orci (2008-08-10). "The All New "Hey Roberto" Thread". Don Murphy. Archived from the original on 2009-02-02. Retrieved 2008-10-22.
  12. Fleming, Mike (April 24, 2012). "Alex Kurtzman & Roberto Orci Re-Writing Sequel To 'Amazing Spider-Man'". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on October 17, 2013. Retrieved 2012-04-24.
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