Alex Kurtzman | |
---|---|
Born | Alexander Hilary Kurtzman September 7, 1973 Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
Occupations |
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Years active | 1996–present |
Known for | Co-founder of K/O Paper Products, founder of Secret Hideout |
Spouse | Samantha Counter (m. 2002) |
Alexander Hilary Kurtzman (born September 7, 1973) is an American filmmaker. He is best known for co-writing the scripts to Transformers (2007), Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009) 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). He made his directorial debut with People Like Us (2012), co-written alongside Orci and Jody Lambert.
Kurtzman is known, alongside Orci, for frequently collaborating with Michael Bay and J.J. Abrams, as well as co-creating the TV series Star Trek: Discovery , Star Trek: Picard , and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds .
Kurtzman was born into a Jewish family [1] [2] [3] and raised in Los Angeles, California. [4] His longtime screenwriting partner Roberto Orci was his best friend in high school.
Kurtzman attended Wesleyan University. [5]
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 worked 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 , Star Trek: Picard , and Star Trek: Lower Decks . [9]
In August 2021, Kurtzman and his production company Secret Hideout extended their overall deal with CBS Studios through 2026. [10]
In 2002, Kurtzman married Samantha Counter, the daughter of lawyer Nick Counter. [11]
Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2005 | The Island | No | Yes | No | |
The Legend of Zorro | No | Yes | No | ||
2006 | Mission: Impossible III | No | Yes | No | |
2007 | Transformers | No | Yes | No | |
2009 | Watchmen | No | Uncredited | No | Script polish [12] |
Star Trek | No | Yes | Executive | ||
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen | No | Yes | No | ||
2011 | Cowboys & Aliens | No | Yes | Yes | |
2012 | People Like Us | Yes | Yes | Executive | Directorial debut |
2013 | Star Trek Into Darkness | No | Yes | Yes | |
2014 | The Amazing Spider-Man 2 | No | Yes | Executive [13] | |
2017 | The Mummy | Yes | Story | Yes | |
Producer only
Year | Title | Director | Writer | Executive Producer | Creator | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1997–1999 | Hercules: The Legendary Journeys | No | Yes | Yes | No | |
1999–2000 | Xena: Warrior Princess | No | Yes | Yes | No | |
2000 | Jack of All Trades | No | Yes | Yes | No | |
2001–2003 | Alias | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Also supervising producer |
2004 | The Secret Service | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Pilot |
2008–2013 | Fringe | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Also consulting producer |
2010–2020 | Hawaii Five-0 | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Also developer |
2011 | Exit Strategy | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Pilot |
Locke & Key | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
2013–2017 | Sleepy Hollow | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
2015–2016 | Limitless | No | Yes | Yes | No | |
2017–2024 | Star Trek: Discovery | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Episode "Brother" |
2018–2020 | Star Trek: Short Treks | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
2020–2023 | Star Trek: Picard | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
2021 | Clarice | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
2022 | The Man Who Fell to Earth | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
2022–present | Star Trek: Strange New Worlds | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Executive producer only
Jeffrey Jacob Abrams is an American filmmaker and composer. He is best known for his works in the genres of action, drama, and science fiction. Abrams wrote and produced such films as Regarding Henry (1991), Forever Young (1992), Armageddon (1998), Cloverfield (2008), Star Trek (2009), Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019). Abrams' films have grossed over $4 billion worldwide, making him the ninth-highest-grossing film director of all time.
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Roberto Gaston Orcí is a Mexican-American film and television screenwriter and producer. He began his longtime collaboration with Alex Kurtzman while at school in California. Together they have been employed on television series such as Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess. In 2008, together with J. J. Abrams, they created Fringe. In 2013, they created Sleepy Hollow alongside Phillip Iscove. Orci and Kurtzman's first film project was Michael Bay's The Island, and due to that partnership they went on to write the scripts for the first two films of the Transformers film series. Orci first became a film producer with 2008's Eagle Eye and again with 2009's The Proposal.
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Star Trek Into Darkness is a 2013 American science fiction action film directed by J. J. Abrams and written by Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman, and Damon Lindelof. It is the 12th installment in the Star Trek franchise and the sequel to the 2009 film Star Trek, as the second in a rebooted film series. It features Chris Pine reprising his role as Captain James T. Kirk, with Zachary Quinto, Simon Pegg, Karl Urban, Zoe Saldaña, John Cho, Anton Yelchin, Bruce Greenwood, and Leonard Nimoy reprising their roles from the previous film. Benedict Cumberbatch, Alice Eve, and Peter Weller are also in the film's principal cast. It was Nimoy's last film appearance before his death in 2015. Set in the 23rd century, the film follows Kirk and the crew of USS Enterprise as they are sent to the Klingon homeworld seeking a former Starfleet member-turned-terrorist, John Harrison.
K/O Paper Products was an American television and motion picture production company founded by Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci c. 2004, after signing a deal with DreamWorks Pictures to rewrite the script of the 2005 film The Island.
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We're all self-deprecating short Jews, with the exception of Bob Orci