Carl Kurlander is an American screenwriter, television producer, documentary filmmaker, and educator. He is best known as the screenwriter of the 1985 film St. Elmo's Fire and as a writer/producer on the Saved by the Bell franchise.
Career
Kurlander began his career when a short story he wrote in college, "St. Elmo's Fire," won a Duke University/MCA-Universal Scholar Award. While interning at Universal Studios, he adapted the story into a screenplay that became the 1985 film St. Elmo's Fire, directed by Joel Schumacher. He subsequently wrote screenplays under contract for Paramount, Universal, Columbia/Sony Pictures, Disney, Orion, and Twentieth Century Fox.
In television, Kurlander served as a writer/producer on over 125 episodes of NBC's Saved by the Bell franchise, including Saved by the Bell: The New Class, Hang Time, and USA High. He was co-creator and showrunner of Malibu, CA, a co-production between NBC and Tribune.
Documentary Work
Kurlander has produced multiple award-winning documentaries. The Shot Felt Round the World (aired on the Smithsonian Channel as A Shot to Save the World and on the BBC as The Polio Story: The Vaccine That Changed the World) won the CINE Golden Eagle Award for best scientific program. Burden of Genius, about transplant pioneer Dr. Thomas Starzl, won several Best Documentary prizes. He also produced My Tale of Two Cities, a documentary about Pittsburgh's reinvention that screened in 26 cities across North America. He served as co-executive producer of the Starz docu-series The Chair, which won the 2015 TV Critics' Choice Award for Best Reality Program.
Academic Career
Kurlander is a Teaching Professor at the University of Pittsburgh in the Department of Film and Media Studies. He is the founding director of the Pitt in LA program and the founding producer of the Pittsburgh Lens at the Center for Creativity. He teaches courses in screenwriting, documentary filmmaking, and film analysis.
Personal Life
Kurlander was born in Chicago and grew up in Cleveland and Pittsburgh. He attended Shady Side Academy and Duke University. He is the co-author with comedian Louie Anderson of The F Word: How to Survive Your Family.
