Roberto Orci

Longtime collaborators and creative visionaries Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci began their work together as innovative storytellers in a Los Angeles-area high school. Separately, penning original adventure tales and making ambitious home movies, they soon joined forces and dreamed of one day bringing their movies to a mass audience.

Kurtzman and Orci recently released the highly-anticipated Star Trek, on May 8, 2009. The pair wrote their own fresh take on the classic show, and also executive-produced the JJ Abrams-directed film. The film has grossed over $350m worldwide, and a sequel is in the works. Additionally, the novelization of the film is a New York Times best seller.

In 2007, the pair released Transformers, a live-action adaptation of the popular animated series, starring Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox. The pair recently wrote the sequel along with scribe Ehren Kruger. The sequel opened on June 24, 2009, and the franchise has grossed over $1.5 billion.

Kurtzman and Orci also created the new FOX drama Fringe with Abrams, which recently began its second season. The breakout hit stars Anna Torv, Josh Jackson and John Noble.

In addition to their writing projects, Kurtzman and Orci are producing a continually growing slate of movies through their Kurtzman/Orci shingle at Dreamworks. Their first picture, DJ Caruso’s Eagle Eye, opened on September 26, 2008, starring Shia LeBeouf and Michelle Monaghan. The film has grossed over $170m worldwide.

Their most recent producing project, The Proposal, stars Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds. The smash hit was directed by Anne Fletcher and opened on June 19 from Touchstone. Additionally, they are producing Cowboys and Aliens (which they will also write, along with Damon Lindelof); Nightlife; Deep Sea Cowboys; and Atlantis Rising. They are also writing and producing 28th Amendment for Warner Bros.

Inspired by Spielbergian action-adventure films that emphasize story, Kurtzman and Orci reunited after college to write for the popular television series Hercules and Xena: Warrior Princess, where they quickly became head writers at the age of 23.

In 2003, Kurtzman and Orci were approached to write for J.J. Abrams’ wildly popular television spy thriller Alias, and eventually ascended to be executive producers of the show. In 2006, the duo re-teamed with Abrams to write the third installment of Mission: Impossible, starring Tom Cruise as super-agent Ethan Hunt, which was embraced by critics for adding depth and humanity to the series and grossed over $397m worldwide.

Prior to Mission: Impossible III, Kurtzman and Orci made a splash with the sci-fi thriller The Island, their feature film debut helmed by Michael Bay. Late 2005 saw the release of The Legend of Zorro, starring Catherine Zeta-Jones and Antonio Banderas.

Kurtzman and Orci are using their position in the entertainment industry to nurture other young writers and help them find their individual voices through a unique deal with Dreamworks and Paramount, in which the team is producing their own material as well as developing the projects of other writers.

Kurtzman and Orci both live with their families in Los Angeles.