Carl Kurlander

Carl Kurlander
Born	United States
Nationality	American
Occupation	Television writer, screenwriter, television producer

Carl Kurlander is an American television writer, producer and screenwriter. He grew up in Pittsburgh and attended Shady Side Academy and Duke University. Kurlander is best known for his extensive work on American teen sitcoms and has served as producer with Peter Engel on a number of programmes including Saved by the Bell: The New Class, Hang Time, USA High and Malibu, CA and as a screenwriter who co-wrote the semi-autobiographical hit St. Elmo's Fire. He has also produced several documentaries, including My Tale of Two Cities and A Shot Felt 'Round The World.

Kurlander is co-author of The F Word: A Guide to Surviving Your Family with comedian Louie Anderson, and was featured in Po Bronson's bestselling book What Should I Do With my Life?, which landed him on The Oprah Winfrey Show in February 2003, on a program about people who had changed their lives, where Carl spoke about leaving Hollywood to move back to his hometown to teach at the University of Pittsburgh for what he thought would be a one-year Hollywood sabbatical.

This journey inspired a movie Kurlander produced and directed, My Tale of Two Cities about coming home and the city of Pittsburgh reinventing itself for a new age. The film uses the metaphor of Pittsburgh being the real-life Mister Rogers' Neighborhood and, during the making of the film, Kurlander and his crew got crowds from Times Square to Beverly Hills to sing Fred Rogers' theme song "Won't You Be My Neighbor?" The film, which was picked up by Panorama Entertainment, has played over 26 cities across North America including special screenings for the International MENSA society, the keynote for the International Downtown Association Annual Conference, and on Capitol Hill at the U.S. Capitol Visitor's Center where Congressman Mike Doyle called the film "a comeback story which can inspire cities around this country." Howard Fineman of Newsweek and The Huffington Post wrote: '"Carl Kurlander's movie is the wry, funny tale of the fulfillment he found moving back home to the city of his youth. A cross between Woody Allen and Fred Rogers, he reminds us that our cities are the real "Real America" because they are the creative, connected places in which we can best renew ourselves, our country, and our hope for all humanity."

...
Wikipedia