K/O Paper Products

Industry Entertainment
Founded Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci
Headquarters Beverly Hills, California
Area served
 Worldwide
Key people
  • Bobby Cohen (President, Film Division)
  • Heather Kadin (President, TV Division)
  • Jay Williams (President, Global Marketing and Brand Division)
  • Aaron Baiers (Vice President, TV Division)
Products
  • Television series
  • Motion pictures
  • Internet information

K/O Paper Products is an American television and motion picture production company founded by Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci[1] c. 2009, in which year Bobby Cohen became chief executive officer of its films division.[2]

History

Orci's longtime writing partner Alex Kurtzman

Orci and Kurtzman began their writing collaboration on the television series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys,[3] after being hired by Sam Raimi.[4] They were also involved in the sister-series to Hercules, Xena: Warrior Princess.[4] They sought to move to writing for a network-based television series, but found this difficult. After receiving a series of negative responses, they met with J. J. Abrams who was starting work on Alias at the time. The meeting went well, and resulted in them working on the series.[5] They would go on to work together again on the Fox science fiction series Fringe where all three were listed as co-creators.[6]

Orci in 2009

Orci and Kurtzman received their break in writing for films in 2004, with the Michael Bay film The Island,[3] for which they developed the spec script by Caspian Tredwell-Owen.[7] When Kurtzman and Orci first met Bay, he asked the pair "Why should I trust you?",[8] to which Orci replied "You shouldn't yet. Let's see what happens."[8] While this was not an overwhelming success, they were brought back for Bay's following film – Transformers after producer Steven Spielberg asked them to come in for a meeting.[3][9] The movie took $710 million at the box office.[3] Orci's first credit solely as a producer came with the film Eagle Eye, where he worked once again alongside Kurtzman. He said in an interview with the magazine Extra that he had previously been involved in productions where the producers had writing backgrounds and had looked to them for help, and he was happy to provide that same support to the writers on Eagle Eye.[10] The director of the film, D. J. Caruso, praised the duo saying that "What's unusually cool about them is that they have maintained the producer-writer power that they earned in television and carried that over into the feature film area, and that is extremely rare."[11] Following their work on Eagle Eye, they were executive producers on the Sandra Bullock film, The Proposal.[11]

Orci and Kurtzman were asked to write the script for a new Star Trek film, but initially turned it down despite Orci being a fan of the series.[4] Orci suggested rebooting the timeline as seen previously in the films and television series,[12] and adding the return of Leonard Nimoy as Spock from Star Trek: The Original Series.[4] He considered the first two films in the reboot series to be the origin story for the crew, and that the third film would start where the crew was at the beginning of Star Trek: The Original Series.[13] Orci felt that the relationship between the James T. Kirk and the younger Spock was reflective of the partnership of himself and Kurtzman, he said that "We didn't even realize we were writing about ourselves until we were halfway through the script, that was a little embarrassing.[11]

As of June 2009, Star Trek was the biggest grossing film at the domestic box-office in the United States, resulting in a sequel being greenlit by the studio and Kurtzman and Orci being asked to write it.[14] The studio set aside a larger budget for the sequel, which was revealed by Orci in an interview with TrekMovie.com.[15] Orci ruled out the "hero quitting" staple of a second movie, which had featured in the Transformers sequel, saying that the crew of the Enterprise were committed and that type of story doesn't have to apply to all sequels.[16] During the buildup to the film, called Star Trek Into Darkness, Orci was one of the production team who didn't give much away about the villain in the film and denied that Benedict Cumberbatch was to play Khan Noonian Singh.[17][18]


The criticism of the sequel resulted in Orci posting controversial comments on a Star Trek fan site. In response to a fan upset over Into Darkness, Orci called him a "shitty fan".[19] He later apologized and deactivated his Twitter account.[20]

Breakup of the partnership

In April 2014, Orci and Kurtzman confirmed to Variety that they are no longer going to work together on film projects but will still collaborate together on television.[6][21] Kurtzman wanted to work on the Spider-Man film franchise, while Orci was linked to the directorial role for Star Trek 3.[6] Orci confirmed later that year in July that he was not involved in the production of The Amazing Spider-Man 3 alongside Kurtzman.[22] Orci and Kurtzman's K/O Paper Products continues to operate as a production company within CBS Television Studios, and has created the series Scorpion inspired by the life of Walter O'Brien for the 2014-15 season and Limitless was created for the 2015-16 season from the 2011 film.[23][24]

Prior to the split of Kurtzman and Orci, the duo were lined up to write the third film in the new Star Trek series.[25] In May 2014, Skydance and Paramount Pictures announced that Orci was to direct the third installment of the Star Trek reboot franchise,[26] after Abrams moved on to direct Star Wars: The Force Awakens. This would have marked Orci's directorial debut, and he was to write the script alongside co-writers JD Payne and Patrick McKay.[27] Due to his commitment to Star Trek 3, he dropped out of a new Power Rangers film in which he would have been executive producer.[28] But on December 5, it was announced he would no longer be directing the Star Trek film.[29] He remains credited as a producer on the film,[30] and was replaced by Doug Jung and cast member Simon Pegg as the script writers after Orci's initial script was dropped.[31][32] Orci was replaced as director by Justin Lin, who had previously directed films in The Fast and the Furious franchise.[31]

Orci created Matador with the idea that the main character would be a "soccer player by day who is a spy by night", and called him a "Latin James Bond". The series was broadcast on the El Rey Network created by Robert Rodriguez. It was renewed for a second season shortly before the pilot was broadcast,[33] which had been directed by Rodriguez. But following the production of the first season, the series was cancelled despite the earlier renewal. This decision was blamed on poor international sales.[34]

Television only

On June 27, 2014, it was announced that Aaron Baiers, at the time was Director of TV development, will become the vice president of the TV division under Heather Kadin.[35]

Filmography

Key
Tiles that have not yet been released Denotes titles that have not yet been released
Release TV Film
2010– Hawaii Five-0
2010–2013 Transformers: Prime
2011 Cowboys & Aliens
2012 People Like Us
2013 Star Trek Into Darkness
2013 Now You See Me
2013 Ender's Game
2013 Sleepy Hollow
2014 The Amazing Spider-Man 2
2014 Matador[36]
2014 Scorpion
2015 Limitless
2016 Now You See Me 2
2017 Star Trek: Discovery
2017dagger The Mummy

References

  1. ↑ Weinstein, Joshua L. (October 25, 2011). "Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman Moving to David Ellison's Skydance". The Wrap. The Wrap News Inc. Retrieved February 20, 2016.
  2. ↑ Fernandez, Jay A.; Kit, Borys (April 13, 2009), "Bobby Cohen to head Kurtzman/Orci", Hollywood Reporter, Prometheus Global Media, retrieved February 20, 2016
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman: Hollywood's Secret Weapons". Forbes. Forbes, Inc. May 18, 2011. Retrieved April 20, 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "The Wonderful World of Orci & Kurtzman". Empire. HighBeam Research. August 1, 2009. Retrieved April 20, 2016. (subscription required (help)).
  5. ↑ Littleton, Cynthia (October 16, 2009). "Abrams keeps it all in the fan family". Variety. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved April 20, 2016.
  6. 1 2 3 Kit, Borys (April 22, 2014). "Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci Splitting Up as Movie Team". The Hollywood Reporter. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved April 20, 2016.
  7. ↑ "McGregor hopping to 'Island'". HighBeam Research. Cengage Learning. August 10, 2004. Retrieved April 20, 2016. (subscription required (help)).
  8. 1 2 Fernandez, Jay A. (April 14, 2011). "The Scribes of Summer". The Hollywood Reporter. Prometheus Global Media. Archived from the original on June 13, 2012. Retrieved April 20, 2016.
  9. ↑ Gilchrist, Todd (July 2, 2007). "Exclusive Interview: Roberto Orci". IGN. Ziff Davis LLC. Retrieved April 20, 2016.
  10. ↑ Martinez, Kiko (September 24, 2008). "Roberto Orci". HighBeam Research. Cengage Learning. Retrieved April 20, 2016.
  11. 1 2 3 Boucher, Geoff (April 5, 2009). "'Star Trek' pair cling to writing partnership". Chicago Tribune. Tribune Publishing. Retrieved April 20, 2016.
  12. ↑ Ashley, Kendall. "Roberto Orci Continues To Attack Star Trek Fans Online Over His Reboot Choices". Cinema Blend. Retrieved April 20, 2016.
  13. ↑ Williams, Owen (June 27, 2014). "Roberto Orci Hints At Star Trek's Future". Empire. Bauer Media Group. Retrieved April 20, 2016.
  14. ↑ Weintraub, Steve (June 19, 2009). "Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman Talk Star Trek Sequel Villain Ideas and Cowboys and Aliens". Collider. Retrieved April 20, 2016.
  15. ↑ Fowler, Tara (January 22, 2012). "Roberto Orci: 'Star Trek 2's budget will be bigger'". Digital Spy. Retrieved April 20, 2016.
  16. ↑ Anders, Charlie Jane (July 29, 2009). "Roberto Orci: Star Trek 2 Won't Follow Transformers 2 Formula". io9. Retrieved April 20, 2016.
  17. ↑ "Star Trek 2 – Roberto Orci Talks Star Trek Sequel". IGN. April 4, 2011. Retrieved March 21, 2015.
  18. ↑ Woods, Travis (July 16, 2012). "'Star Trek 2' Writer Denies Villain Reveal, Announces Trailer Release". Screen Crave. Retrieved April 20, 2016.
  19. ↑ Bailey, Jason (September 9, 2013). "'Star Trek' Writer's Comments-Section Meltdown Proves Creators Need to Leave Angry Fans Alone". Flavorwire. Flavorpill Media. Retrieved April 20, 2016.
  20. ↑ Kaye, Don (December 9, 2014). "Roberto Orci surfaces online to speak out on Star Trek 3". Blastr. Retrieved April 20, 2016.
  21. ↑ "Alex Kurtzman & Roberto Orci Splitting Up on Bigscreen (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Penske Media Corporation. April 22, 2014. Retrieved April 20, 2016.
  22. ↑ Alexander, Susannah (July 13, 2014). "The Amazing Spider-Man 3: Roberto Orci confirms departure". Digital Spy. Retrieved April 20, 2016.
  23. ↑ Goldberg, Lesley (February 4, 2014). "CBS Orders Genius Drama From EPs Scooter Braun, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci". The Hollywood Reporter. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved April 20, 2016.
  24. ↑ Goldberg, Leslie (January 28, 2015). "'Limitless' Remake Among CBS Pilot Orders". The Hollywood Reporter. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved April 20, 2016.
  25. ↑ Kroll, Justin (August 5, 2013). "Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci Return to Write 'Star Trek 3′". Variety. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved April 20, 2016.
  26. ↑ Kroll, Justin (May 13, 2014). "Roberto Orci to Direct 'Star Trek 3' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved April 20, 2016
  27. ↑ Geoghegan, Kev (August 11, 2014). "Simon Pegg hails new Star Trek director Roberto Orci". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved April 20, 2016.
  28. ↑ Fleming Jr., Mike (September 19, 2014). "Roberto Orci's 'Star Trek 3' Commitment Knocks Him Out Of 'Power Rangers' Pic". Deadline.com. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved April 20, 2016.
  29. ↑ Kroll, Justin (December 5, 2014). "Roberto Orci Will No Longer Direct 'Star Trek 3'". Variety. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved April 20, 2016.
  30. ↑ Kreps, Daniel (December 6, 2014). "Director Roberto Orci Drops Out of 'Star Trek 3'". Rolling Stone. Wenner Media LLC. Retrieved April 20, 2016.
  31. 1 2 "Simon Pegg to co-write Star Trek 3". BBC News. BBC. January 22, 2015. Retrieved April 20, 2016.
  32. ↑ Wales, George (December 28, 2014). "Roberto Orci reveals Star Trek 3 will not use his script". GamesRadar. Future plc. Retrieved April 20, 2016.
  33. ↑ Castellanos, Melissa (July 10, 2014). "Roberto Orci Reinvents the American Hero, Busts Stereotypes with 'Latin James Bond' in 'Matador' on Robert Rodriguez's El Rey Network". Latin Post. Retrieved April 20, 2016.
  34. ↑ Khatchatourian, Maane (November 29, 2014). "El Rey's 'Matador' Cancelled". Variety. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved April 20, 2016.
  35. ↑ Littleton, Cynthia (June 27, 2014). "K/O Paper Products Promotes TV Exec as Production Slate Grows (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved April 20, 2016.
  36. ↑ Bibel, Sara (January 12, 2014). "Scripted Series 'Matador' to Premiere in Summer 2014 on El Rey Network". TV by the Numbers. Tribune Digital Ventures. Retrieved March 24, 2014.

External links


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