Roberto Orci Television and film screenwriting How did Orci begin his career as a screenwriter? Orci and Kurtzman began their writing collaboration on the television series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, How was the series Hercules received by critics and fans? I don't know. What other collaboration did the two do? 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. Are there any other interesting aspects about this article? Orci and Kurtzman received their break in writing for films in 2004,
What films did they write for in 2004?
What films did Roberto Orci and Kurtzman write for in 2004?
Orci and Kurtzman began their writing collaboration on the television series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, after being hired by Sam Raimi. After actor Kevin Sorbo suffered a stroke, the duo were required to come up with inventive ideas to minimize his appearances on screen. Due to this work, they became show runners at the age of 24. They were also involved in the sister-series to Hercules, Xena: Warrior Princess. 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. They would go on to work together again on the Fox science fiction series Fringe where all three were listed as co-creators.  Orci and Kurtzman received their break in writing for films in 2004, with the Michael Bay film The Island, for which they developed the spec script by Caspian Tredwell-Owen. When Kurtzman and Orci first met Bay, he asked the pair "Why should I trust you?", to which Orci replied "You shouldn't yet. Let's see what happens." While the film 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. The movie took in $710 million at the box office.  Following their work on that film, the duo were brought in to revise the script for Zack Snyder's Watchmen, in an uncredited capacity. They worked once more with Abrams, on Mission: Impossible III. When they collaborated once more with Bay for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, they were under significant time pressures due to the 2007-08 Writers Guild of America strike. Kurtzman and Orci had two weeks to outline the film, and after the strike Bay had them moved into the Hotel Casa del Mar. The hotel was six blocks away from his office, enabling Bay to conduct surprise inspections.  In the period between 2005 and 2011, the films written by Kurtzman and Orci grossed more than $3 billion, leading to Forbes describing them as "Hollywood's secret weapons". The busyness of their screenwriting careers required them to collaborate with other writers due to the number of projects they were involved in. For example, on Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, they teamed up with Ehren Kruger, who took over from them on the writing duties for the Transfomers franchise from Transformers: Dark of the Moon onwards. CANNOTANSWER
the Michael Bay film The Island,
Roberto Gaston Orcí (born July 20, 1973) 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.

He and Kurtzman since returned to working with Abrams on Mission: Impossible III and both Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness. Between 2005 and 2011, Kurtzman and Orci's film projects took revenues of more than $3 billion. In April 2014, Orci and Kurtzman announced that they would only collaborate in television projects, and Orci worked on the third Star Trek film, Star Trek Beyond, until being replaced the following December. Orci created the television series Matador for the El Rey Network, but after this was initially renewed, it was cancelled at the end of the first season. Both Kurtzman and Orci continue to work as producers on the television series Limitless and Scorpion. Orci was awarded the Norman Lear Writer's Award and the Raul Julia Award for Excellence, in addition to shared awards and nominations including The George Pal Memorial Award.

Early life
Orci was born in Mexico City on July 20, 1973, to a Mexican father and a Cuban mother. Orci grew up in Mexico, and moved with his family to the United States at the age of 10. He was raised in Texas, Los Angeles and Canada.

He met his longtime friend and collaborator Alex Kurtzman when both were 17-year-old students at Crossroads, a privately funded school in Santa Monica, California. The first time they came across each other was in a film class, where they discovered each other's love for films and in particular the Steven Soderbergh film Sex, Lies, and Videotape. The duo found that they had a number of things in common, as Kurtzman had previously lived in Mexico City and the two could relate. Orci later called him an "honorary Hispanic". Orci went on to attend the University of Texas at Austin. The duo got together once again, and began to write scripts. These included one called Misfortune Cookies which Orci described as "loosely autobiographical", and Last Kiss, which Kurtzman said was their version of The Breakfast Club but was set in a lunatic asylum.

Career

Television and film screenwriting

Orci and Kurtzman began their writing collaboration on the television series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, after being hired by Sam Raimi. After actor Kevin Sorbo suffered a stroke, the duo were required to come up with inventive ideas to minimize his appearances on screen. Due to this work, they became show runners at the age of 24. They were also involved in the sister-series to Hercules, Xena: Warrior Princess. 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. They would go on to work together again on the Fox science fiction series Fringe where all three were listed as co-creators.

Orci and Kurtzman received their break in writing for films in 2004, with the Michael Bay film The Island, for which they developed the spec script by Caspian Tredwell-Owen. When Kurtzman and Orci first met Bay, he asked the pair "Why should I trust you?", to which Orci replied "You shouldn't yet. Let's see what happens." While the film 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. The movie took in $710 million at the box office.

Following their work on that film, the duo were brought in to revise the script for Zack Snyder's Watchmen, in an uncredited capacity. They worked once more with Abrams, on Mission: Impossible III. When they collaborated once more with Bay for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, they were under significant time pressures due to the 2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike. Kurtzman and Orci had two weeks to outline the film, and after the strike Bay had them moved into the Hotel Casa del Mar. The hotel was six blocks away from his office, enabling Bay to conduct surprise inspections.

In the period between 2005 and 2011, the films written by Kurtzman and Orci grossed more than $3 billion, leading to Forbes describing them as "Hollywood's secret weapons". The busyness of their screenwriting careers required them to collaborate with other writers due to the number of projects they were involved in. For example, on Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, they teamed up with Ehren Kruger, who took over from them on the writing duties for the Transfomers franchise from Transformers: Dark of the Moon onwards.

Becoming a producer
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. 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." Following their work on Eagle Eye, they were executive producers on the Sandra Bullock film, The Proposal.

Despite their film careers, Orci and Kurtzman continued to create television series. These included Sleepy Hollow, which they developed alongside Phillip Iscove. They pitched the series to a number of networks, and it was picked up by Fox. Orci took five years to bring the series Matador to television, with it originating from a conversation with his cousin Andrew. It was created for Robert Rodriguez's El Rey Network, and Rodriguez's one demand of the show was that he could direct the pilot episode. Orci later explained in an interview that it was an easy decision, and he needed to pretend to consider it.

Orci and Kurtzman also worked together as executive producers on the animated television series, Transformers: Prime, due to their involvement with the live action movies. Following the end of the series they were hopeful to be involved in a future animated series based on the premise, which Orci saw less like a reboot of the show and more of a continuation in a different guise. He felt that while Prime was sophisticated, there were concerns that it was leaving younger viewers behind because of its complexity and intensity.

Star Trek reboot
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. Orci suggested rebooting the timeline as seen previously in the films and television series, and adding the return of Leonard Nimoy as Spock from Star Trek: The Original Series. 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. 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.

Star Trek was profitable at the domestic box-office, resulting in a sequel being greenlit by the studio and Kurtzman and Orci being asked to write it. The studio set aside a larger budget for the sequel, which was revealed by Orci in an interview with TrekMovie.com. 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 does not have to apply to all sequels. During the buildup to the film, called Star Trek Into Darkness, Orci was one of the production team who did not give much away about the villain in the film and denied that Benedict Cumberbatch was to play Khan Noonian Singh.

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". He later apologized and deactivated his Twitter account.

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 on television. Kurtzman wanted to work on the Spider-Man film franchise, while Orci was linked to the directorial role for Star Trek 3. Orci confirmed later that year in July that he was not involved in the production of The Amazing Spider-Man 3 alongside Kurtzman. 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.

Prior to the split of Kurtzman and Orci, the duo were lined up to write the third film in the new Star Trek series. In May 2014, Skydance and Paramount Pictures announced that Orci was to direct the third installment of the Star Trek reboot franchise, 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. Due to his commitment to Star Trek 3, he dropped out of a new Power Rangers film, for which he would have been executive producer. But on December 5, it was announced he would no longer be directing the Star Trek film. He remains credited as a producer on the film, and was replaced by Doug Jung and cast member Simon Pegg as the script writers after Orci's initial script was dropped. Orci was replaced as director by Justin Lin, who had previously directed films in The Fast and the Furious franchise.

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, 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.

In March 2020, it was reported that Roberto Orci was hired by Sony to write a script for a untitled Marvel film that would set in Sony Pictures Universe of Marvel Characters

Personal life
 Orci married actress and screenwriter Adele Heather Taylor on June 6, 2020 in a private ceremony.  They work together as screenwriters and producers.

Awards and accolades
The Hollywood Reporter listed Orci as one of the 50 most powerful Latinos in Hollywood of 2007. His first solo accolade was the Norman Lear Writer's Award at the Imagen Awards in 2009. He described the experience of receiving an award without Kurtzman as "bizarre". Orci has also been awarded the Raul Julia Award for Excellence by the National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts. Together with Kurtzman, Orci won The George Pal Memorial Award at the 2010 Saturn Awards.

Orci and Kurtzman were both honored by the nonprofit organization Chrysalis at the Butterfly Ball on June 8, 2013. The organization raises money for homeless people and low-income families, Orci said that "When you hear the life stories from people right here in our own community, who are clients at Chrysalis, and when you come to learn of their lowest moments and how Chrysalis has led to their proudest triumphs, it's easy to see why this local organization is so impactful."

In 2017, Orci was the recipient of the "Visionary Impact Award" by the National Hispanic Media Coalition. This award is given out by the organization for "Latinos making outstanding contributions to the positive portrayals of Latinos in film and TV".

Filmography

Films

Television credits

References

External links

1973 births
Living people
Mexican emigrants to the United States
American people of Cuban descent
Television producers from California
American television writers
American male television writers
Mexican people of Cuban descent
Mexican screenwriters
Writers from Mexico City
University of Texas at Austin alumni
Showrunners
Crossroads School alumni
Screenwriters from California
20th-century American screenwriters
American conspiracy theorists
20th-century American male writers
The Katy series is a set of novels by Sarah Chauncey Woolsey, writing under the pen-name of Susan Coolidge. The first in the series, What Katy Did, was published in 1872 and followed the next year by What Katy Did at School. What Katy Did Next was released in 1886. Two further novels, Clover (1888) and In the High Valley (1890), focused upon other members of the eponymous character's family. The series was popular with readers in the late 19th century.

The series was later adapted into a TV series entitled Katy in 1962, and two films, one also called Katy in 1972 and What Katy Did in 1999.

Novels
 What Katy Did
 What Katy Did at School
 What Katy Did Next
 Clover
 In the High Valley

Adaptions
 Katy (TV series, 1962)
 Katy (film, 1972)
 What Katy Did (film, 1999)

Literary Criticism
Critics are divided about how much the series played into period gender norms and often compare the series to Little Women. Foster and Simmons argue for its subversion of gender in their book What Katy Read: Feminist Re-Readings of ‘Classic’ Stories for Girls by suggesting the series “deconstructs family hierarchies”.

Influence
The series is unusual for its time by having an entry which focuses not on the family life at home but at school in What Katy Did at School.

In a 1995 survey, What Katy Did was voted as one of the top 10 books for 12-year-old girls.

See also

Sarah Chauncey Woolsey

References

External links
Series details at Fantastic Fiction

Katy series
1870s novels
Novel series
Series of children's books
Novels by Susan Coolidge
1880s novels
1890s novels
1962 American television series debuts
1972 films
1999 films A. Maruthakasi (13 February 1920 – 29 November 1989) was an Indian poet and film lyricist who wrote mainly in the Tamil language. He penned more than 4000 lyrics in more than 250 Tamil films.

Early life 
Born in Melakudikadu in Tiruchirappalli district on 13 February 1920 to parents Ayyamperumal Udayar and Milagayi Ammal, he had his primary education in the local village school. He had his higher education at Government College, Kumbakonam.

After college, he wrote lyrics for the dramas staged by Devi Nadaga Sabha and to Mandirikumari a drama written by M. Karunanidhi. He also wrote lyrics for the drama company owned by Ka. Mu. Sheriff. The songs for the dramas were composed by Thiruchi Loganathan. Later, he joined as an assistant to Rajagopala Iyer, brother of Papanasam Sivan.

Career 
In 1949, Modern Theatres was producing a Tamil film. G. Ramanathan was the composer. During the song recording rehearsals, Thiruchi Loganathan sang a song penned by Maruthakasi. Producer T. R. Sundaram appreciated the meaning of the lyrics and gave a chance to Maruthakasi in the film. Pen Enum Maayap Peyaam ... Poi Maadharai Yen Manam Naadumo is the first film lyric penned by Maruthakasi and the film Mayavathi released in 1949.

Since then he has written more than 4000 lyrics for more than 250 Tamil films. He had the ability to write lyrics to an already set tune.  As such, he has penned lyrics for many films dubbed from other language films.

When Modern Theatres decided to produce Alibabavum 40 Thirudargalum in 1956, T. R. Sundaram decided to use the same tunes set for the Hindi film of the same name. Udumalai Narayana Kavi was called to write the lyrics. But he declined saying that he will write lyrics for fresh tunes and recommended Maruthakasi. Maruthakasi wrote 9 songs for the set tunes.

One of his greatest hits, Neelavanna Kanna Vaadaa from the film (Mangaiyar Thilakam was first assigned to Kannadasan. But film-maker L. V. Prasad was not impressed by that song. He asked Maruthakasi to write the song and it became a big hit.

During the earlier decades of Tamil films, songs were written as per old Tamil literature. Maruthakasi is a foremost lyricist who started writing lyrics that could be understood by the common man.

Many of his lyrics have taken root in the hearts of audience.
Neelavanna Kanna Vaadaa (Mangaiyar Thilakam – 1955)
Sathiyame Latchiyamaayi Kollada (Neelamalai Thirudan – 1957)
Mullai Malar Mele (Uthama Puthiran – 1958)
Yer Munaikku Ner Inge Edhuvumeyille (Pillai Kani Amudhu – 1958)
Sirippu Idhan Sirappai (Raja Rani – 1956)

are some of his songs that still remain evergreen among Tamil film music lovers.

Personal life 
He married Dhanakodi Ammal in 1940. The couple have 6 sons and 3 daughters.

He encouraged young persons who were looking for a career in Tamil films.
When Vaali was looking for opportunities in the early sixties, he was given a chance to write a song for the film Nallavan Vazhvan. The recording of the song Sirikindral inru sirikindral was being postponed several times for various reasons. The producers thought the 'omen' was not good and asked Maruthakasi to write a song. Maruthakasi read Vaali's lyrics and told the producer that it is an excellent song and told the producer to record Vaali's song. The song was a hit.
When Modern Theatres in Salem produced Paasavalai in 1956, they invited Maruthakasi to write the lyrics. But Maruthakasi was busy in Chennai. He recommended Pattukkottai Kalyanasundaram for writing the lyrics.
In 1954 he recommended T. M. Soundararajan as a playback singer for the film Thookku Thookki to music director G. Ramanathan. T. M. Soundararajan went on to become a legend in Tamil film music.

After 1960s most of the producers sought Kannadasan as lyricist for their films. Maruthakasi did not get much opportunities. He tried to produce films but sustained losses so he returned to his village. M. G. Ramachandran called him back to Chennai and made him to write lyrics for all films produced by Devar films. Maruthakasi wrote lyrics for films produced by K. S. Gopalakrishnan.

Works 
His works have been made public by the State government of Tamil Nadu.

Death 
He died on 29 November 1989.

References

External links 
Maruthakasi Lyrics
Maruthakasi Songs
Maruthakasi and Kannadasan (in Tamil) by Vamanan
Centenary of lyricist Maruthakasi ignored

Tamil film poets
Indian male poets
People from Tiruchirappalli district
1920 births
1989 deaths