Lee David Zlotoff

Lee David Zlotoff
Born (1954-07-10) July 10, 1954 (age 70)
New York City, New York, United States
Occupation(s)Producer, director, screenwriter

Lee David Zlotoff (born July 10, 1954) is a producer, director and screenwriter best known as the creator of the TV series MacGyver. He started as a screenwriter for Hill Street Blues in 1981. He then became a producer of Remington Steele in 1982.

Career

Zlotoff graduated from Brooklyn Technical High School in 1970.[1][2] He then attended St. John's College in Annapolis, Maryland.[3]

He contributes to Make magazine.[4]

Zlotoff created MacGyver, which ran on ABC between 1985 and 1992 and was sold throughout the world. He then produced the television series The Man from Snowy River (Australian title: Banjo Paterson's The Man from Snowy River — American title: Snowy River: The McGregor Saga). The series was based on the Banjo Paterson poem "The Man from Snowy River".

He wrote and directed the 1996 film The Spitfire Grill, which won the Audience Award[5] at the Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize.[citation needed]

At the 2008 Maker Faire, Zlotoff announced his interest in a MacGyver movie.[6] Zlotoff said he had full control of the movie after obtaining the rights several years ago. He also has written two of the episodes for the TV series NCIS in season 3 and season 7 of the series.[citation needed]

In 2010, a feature film version of the Saturday Night Live parody of MacGyver, MacGruber, prompted Zlotoff to send cease-and-desist letters and threaten further legal action.[7]

Zlotoff served as executive producer of the 2016 reboot of MacGyver.[8]

References

  1. ^ Purdy, Kevin. "The Man Behind MacGyver: Swiss Army Knife or Duct Tape?", Lifehacker.com, February 26, 2010
  2. ^ "Lee Zlotoff '70 – MacGyvering It | Brooklyn Tech Alumni Foundation". November 15, 2023.
  3. ^ Rosemary Harty, "MacGyver Meets the Johnnies", The St. John's College Magazine, Winter 2005. Link dead. Archive.org link
  4. ^ "Make page on Lee David Zlotoff". Archived from the original on October 17, 2006.
  5. ^ McGavin, Patrick (January 29, 1996). "Sundance Festival Cites 'Dollhouse'". The Chicago Tribune. Retrieved June 11, 2015.
  6. ^ Covert, Adrian (March 5, 2008). "Holy Crap: MacGyver Blockbuster Film Coming!". Gizmodo. Retrieved August 2, 2020.
  7. ^ Belloni, Matt (December 21, 2010). "'MacGyver' creator wants to stop 'MacGruber' film". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on June 29, 2011.
  8. ^ Prudom, Laura (July 15, 2016). "'MacGyver' Casts Sandrine Holt as Series Regular". Retrieved August 2, 2020.