Chris Carter (screenwriter) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Chris Carter
Carter at the July 2008 London premiere of The X-Files: I Want to Believe
Born	Christopher Carl Carter (1956-10-13) October 13, 1956 (age 68) Bellflower, California, U.S.
Alma mater	California State University, Long Beach
Occupation	Writer, director, producer
Employer	Ten Thirteen Productions
Known for	Creator of The X-Files
Spouse(s)	Dori Pierson ​ (m. 1987)​
Parents	William Carter (father) Catherine Carter (née Mulder) (mother)

Christopher Carl Carter (born October 13, 1956) is an American writer, director, and producer for television and movies. He is best known for creating the popular science fiction show The X-Files.

Chris Carter grew up in Bellflower, California. He studied journalism at California State University, Long Beach. Before working in TV, he spent 13 years at Surfing Magazine. He started his TV career writing films for Disney. Later, he became famous for The X-Files, which was a big hit. This success allowed him to create more TV shows.

Carter has his own company called Ten Thirteen Productions. Through this company, he created other shows like Millennium, Harsh Realm, and The Lone Gunmen. He also wrote two movies based on The X-Files. His work has earned him many awards, including eight nominations for the Primetime Emmy Awards.

Early Life and Hobbies

Chris Carter was born on October 13, 1956, in Bellflower, California. His dad worked in construction. Chris had a "normal" childhood. He loved playing Little League Baseball and surfing. He even surfs "goofy footed," which means his right foot is forward on the board.

He went to California State University, Long Beach and got a degree in journalism in 1979. Because he loved surfing, he started writing for Surfing Magazine. He became the editor when he was 28. He worked there for 13 years. He says this job taught him how to run a business. During this time, he also enjoyed making pottery as a hobby.

Personal Life

In 1983, Chris Carter started dating Dori Pierson. He met her through a cousin who worked with him at Surfing Magazine. Chris and Dori got married in 1987. They live in Santa Barbara, California.

Career in Television

Starting Out

Dori Pierson had connections at Disney. This helped Chris Carter get a job writing TV movies for the studio. He wrote The B.R.A.T. Patrol in 1986 and Meet the Munceys in 1988. These scripts made him known for youth comedies. But Chris wanted to write more serious dramas.

He later met Brandon Tartikoff, who was the president of NBC. Tartikoff liked Carter's writing and brought him to NBC. There, Carter worked on several TV show ideas that were never made. He also worked as a producer on the show Rags to Riches. This job helped him learn more about producing a TV series.

In 1992, Chris Carter joined Fox. He was one of the first new writers hired to create shows for the network. He started working on a show inspired by his favorite childhood series, like The Twilight Zone and Kolchak: The Night Stalker.

The X-Files and Big Success

Carter speaking at an event in July 2013

Carter's new show, The X-Files, was inspired by Kolchak. It also reflected his childhood during the Watergate scandal. He learned that many people believed in ufology (the study of UFOs). Even though he wasn't a big science fiction fan, he wanted to explore these ideas. He based his main characters on a British TV show called The Avengers.

He presented his idea for The X-Files to Fox, but they first said no. With some help, he got a second meeting. Fox then agreed to make a pilot episode. After finding the main actors, Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny, the pilot was made with a budget of $2 million.

The X-Files first aired on Friday nights on Fox. It quickly became popular and received good Nielsen ratings. Its popularity grew a lot during its second and third seasons. The show won its first Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Drama. It also set a record for how much a network paid for reruns.

After his first contract with Fox ended, the show's success allowed Carter to get a new five-year deal. This deal included a promise for a movie based on The X-Files. It also allowed him to create his next TV show.

The X-Files returned for special seasons in 2016 and 2018. Chris Carter was the executive producer and writer for these new episodes. Both Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny returned to their roles. Other original writers also came back, along with new ones. The 2018 season received mixed reviews, and its ratings dropped. Gillian Anderson has said she will not play her character, Scully, again.

In August 2020, Fox announced that an animated comedy spin-off of The X-Files was being developed. In October 2020, Chris Carter mentioned that he always thought there would be more X-Files. He said it was unlikely to continue with Duchovny and Anderson. However, he has plans for the animated spin-off. The rights to The X-Files are now owned by Disney.

Millennium

Chris Carter started working on a new show called Millennium. The idea came from an episode of The X-Files he wrote. That episode was about a serious criminal. Carter developed the main character, Frank Black. He also traveled to Seattle for ideas for the show's setting. The show was also influenced by Nostradamus and the growing interest in the end of the world as the year 2000 approached.

Lance Henriksen was chosen to play Frank Black. Millennium began airing on Fridays, taking over the time slot from The X-Files. The first episode was heavily promoted and had a large audience.

The series also received good reviews. It won a People's Choice Award for "Favorite New TV Dramatic Series" in its first year. For the second season, Carter gave control of the show to Glen Morgan and James Wong. They had worked with him on Millenniums first season and The X-Files. Despite its strong start, Millenniums ratings stayed low, and it was canceled after three seasons.

Movies

While The X-Files was in its fourth season, work began on the first movie based on the show. Also called The X-Files, Chris Carter started writing the story during a holiday in Hawaii in 1996. Another producer, Frank Spotnitz, helped with the story. Carter later went back to Hawaii to finish the script. He chose Rob Bowman, who often directed The X-Files episodes, to direct the movie. Many of the show's regular actors, including Duchovny, Anderson, Mitch Pileggi, and William B. Davis, were in the film.

The X-Files movie came out on June 19, 1998. It made $189 million worldwide and got mixed reviews.

Ten years after the first movie, and six years after The X-Files TV show ended, Carter wrote and directed a second movie. It was called The X-Files: I Want to Believe. This movie was filmed in British Columbia. It was released on July 25, 2008, and made over $68 million worldwide. However, this film generally received negative reviews from critics.

Other Projects

Chris Carter has had a few small acting roles. He appeared as an FBI agent in The X-Files episode "Anasazi". He also played a movie audience member in "Hollywood A.D.", another X-Files episode. Carter also had a brief part in "Three Men and a Smoking Diaper", an episode of The Lone Gunmen.

In 1999, Carter started turning the comic book series Harsh Realm into a TV show. His friend Daniel Sackheim had already bought the rights to adapt the comics. When Harsh Realm first aired on October 8, 1999, the comic writers were not given credit. They later sued Fox to get credit for their work. Harsh Realm did not get many viewers and was canceled after only three episodes.

Two years later, Carter launched The Lone Gunmen. This was a spin-off from The X-Files, focusing on three minor characters from that show. The Lone Gunmen was canceled after 13 episodes. Its story was later finished in a crossover episode with The X-Files.

Carter has also been involved with writing and directing a film called Fencewalker, which is not yet released. It is set to feature Natalie Dormer and Katie Cassidy. In 2011, he started developing a police thriller TV series called Unique, but it was never finished.

Carter then worked on The After, a TV series for Amazon Studios. The pilot episode was available on February 6, 2014. The series was approved the next month but was canceled on January 5, 2015. Only the pilot episode was ever made.

Influences

Chris Carter has talked about what inspired his work. Besides The Twilight Zone and Kolchak: The Night Stalker, he was influenced by Frankenstein (both the 1931 movie and the Mary Shelley novel). He also loved The Wizard of Oz (1939) and films by Steven Spielberg, like E.T., Schindler's List, and Munich. He also really enjoyed Twin Peaks, saying he could watch it every night.

Carter also shared how meeting people who claimed to have seen UFOs or been abducted influenced him. He said that when he wrote about these topics for The X-Files, he wrote as "a person who wanted to believe."

Awards and Nominations

Chris Carter's work has earned him many awards and nominations. He has received eight nominations for the Primetime Emmy Awards. He has also been nominated for awards from the Directors Guild of America Awards, the Edgar Awards, and the British Academy Television Awards.

Filmography

Film

Television

See also

In Spanish: Chris Carter para niños