Alan J. Adler was born on November 7, 1948, and is a renowned American writer, producer, and pop culture historian. He is best known for his work in exploitation 3-D films and the founding of the Archives at 20th Century Fox.
Adler began his career in the film industry by working on many of the first features made in North Carolina. He started as an assistant to producer/director J.G.Pat Patterson, Jr. on the film "The Body Shop" (1973),and later worked as an assistant director on "Hot Summer in Barefoot County" (1974).
Adler went on to write the screenplay for "Challenge" (1974),Earl Owensby's first production. He also produced, wrote, and starred in the live-comedy show "Those Were the Years" (1976-1977) on WBTV's Friday late-night program.
As an avid collector of movie memorabilia, Adler exhibited his collection of posters at The McDonald Art Gallery in 1975 and edited the book "Science-fiction and Horror Movie Posters in Full Color" (1977),which was the first book published in the US to look at sci-fi and horror genre movie posters as an art form.
Adler appeared on-camera as WBTV's on-air movie reviewer and saw advance clips of "Star Wars" (1977). He then left Charlotte for Hollywood, where he created and co-produced the HBO special "Monsters, Madmen and Machines" (1984),a film-clip homage to low-budget science-fiction movies, hosted by Gil Gerard.
In the 1980s, Adler pursued his comedy career by joining The Groundlings, L.A.'s premier improvisational comedy group. He used improv technique to write the screenplay for "The Alchemist" (1982) and sold it to exploitation director Charles Band.
Adler co-wrote and worked as a production associate on "Parasite 3-D" (1983),starring Demi Moore in her first leading role. He also wrote and co-produced the women-in-prison film "The Concrete Jungle" (1982),starring Jill St. John.
Adler was a pioneer in low-budget 3-D and wrote and co-produced "Metalstorm 3-D: the Destruction of Jared-syn" (1983) with Charles Band. The film was picked up by Universal and was one of the first 3-D trailers to be attached to a major film release.
Adler developed but is uncredited for one of Band's signature franchises, "Trancers" (1985),starring Tim Thomerson. He also wrote animation scripts for productions such as "Bravestarr" and "The Real Ghostbusters" while working in theatrical advertising for top LA designers.
Adler collaborated with veteran TV producer Vanessa Greene to develop a world peace miniseries, "The Different Drum" (1990),based on the best-selling book by M. Scott Peck. He also co-wrote "The Loss" (1990) for "Star Trek: the Next Generation".
Adler's lifelong study of film graphics and toys led him to work as the toy consultant on Barry Levinson's "Toys" (1992),starring Robin Williams. He was responsible for casting calls for the toys in the film and worked closely with production designer Nando Scarfiotti and wardrobe designer Albert Wolsky.
Adler later became the executive director of the Fox Archives, where he traveled the world as Fox's emissary in support of silent film and lost archival materials. He developed the Fox Still Archive and the Hall of Cool Stuff, the first Fox museum, installed in Sydney, Australia.
Adler exited Fox to develop the Museum of Mom and Pop Culture, a memorabilia and art auction and sales company. He returned to writing with an adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs' second novel, "The Outlaw Of Torn", for the big screen, and "Fighters' Row" for low-budget action set in Europe.
