James Duncan Scurlock (born September 15, 1971) is an American director, producer, writer and

financial adviser A financial adviser or financial advisor is a professional who provides financial services to clients based on their financial situation. In many countries, financial advisors must complete specific training and be registered with a regulatory ...

. He is probably best known for his documentary '' Maxed Out: Hard Times, Easy Credit and the Era of Predatory Lenders'' and his book, ''Maxed Out: Hard Times in the Age of Easy Credit''. His most recent book, '' King Larry: The Life and Ruins of a Billionaire Genius'', is a biography of

Larry Hillblom Larry Lee Hillblom (May 12, 1943 – May 21, 1995) was an American businessman and co-founder of the shipping company DHL Worldwide Express. After his disappearance, his estate paid $360 million to four impoverished children whom he had fathered ...

."Washington Post" – "Maxed Out' Man James Scurlock, Right on the Money"
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Biography

Born in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region ...

, he attended the

Wharton School The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania ( ; also known as Wharton Business School, the Wharton School, Penn Wharton, and Wharton) is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in P ...

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

, studying finance, but left in his senior year without receiving a degree. While in college, he opened four restaurants, which he sold in 1994. He then moved to

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

, where he

published Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, news ...

a successful

investing Investment is the dedication of money to purchase of an asset to attain an increase in value over a period of time. Investment requires a sacrifice of some present asset, such as time, money, or effort. In finance, the purpose of investing i ...

newsletter titled ''Restaurant Investor'' and wrote freelance for several magazines. In 2002, Scurlock moved to Los Angeles, to pursue a career in filmmaking. His first documentary, '' Parents of the Year'' (2004), was featured in over 25 film festivals and won numerous awards, including the Audience Award at the

Los Angeles Film Festival The LA Film Festival was an annual film festival that was held in Los Angeles, California, and usually took place in June. It showcased independent, international, feature, documentary and short films, as well as web series, music videos, episod ...

and the Jury Awards at the Austin Film Festival, the

USA Film Festival The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

and the Palm Springs Short Film Festival. ''Parents of the Year'' was bought by HBO and broadcast extensively on HBO Latino. Scurlock's second short, '' Stumped!'' (2005), follows three eccentric citizens who run against Arnold Schwarzenegger for Governor of California. His first

feature length A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

documentary was the critically acclaimed '' Maxed Out: Hard Times, Easy Credit and the Era of Predatory Lenders'' (2006), which he also produced. Scurlock also wrote a major book based on ''Maxed Out''. In conjunction with the global

release Release may refer to: * Art release, the public distribution of an artistic production, such as a film, album, or song * Legal release, a legal instrument * News release, a communication directed at the news media * Release (ISUP), a code to iden ...

of the film, his book, ''Maxed Out: Hard Times in the Age of Easy Credit'' (2006), was

through Scribner, a division of

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest pu ...

. In 2008, Scurlock received The Ridenhour Book Prize for ''Maxed Out: Hard Times in the Age of Easy Credit''. In early 2012, Scurlock released '' King Larry: The Life and Ruins of a Billionaire Genius'', a biography of the DHL co-founder,

Personal life

James Scurlock lives in Palm Springs, California.

Publishing history

Film

*'' Maxed Out: Hard Times, Easy Credit and the Era of Predatory Lenders''

Books

*''Maxed Out: Hard Times in the Age of Easy Credit'' *'' King Larry: The Life and Ruins of a Billionaire Genius''

References

External links

"Washington Post" – "Maxed Out' Man James Scurlock, Right on the Money"''The Wall Street Journal'' – "The Wallet – Inside the Brain of...James Scurlock, Director of ''Maxed Out''"''Saipan Tribune'' – "Filmmaker focuses camera on Hillblom"''San Francisco Chronicle'' – "In debt up to our eyeballs"
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Scurlock, James 1971 births Living people Film producers from California American male screenwriters American documentary film directors American finance and investment writers American self-help writers Writers from Seattle Writers from Santa Monica, California American restaurateurs Financial advisors Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania alumni Film directors from California American male non-fiction writers Screenwriters from California Screenwriters from Washington (state) Film producers from Washington (state)