Lee David Zlotoff (born July 10, 1954) is a producer, director and screenwriter best known as the creator of the TV series ''

MacGyver Angus "Mac" MacGyver is the title character and the protagonist in the TV series ''MacGyver''. He is played by Richard Dean Anderson in the 1985 original series. Lucas Till portrays a younger version of MacGyver in the 2016 reboot. In both p ...

''. He started as a screenwriter for ''

Hill Street Blues ''Hill Street Blues'' is an American serial police procedural television series that aired on NBC in prime-time from January 15, 1981, to May 12, 1987, for 146 episodes. The show chronicles the lives of the staff of a single police station loca ...

'' in 1981. He then became a producer of ''

Remington Steele ''Remington Steele'' is an American television series co-created by Robert Butler and Michael Gleason. The series, starring Stephanie Zimbalist and Pierce Brosnan, was produced by MTM Enterprises and first broadcast on the NBC network from O ...

'' in 1982.

Career

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 The Man from Snowy River may refer to: * "The Man from Snowy River" (poem), an 1890 Australian poem by Banjo Paterson. * '' The Man from Snowy River and Other Verses'' an 1895 poetry collection by Banjo Paterson (including the above) * ''The Man ...

'' (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 Andrew Barton "Banjo" Paterson, (17 February 18645 February 1941) was an Australian bush poet, journalist and author. He wrote many ballads and poems about Australian life, focusing particularly on the rural and outback areas, including the ...

poem "

". He wrote and directed the 1996 film ''

The Spitfire Grill ''The Spitfire Grill'' (also known as ''Care of the Spitfire Grill'') is a 1996 American film written and directed by Lee David Zlotoff and starring Alison Elliott, Ellen Burstyn, Marcia Gay Harden, Will Patton, Kieran Mulroney and Gailard Sa ...

'', which won the Audience Award at the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...

and was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize. Zlotoff graduated from

Brooklyn Technical High School Brooklyn Technical High School, commonly called Brooklyn Tech and administratively designated High School 430, is an elite public high school in New York City that specializes in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. It is one of t ...

in 1970. He then attended St. John's College in Annapolis, Maryland. He contributes to ''

Make Make or MAKE may refer to: * Make (magazine), a tech DIY periodical *Make (software), a software build tool *Make, Botswana, in the Kalahari Desert *Make Architects Make Architects is an international architecture practice headquartered in Londo ...

'' magazine. At the 2008

Maker Faire Maker Faire is a convention of do it yourself aka-DIY enthusiasts started by ''Make'' magazine in 2006. Participants come from a wide variety of interests, such as robotics, 3D printing, computers, arts and crafts, and hacker culture. History ...

, Zlotoff announced his interest in a ''

'' movie. 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 A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In tempera ...

and

season 7 A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and po ...

of the series. In 2010, a feature film version of the ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...

'' parody of MacGyver, ''

MacGruber ''MacGruber'' was a recurring sketch on the NBC television series ''Saturday Night Live'', first appearing on the show in January 2007. The sketch is a parody of the 1985–1992 adventure series ''MacGyver''. The sketch stars Will Forte as spec ...

'', prompted Zlotoff to send cease-and-desist letters and threaten further legal action. Zlotoff served as executive producer of the new reboot of ''

''.

References

External links

*
Lee's official MacGyver site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zlotoff, Lee David American male screenwriters Television producers from New York City St. John's College (Annapolis/Santa Fe) alumni Brooklyn Technical High School alumni Film directors from New York City Screenwriters from New York (state) Living people 1954 births