Film Story

A short story Carl wrote in college called “St. Elmo’s Fire” about his infatuation with the waitress from the St. Elmo Hotel led to him getting a freak Duke University/MCA-Universal internship with the President of Production at Universal, Thom Mount. As part of his application, Kurlander wrote how he longed to tell a story of his generation.

It was during this internship that Carl wrote the first draft of a screenplay and got “gazpacho, no croutons, no sour cream, and chopped egg on the side” for director Joel Schumacher.   A year  later, Kurlander would wind Joel’s assistant on the movie “D.C Cab” with Mr. T where Joel would make fun of Kurlander’s  notion that he had his own “generation” and assuring Carl that young people are always searching for identity, meaning, love, and success.

This dialogue led to the script they would both write months later about life after college.  In addition to the St. Elmo’s Fire subplot of unrequited love played out with Emilio Estevez and Andie McDowell, Schumacher and Kurlander drew from other friends and life experiences that were happening to Carl.   “St. Elmo’s Fire” is a nautical phenomenon that sailors would see at night that would let them know they would be okay.  But it also had a magical quality as the movie they wrote would get made within a year and become a film which remains in the culture, for better or worse, decades later.

On occasion, it is even said to capture a generation that came of age in the 1980s, but Carl has also learned to appreciate Joel’s wisdom, that young people continue to go through everything depicted in the movie which is why perhaps the movie still resonates with so many.

Read Carl’s reflections on St. Elmo’s Fire’s 35th anniversary:

‘St. Elmo’s Fire’ Hits 35; Co-Writer Carl Kurlander Recalls Joel Schumacher’s Quintessential ’80s Movie

And his tribute to director Joel Schumacher:

Joel Schumacher’s ‘St. Elmo’s Fire’ Co-Writer Carl Kurlander On A Mentor’s Generosity & Influence