Jay Curtis

Jay Curtis was an American author, producer, writer, director and actor.

Curtis attended Montclair State University in New Jersey, studying English and later New York University where he studied film. In 1976, he relocated to San Diego where he began working at XETV.

In 1980, Curtis and Bruce Mueller created the cult-XETV show Disasterpiece Theatre where they presented the worst movies ever made (long before Mystery Science Theater 3000).

Throughout the 1980s, Curtis freelanced in television, including producing sessions with The Promax Awards 'State of Our Art' sessions where he humorously predicted "The ability to interface video into the computer realm, I think, is going to change television. You can write that down." He also produced sessions with Siskel & Ebert.

n the 1990s, Curtis branded himself "The Creative Lifeguard" and became the on-air Brand-manager for CBS, producing and writing IDs, promos and marketing pieces that won over 40 PromaxBDA Awards. He also produced pieces with NFL, NCAA, FOX, NBC, ABC and more. In 2004, Jay received a Writers Guild of America Award for "Outstanding Script TV On-Air Promotion.”

Curtis retired from television in 2011 and collaborated with his high-school friend Venanzio Cortese to produce a documentary about their losing football team, 75-0: The Documentary, which was a finalist in the New Jersey Film Festival. He also produced music videos for his son JT Curtis, including "Bootleg Gasoline" and "Home (Last Stand)" which were both featured on Reverbnation.

Curtis died January 25, 2018, in Boston, Massachusetts. He was 67.