BIOGRAPHY

KURT SAYENGA is a writer/director/producer based in Los Angeles, California. He has served as the principle creative on many high-end documentary productions, most recently as  director/writer/showrunner of the National Geographic/Disney+ special Titanic: 25 Years Later with James Cameron and the eight-part Shudder miniseries The 101 Scariest Horror Movie Moments of All Time. Previously, Sayenga ran all three seasons of AMC-TV's Eli Roth's History of Horror, two seasons of the sprawling National Geographic science series Breakthrough, and season one of the sprawling National Geographic history series Origins. Sayenga also put in time as co-executive producer of Discovery Science Channel's acclaimed series Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman, for which he wrote and directed 15 episodes.

 

In the early 2000s Sayenga was the co-owner of Arcwelder Films, Ltd,. under whose banner he made films and series for National Geographic, Discovery, Canal Plus, and Granada UK. As a freelancer he has directed short films for Disney, 21st Century Fox Feature Films, Toshiba, and Dreamworks.

 

Before getting into television, Sayenga worked as a journalist on Capitol Hill while covertly editing and publishing GREED, a music and arts publication covering what used to be known as "the punk underground." He also designed record covers for several DC bands, including the first five releases by Fugazi. (His favorite design is for the vinyl release of "Repeater.")

 

Sayenga is a member of the Directors Guild of America and a graduate of the University of Michigan College of Literature, Science and Arts, where he won a Hopwood Award in Drama and a Roy M. Cowden Fellowship. He has won many accolades for his documentary work, including five Emmy nominations (and one win) and three World Science Foundation medals (bronze, silver, and gold). In 2020, Eli Roth's History of Horror received a Realscreen Award for Best Arts and Cultural Programming. In 2023, The 101 Scariest Horror Movie Moments of All Time was nominated for Fangoria's Chainsaw Award for Best Nonfiction Series or Miniseries. The winner will be announced in May.