# James Scurlock > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/James_Scurlock > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/James_Scurlock.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Scurlock > Source revision: 1354617539 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) This article is about the director, producer, and writer. For the man who died in a shooting during unrest in Omaha, see [Killing of James Scurlock](/source/Killing_of_James_Scurlock). **James Duncan Scurlock** (born September 15, 1971) is an American director, producer, writer and [financial adviser](/source/Financial_adviser). He is probably best known for his documentary *[Maxed Out: Hard Times, Easy Credit and the Era of Predatory Lenders](/source/Maxed_Out)* 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](/source/King_Larry:_The_Life_and_Ruins_of_a_Billionaire_Genius)*, is a biography of [Larry Hillblom](/source/Larry_Hillblom).[1] ## Biography Born in [Seattle, Washington](/source/Seattle,_Washington), he attended the [Wharton School](/source/Wharton_School_of_the_University_of_Pennsylvania), [University of Pennsylvania](/source/University_of_Pennsylvania), 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](/source/Dallas), where he [published](/source/Publishing) a successful [investing](/source/Investment) [newsletter](/source/Newsletter) titled *Restaurant Investor* and wrote [freelance](/source/Freelancer) for several magazines. In 2002, Scurlock moved to Los Angeles, to pursue a career in filmmaking. His first documentary, *[Parents of the Year](/source/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](/source/Los_Angeles_Film_Festival) and the Jury Awards at the [Austin Film Festival](/source/Austin_Film_Festival), the [USA Film Festival](/source/USA_Film_Festival) and the [Palm Springs Short Film Festival](/source/Palm_Springs_Short_Film_Festival). *Parents of the Year* was bought by [HBO](/source/HBO) and broadcast extensively on HBO Latino. Scurlock's second short, *[Stumped!](/source/Stumped!)* (2005), follows three eccentric citizens who run against [Arnold Schwarzenegger](/source/Arnold_Schwarzenegger) for [Governor of California](/source/Governor_of_California). His first [feature length](/source/Feature_length) documentary was the critically acclaimed *[Maxed Out: Hard Times, Easy Credit and the Era of Predatory Lenders](/source/Maxed_Out)* (2006), which he also produced. Scurlock also wrote a major book based on *Maxed Out*. In conjunction with the global [release](/source/Film_release) of the film, his book, *Maxed Out: Hard Times in the Age of Easy Credit* (2006), was [published](/source/Publishing) through [Scribner](/source/Charles_Scribner's_Sons), a division of [Simon & Schuster](/source/Simon_%26_Schuster). In 2008, Scurlock received [The Ridenhour](/source/The_Ridenhour_Prizes) [Book Prize](/source/The_Ridenhour_Prizes#Past_winners) 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](/source/King_Larry:_The_Life_and_Ruins_of_a_Billionaire_Genius)*, a biography of the [DHL](/source/DHL) co-founder, [Larry Hillblom](/source/Larry_Hillblom).[citation needed] ## Personal life James Scurlock lives in [Palm Springs, California](/source/Palm_Springs,_California). ## Publishing history ### Film - *[Maxed Out: Hard Times, Easy Credit and the Era of Predatory Lenders](/source/Maxed_Out)* ### Books - *Maxed Out: Hard Times in the Age of Easy Credit* ISBN 1-416-53253-6 - *[King Larry: The Life and Ruins of a Billionaire Genius](/source/King_Larry:_The_Life_and_Ruins_of_a_Billionaire_Genius)* ## References 1. ["Washington Post" – "Maxed Out' Man James Scurlock, Right on the Money"](https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/15/AR2007081501921.html) ## External links - ["Washington Post" – "Maxed Out' Man James Scurlock, Right on the Money"](https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/15/AR2007081501921.html) - [*The Wall Street Journal* – "The Wallet – Inside the Brain of...James Scurlock, Director of *Maxed Out*"](https://blogs.wsj.com/wallet/2008/09/09/inside-the-brain-ofjames-scurlock-director-of-maxed-out/) - [*Saipan Tribune* – "Filmmaker focuses camera on Hillblom"](https://web.archive.org/web/20080619034758/http://www.saipantribune.com/newsstory.aspx?newsID=70382&cat=1) - [*San Francisco Chronicle* – "In debt up to our eyeballs"](https://www.sfgate.com/politics/joegarofoli/article/In-debt-up-to-our-eyeballs-2613969.php) - [James D. Scurlock](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1749001/) at IMDb --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [James Scurlock](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Scurlock) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Scurlock?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.