J. J. Abrams

J. J. Abrams
J. J. Abrams speaking in 2006
Born	Jeffrey Jacob Abrams
Occupation(s)	Film and television producer, director, screenwriter, actor and composer.
Spouse	Katie McGrath

Jeffrey Jacob "J. J." Abrams (born June 27, 1966) is an American film and television producer, screenwriter, director, actor, composer, and founder of Bad Robot Productions. An Emmy and Golden Globe-winner, he is known as the creator or co-creator of the television series Felicity, Alias, Lost, and Fringe, and as a director of films including Mission: Impossible III and the 2009 feature Star Trek.

Career

Abrams' first job in the movie business started when he was 16 when he wrote music for Don Dohler's film Nightbeast. During his senior year at college, he teamed with a friend to write a feature film treatment. Purchased by Touchstone Pictures, the treatment was the basis for Taking Care of Business, Abrams' first produced film, which starred Charles Grodin and Jim Belushi. He followed that up with Regarding Henry, starring Harrison Ford, and Forever Young, starring Mel Gibson.

Abrams collaborated with producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Michael Bay on the 1998 film, Armageddon. That same year, he made his first foray into television with Felicity, which ran for four seasons on The WB Network, serving as the show's co-creator (with Matt Reeves) and executive producer. Under his production company, Bad Robot, Abrams created and executive-produced ABC's Alias and is co-creator (with Damon Lindelof) and executive producer of Lost. He also served as executive producer of What About Brian and Six Degrees, also on ABC. Abrams directed and wrote the two-part pilot for Lost and remained active producer for the first half of the season before moving on to work on Mission: Impossible III. He later co-wrote the teleplay of the third season premiere A Tale of Two Cities and continues to participate in creative meetings with Damon Lindleof and Carlton Cuse about the direction and mythology of the show.

Abrams contributed in the writing process in Superman Flyby, and co-wrote and produced the 2001 film Joy Ride. He made his feature directorial debut in 2006 with Mission: Impossible III, starring Tom Cruise. He also directed the 2009 blockbuster film Star Trek. Abrams is also the producer of the 2008 monster movie, Cloverfield. His partnership with Lost co-creator Damon Lindelof has grown into the duo producing Star Trek together and while it was speculated that they would be writing and producing an adaptation of Stephen King's The Dark Tower series of novels, they have publicly stated in November 2009, that they were no longer looking at that right now.

He composed the opening theme music for Alias, Lost, Fringe, and co-wrote both of the opening theme songs for Felicity. Abrams signed deals with Warner Bros. for new television shows and Paramount Pictures for new films worth around $50 million.

He is featured in a digital short shown during the MTV Movie Awards 2009 called "Cool Guys Don't Look at Explosions", with Andy Samberg and Will Ferrell, in which he plays a keyboard solo.

Frequent casting

Abrams often casts certain actors in more than one of his projects. Amanda Foreman and Greg Grunberg (a childhood friend of Abrams) are among his most frequent collaborators.

Actor	Number of castings	Gone Fishin' (1997)	Felicity (1998)	Alias (2001)	Lost (2004)	What About Brian (2006)	Mission: Impossible III (2006)	Fringe (2008)	Star Trek (2009)
Amanda Foreman	4		Y	Y		Y			Y
Greg Grunberg	6		Y	Y	Y	Y	Y		Y
Jennifer Garner	2		Y	Y
Terry O'Quinn	2			Y	Y
Ian Gomez	2		Y		Y
John Cho	2		Y						Y
Simon Pegg	2						Y		Y
Rosanna Arquette	2	Y				Y
Lance Reddick	2				Y			Y
Leonard Nimoy	2							Y	Y
Jonathan Dixon	5		Y	Y	Y		Y		Y
Rachel Nichols	2			Y					Y
Faran Tahir	3			Y	Y				Y
Keri Russell	2		Y				Y
Donnie Keshawarz	2				Y			Y

Filmography

• Taking Care of Business (1990) (writer)
• Regarding Henry (1991) (writer, co-producer)
• Forever Young (1992) (writer, executive producer)
• The Pallbearer (1996) (producer)
• Gone Fishin' (1997) (co-writer)
• Armageddon (1998) (writer)
• The Suburbans (1999) (producer)
• Joy Ride (2001) (writer, producer)
• Mission: Impossible III (2006) (director, co-writer)
• Cloverfield (2008) (producer)
• Star Trek (2009) (director, producer)
• Morning Glory (2010) (producer)
• Cloverfield 2 (TBA) (producer)
• Untitled Hunter Scott Project (TBA) (director)
• Mission: Impossible IV (TBA) (producer)
• Untitled Star Trek sequel (2012) (producer/possible director)
• Samurai Jack feature film (TBA) (co-producer)

Television

• Felicity (1998-2002) (co-creator, writer, executive producer, director)
• Alias (2001-2006) (creator, writer, executive producer, director)
• Lost (2004-2010) (co-creator, writer, executive producer, director)
• What About Brian (2006-2007) (executive producer)
• Six Degrees (2006-2007) (executive producer)
• Jimmy Kimmel Live! (2006) (Guest director)
• The Office (2005-present) (guest director)
• Fringe (2008-present) (co-creator, writer, executive producer)
• Undercovers (2010) (co-creator, executive producer, writer, director)

Awards

• 2002 Emmy Award Nomination, Outstanding Writing for A Drama Series (Alias)
• 2005 Emmy Award Winner, Outstanding Drama Series (Lost)
• 2005 Emmy Award Winner, Outstanding Directing for A Drama Series (Lost)
• 2005 Emmy Award Nomination, Outstanding Writing for A Drama Series (Lost)
• 2006 Golden Globe Award Winner, Best Television Series — Drama (Lost)
• 2007 Golden Globe Award Nomination, Best Television Series — Drama (Lost)

Personal life

Born in New York and raised in Los Angeles, Abrams is the son of television producer Gerald W. Abrams and executive producer Carol. He is Jewish. He attended Sarah Lawrence College. Abrams is married to Katie McGrath and has three children.

Abrams is a long time supporter of the Democratic Party and has donated $183,000 to the party since 1995.

External links

• J. J. Abrams at IMDb
• J. J. Abrams at Memory Alpha
• TED Talks: J. J. Abrams' mystery box at TED in 2007