J. J. Abrams

• 1. The Sound Of A Name

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  On a day in 1982, Jeffrey Jacob Abrams composed the music for a horror movie called Nightbeast. He was only sixteen years old when he wrote that score. The film itself remains obscure today, but the act marked his first entry into the movie business. His father worked at CBS in Midtown Manhattan during the year before his birth. By 1971, the family had moved to Los Angeles. His mother became a real estate agent while he and his sister attended school. He planned to attend art school after high school graduation. Instead, he enrolled at Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York.

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• 2. Television Themes And Twists

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  In 1994, a group of Sarah Lawrence alumni formed an organization known as the Propellerheads. They experimented with computer animation technology under contract from Jeffrey Katzenberg. That same year, he made his television debut with Felicity on The WB Network. He served as co-creator alongside Matt Reeves and executive producer. He also composed its opening theme music. In 2001, he created Alias for ABC. He composed the theme music for that series as well. He directed and wrote the two-part pilot for Lost in 2004. He remained active as a producer for the first half of the season. He won two Emmy Awards for his work on Lost. One award recognized Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series. The other honored Outstanding Drama Series.

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• 3. From Screenwriter To Director

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  His first produced film was Taking Care of Business, which starred Charles Grodin and James Belushi. It opened in theaters in 1990. He followed that success with Regarding Henry starring Harrison Ford. He then worked on Forever Young with Mel Gibson. In 1998, he co-wrote Armageddon with producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Michael Bay. That project earned him a Razzie Award for Worst Screenplay. His feature directorial debut arrived in 2006 with Mission: Impossible III. Tom Cruise starred in that film. He returned to direct Star Trek Into Darkness in May 2013. Critics generally reacted positively to the film. Nicholas Meyer called it a gimmick. Abrams later admitted he felt frustrated by his choices during production.

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• 4. The Force Awakens And Beyond

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  Disney and Lucasfilm introduced him as director of Star Wars: The Force Awakens on the 25th of January 2013. Bryan Burk and Bad Robot produced the film. The movie opened in theaters on the 18th of December 2015. It became his highest-grossing film and the sixth-highest-grossing film of all time not adjusted for inflation. Some critics found it too similar to the original 1977 film. George Lucas shared that view. He responded by stating he wanted to introduce brand new characters using relationships embracing known history. He returned to direct Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker in September 2017. Chris Terrio co-wrote the screenplay. The film was released in December 2019. Audience reactions were mixed despite strong box office performance.

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• 5. Bad Robot Productions

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  In 2001, he founded his own production company named Bad Robot. He established it with Bryan Burk under Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures. Initially a television production company under Touchstone Television, it branched into film production. The first movie produced under the name Joy Ride appeared in 2001. Bad Robot is well known for Lost and the Star Trek Kelvin timeline films. They also produced four Mission: Impossible films. The Cloverfield franchise emerged from their studio. In September 2019, Abrams signed a $250 million five-year deal with WarnerMedia. This agreement included HBO and Warner Bros. Pictures. His daughter Gracie became a pop singer-songwriter while he resided in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles.

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• 6. Awards And Industry Standing

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  His films have grossed over $4 billion worldwide. This figure makes him the tenth highest-grossing film director of all time. He won two Emmy Awards for his work on Lost. One award recognized Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series. The other honored Outstanding Drama Series. He received a Directors Guild of America Award for Best Director. He earned an ASCAP Film and Television Music Award for Top TV Series. He was featured in a 2009 MTV Movie Awards digital short called Cool Guys Don't Look at Explosions. He played a keyboard solo in that clip alongside Andy Samberg and Will Ferrell. He serves on the Creative Council of Represent.Us and the Motion Picture & Television Fund Board of Governors.

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