The Mystery Box of J. J. Abrams

(J. J. Abrams)

Director, producer, and screenwriter J. J. Abrams is one of the top leaders in the television and film industry, and the only person to direct two major world changing film franchises – Star Wars and Star Trek. I discovered how inspiring J. J. Abrams is when I did the research for my Keynote presentation entitled J. J.Abrams – The Emergency of a Leader. It did not surprise me I saw that J. J. Abrams had given a speech for TED, a nonprofit organization dedicated to spreading ideas.

In March of 2007 in Monterey, California, Abrams gave his speech entitled The Mystery Box. When he was a child, Abrams’ grandfather Henry Calvin bought him a magic mystery box. For the purchase of fifteen dollars, the mystery box had fifty dollars worth of magic goodies inside it. Abrams never opened it up. It took him a while to realize that the reason why he never opened it up was because it represented something important to him – his grandfather. To Abrams his grandfather represented hope and ideas of possibilities. His grandfather was the reason why Abrams is so immensely attracted to mysteries. This realization leads him to understand that life is full of mystery boxes.

Abrams’ speech was inspiring because he didn’t act like he was talking to the “little people”. He gave the speech as if he was having an everyday conversation with the audience. He was forthcoming with his fears of not coming up with a suitable topic for TED, and how he had very little direction on what to speak about. He described his thought process of how he came up with The Mystery Box speech, and its application to the real world. Abrams was enthusiastic when he was sharing his knowledge on how he came up with the ideas of his past films and television series. It was through his reputation and how he presented himself that established the audience’s trust.

The Mystery Box speech confirmed my research that everyone who’s worked with Abrams thinks and speaks highly of him. He does not acknowledge the word impossible. Abrams inspires me to go above and beyond the boundaries of my or anyone’s imagination. I love the opportunity to work with him. Being able to create a film or television series with Abrams is an ultimate dream of mine. J. J., if you are reading this, “Let’s do lunch!”.