TED Talk: J.J. Abrams
In 2007, J.J. Abrams (Alias, Lost, Super 8) gave a TED Talk. I’m sure some of you have seen it. However, like many great presentations, much of what could be valuable as a writer drifts away into the ether. So I transcribed Abrams’ “mystery box” talk and broke it down into a 10-part series with analysis and takeaways for creatives and writers.
For Part 1, go here: “A lot of people ask me in terms of Lost… ‘What the hell’s that island?’ It’s usually followed by… ‘No, seriously, what the hell’s that island?’ Why so many mysteries? What is it about mystery that I seem to be drawn to?”
For Part 2, go here: “The premise behind the Mystery Magic Box was the following. Fifteen dollars buys you fifty dollars worth of magic… which is a savings. I bought this decades ago, and as you’ll see, it’s never been opened. But I’ve had this forever. I was looking at this in my office, as it always is, thinking, ‘Why have I not opened this? And why have I kept it?’ I’m not a pack rat, I don’t keep everything. For some reason, I haven’t opened this box.”
For Part 3, go here: “What I realized I do in everything I do is I find myself drawn to infinite possibility and potential. And I realized that mystery is the catalyst for imagination.”
For Part 4, go here: “In terms of the content, what are stories but mystery boxes? There’s a fundamental question. In TV, the first act is called The Teaser. It’s literally The Teaser, the big question. So you’re drawn into it, and of course there’s another question, and it goes on and on and on.”
For Part 5, go here: “Then there’s the thing with imagination… withholding information, doing that intentionally is much more engaging.”
For Part 6, go here: “E.T. is a story about an alien who meets a kid, right? It’s not. E.T. is about divorce. It’s about a heartbroken, divorced crippled family and ultimately this kid who can’t find his way.”
For Part 7, go here: “Look inside yourself and see what is inside you because ultimately the mystery box is all of us.”
For Part 8, go here: “What’s a bigger mystery box than a theater? You go to a theater, you’re so excited to see anything, the moment the lights go down is often the best part.”
For Part 9, go here: “No community is best served when only the elite have control. And I feel like this is an amazing opportunity to see what else is out there.”
For Part 10, go here: “And I learned this very early on in my career: Don’t hurt Tom [Cruise’s] nose. There are three things you don’t want to do. Number two is don’t hurt Tom’s nose.”
To watch the entire video, go here.
