Damon Lindelof Biography

Damon Laurence Lindelof (born April 24, 1973) is an American television writer, producer, and film screenwriter, most noted as the co-creator and showrunner of the acclaimed television series Lost (2004"2010). He has written for and produced Crossing Jordan (2001"2004) and wrote for Nash Bridges (2000"2001). Lindelof also co-wrote Cowboys & Aliens (2011), Prometheus (2012), and Star Trek Into Darkness (2013). As of December 2012, his next film in development is the science fiction film Tomorrowland (2014). He is also co-writing a TV pilot of The Leftovers for HBO, adapted from the novel by Tom Perrotta.

Personal life

Lindelof was born in Teaneck, New Jersey, the son of Susan Klausner, a teacher, and David Lindelof, a bank manager. He attended Teaneck High School, a school whose diverse student body he credits with expanding his horizons as a writer. His mother is Jewish and his father was of Scandinavian descent. Lindelof celebrated his bar mitzvah in Teaneck, where he attended synagogue for the Sabbath; he has stated, "I was a Jewish white kid growing up in Teaneck, but at the same time, I had African and Filipino and Asian friends and to have that experience all through high school while getting an awesome education was wonderful." Lindelof attended film school at New York University, performing briefly in the band Petting Zoo, and moved to Los Angeles after graduating.

An early boost to his writing career came in 1999, when he was selected as a semifinalist for a Nicholl Fellowship for his screenplay Perfectionists. Before this, he worked on reviewing scripts at Paramount, Fox, and Alan Ladd studios.

Lindelof is a self-professed Stephen King fan and has placed many references to King's work into Lost, as well as mentioning within the Official Lost Podcast that The Stand serves as a huge influence. Lindelof has been quoted as saying that the graphic novel Watchmen, written by Alan Moore, is the greatest piece of popular fiction ever produced, and its effect on Lost is evident many times in the show. He has also mentioned David Lynch's Twin Peaks as a big influence for Lost. J.J. Abrams has often cited Patrick McGoohan's similarly allegorical sci-fi/spy series The Prisoner as another major influence on Lost. Lindelof lists his favorite six films, in no particular order, as Touch of Evil, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Pulp Fiction, The Shining, Bambi, and The Godfather Part II.

Lindelof married Heidi Mary Fugeman in 2005; the couple have one child.

Career

Lindelof is the writer of the comic book miniseries Ultimate Wolverine vs. Hulk for Marvel Comics, which takes place in the Ultimate Marvel universe and began publication in January 2006. Despite being a six-issue miniseries, production was suspended after the second issue in February 2006 due to Lindelof's heavy workload elsewhere; however, the last of the scripts were submitted to Marvel in 2008 and the series resumed publication in March 2009. Lindelof wrote a Rip Hunter story for Time Warp #1 (May 2013) which was drawn by Jeff Lemire and published by Vertigo.

Lost

See Lost (TV series) for more information He was an executive producer and joint showrunner (alongside Carlton Cuse) on Lost. Lindelof and the Lost writing staff won the Writers Guild of America (WGA) Award for Best Dramatic Series at the February 2006 ceremony for their work on the first and second seasons. He was nominated for the WGA Award for Best Dramatic Series a further three times; at the February 2007 ceremony for his work on the second and third seasons, at the February 2009 ceremony for his work on the fourth season and at the February 2010 ceremony for his work on the fifth season. Lindelof and his co-writer Drew Goddard were also nominated for the WGA Award for Best Episodic Drama at the February 2008 ceremony for writing the episode "Flashes Before Your Eyes".

Other projects

Lindelof co-wrote Ridley Scott's Prometheus, released in June 2012.

He is also a producer in the show Once Upon a Time, which was created by former Lost writers. He served as co-producer on the 2009 film, Star Trek. Along with producing the sequel, he also co-wrote the screenplay with Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci. He also co-wrote the screenplay for the film adaptation of the comic series Cowboys & Aliens with the duo, directed by Jon Favreau.

It was believed that after the conclusion of Lost, Lindelof and J. J. Abrams would write and produce a film adaptation of Stephen King's The Dark Tower, but Lindelof squelched this notion in a late 2000s USA Today, commenting, "After working six years on 'Lost,' the last thing I want to do is spend the next seven years adapting one of my favorite books of all time. I'm such a massive Stephen King fan that I'm terrified of screwing it up. I'd do anything to see those movies written by someone else. My guess is they will get made because they're so incredible. But not by me."

In December 2008, Lindelof was the featured guest on an episode of The Write Environment, a public television series featuring in-depth, candid one-on-one interviews with some of TV's most prolific and well-known series creator/writers.

He is the showrunner for The Leftovers; HBO has ordered a 10 episode first season.

Lost episodes (as writer)

• "Pilot: Parts 1 and 2" (1x01 & 1x02, with J.J. Abrams and Jeffrey Lieber)
• "Tabula Rasa" (1x03)
• "Confidence Man" (1x08)
• "Whatever the Case May Be" (1x12 with Jennifer M. Johnson)
• "Homecoming" (1x15)
• "Deus Ex Machina" (1x19 with Carlton Cuse)
• "Exodus" (1x23, 1x24, & 1x25 with Carlton Cuse)
• "Man of Science, Man of Faith" (2x01)
• "...And Found" (2x05 with Carlton Cuse)
• "The Other 48 Days" (2x07 with Carlton Cuse)
• "The 23rd Psalm" (2x10 with Carlton Cuse)
• "One of Them" (2x14 with Carlton Cuse)
• "Lockdown" (2x17 with Carlton Cuse)
• "?" (2x21 with Carlton Cuse)
• "Live Together, Die Alone" (2x23 & 2x24 with Carlton Cuse)
• "A Tale of Two Cities" (3x01 with J.J. Abrams)
• "I Do" (3x06 with Carlton Cuse)
• "Flashes Before Your Eyes" (3x08 with Drew Goddard)
• "Enter 77" (3x11 with Carlton Cuse)
• "Left Behind" (3x15 with Elizabeth Sarnoff)
• "The Brig" (3x19 with Carlton Cuse)
• "Through the Looking Glass" (3x22 & 3x23 with Carlton Cuse)
• "The Beginning of the End" (4x01 with Carlton Cuse)
• "The Constant" (4x05 with Carlton Cuse)
• "There's No Place Like Home" (4x12, 4x13, & 4x14 with Carlton Cuse)
• "Because You Left" (5x01 with Carlton Cuse)
• "316" (5x06 with Carlton Cuse)
• "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham" (5x07 with Carlton Cuse)
• "Whatever Happened, Happened" (5x11 with Carlton Cuse)
• "The Incident" (5x16 & 5x17 with Carlton Cuse)
• "LA X" (6x01 & 6x02 with Carlton Cuse)
• "Lighthouse" (6x05 with Carlton Cuse)
• "Happily Ever After" (6x11 with Carlton Cuse)
• "Across the Sea" (6x15 with Carlton Cuse)
• "The End" (6x17 & 6x18 with Carlton Cuse)

Production credits

Year	Title	Credited as
		Writer	Producer
1999	Wasteland			Episodes: "Defining Moments" "Death Becomes Her"
1999	Undressed			N/A
2000"2001	Nash Bridges			Episodes: "Rock and a Hard Place" "End Game" "Bear Trap" "Slam Dunk" "Cat Fight"
2001"2004	Crossing Jordan			9 episodes as writer 22 episodes as Co-producer 13 episodes as Supervising Producer
2006	Avatar: The Last Airbender			Episode: "The Drill" (uncredited)
2007"2008	Lost: Missing Pieces			Episodes written: "Arzt & Crafts" "Jack, Meet Ethan. Ethan? Jack." "The Envelope" 13 episodes as Executive Producer
2008	Lost: Via Domus			Video game
2004"2010	Lost			Co-creator 45 episodes as writer 116 episodes as Executive Producer
2009	Star Trek
2010	Ollie Klublershturf vs. the Nazis			Short film Executive Producer
2011	Cowboys & Aliens
2012	Prometheus			Executive Producer
2013	Open Heart			Documentary Executive Producer
2013	Star Trek Into Darkness
2013	World War Z
2014	Tomorrowland