Damon Laurence Lindelof is an American television writer, producer, and film screenwriter, most
noted as the co-creator and showrunner of the television series Lost. He has written
for and produced Crossing Jordan and wrote for Nash Bridges. Lindelof also co-wrote Cowboys
& Aliens, Prometheus, and Star Trek Into Darkness. As of December 2012, his next film in development
is the science fiction film Tomorrowland. He also co-created the TV series 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. Damon is also a fan of shows such as The Wire, Breaking
Bad and Battlestar Galactica. Lindelof married Heidi Mary Fugeman in 2005;
the couple have one child. Lindelof has been the subject of controversy
over his various tweets on his Twitter account for being outspoken on his reactions to various
movies like The Dark Knight Rises and defending the mixed to negative response to the ending
of the show Lost. After much negative responses on his account, Lindelof deleted his account
on October 14, 2013. 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 No. 1 which was drawn by Jeff Lemire and published by Vertigo.
Lost
He was an executive producer and joint showrunner on Lost. Lindelof and the Lost writing staff
won the Writers Guild of America 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 TV series The
Leftovers; HBO has ordered a 10 episode first season.
Lost episodes
Production credits References
External links Damon Lindelof at the Internet Movie Database
Damon Lindelof interviews, March 28, July 17, and August 21, 2005, LostTV-Forum.com
Damon Lindelof podcast, Marvel.com [1], Entertainment Weekly May 4, 2011 interview