Fast Company – May 2019

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in raised Futura lettering—features a small

gold placard above the buzzer asking a

question that unsuspecting visitors will

soon find relevant: ARE YOU READY?

In the reception area, two shelves are

packed with toys and curios: old-school

board games, a plastic skull in a bell jar,

retired typewriters, and, of course, robots.

A sign encourages guests to PLEASE CREATE,

and rows of colored pencils and giant sheets

of newsprint are provided.

Suddenly, dozens of Bad Robot em-

ployees, armed with bagels and coffee

procured from the kitchen, begin heading

into one of the building’s theaters, an ex-

pansive, dark-gray room that doubles as

a postproduction soundstage. It’s 9:30 a.m.

on a Monday: Time for an all-hands gath-

ering. But today the energy is heightened.

The proceedings kick off with a Star Wars–

themed game of charades in honor of the

man casually slouched in one of the perim-

eter seats, his gravity-defying hair forming

a tousled mop.

J.J. Abrams is back.

Abrams, who started his career as a

screenwriter almost three decades ago and

has grown into a megawatt player, thanks

to creating such culture-defining projects as

Alias and Lost, and directing reboots of Mis-

sion: Impossible and Star Trek, has spent most

of the past year shooting Star Wars: Episode

IX in England and Jordan.

BAD ROBOT’S

SANTA MONICA,

CALIFORNIA,

HEADQUARTERS—

INTENTIONALLY

MISLABELED

“T H E N A T I O N A L

TYPEWRITER

COMPANY”

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