Over the last week, protests have erupted across the United States on behalf of racial justice, and many well-known figures and companies have not only voiced their support for the fight against racism, but have also gone the extra mile by donating to specific causes involved. Filmmaker J.J. Abrams has joined this lineup, as his production company Bad Robot is partnering with The Katie McGrath and J.J. Abrams Family Foundation to pledge millions of dollars to said causes.
You can read the official statement that J.J. Abrams and Bad Robot put out about their charitable contributions below.
As detailed, Bad Robot and The Katie McGrath and J.J. Abrams Family Foundation are planning to donate $200,000 each of the following organizations: Black Futures Lab, Black Lives Matter LA, Community Coalition, Equal Justice Initiative and Know Your Rights Camp. So that’s $1 million right off the bat, but the company also stated that it intends to donate an additional $10 million over the next five years “to organizations and efforts committed to anti-racist agendas that close the gaps, lift the poor and build a just America for all.”
Bad Robot and The Katie McGrath and J.J. Abrams Family Foundation are doing this to show solidarity for the “many scholars, activists, organizers and leaders fighting on the frontline of change in our systemically unjust country,” and not only are words and listening important in this “fragile time,” but investment is also “required.” This is a tremendous show of generosity and just the latest example of companies/organizations putting their money where their mouth is with regard to the political and social landscape.
While he’d already proven himself to be a sci-fi heavy hitter in the late 1990s and early 2000s, J.J. Abrams has further cemented this status over the last decade, particularly by directing two Star Wars movies, Star Trek Into Darkness and Super 8. Abrams have also been involved with various TV shows as an executive producer, including Westworld and Castle Rock.
J.J. Abrams’ latest movie, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, is now available on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital HD, and can also be streamed on Disney+ alongside the rest of the Skywalker Saga. As for what he has coming up, he and Bad Robot are working on three one-hour TV shows for HBO Max: Justice League Dark, which will spotlight a team of magical and supernaturally DC Comics superheroes; Overlook, which will chronicle stories set in the same-named hotel from Stephen King’s The Shining; and Duster, which will follow a “gutsy getaway driver” in the 1970s.
Keep checking back with CinemaBlend for all the biggest updates in movie news. You can learn what’s supposed to hit theaters later this year with our 2020 release schedule, and figure out what movies have been delayed over the last several month in our comprehensive guide.
