T. J. Martin facts for kids

Quick facts for kids T.J. Martin
Martin in 2017
Born	Thomas McKay Martin Jr. (1979-09-07) September 7, 1979 (age 45) Seattle, Washington, U.S.
Alma mater	Fairhaven College Western Washington University
Occupation	Film director screenwriter film editor cinematographer producer commercial director
Years active	2002–present
Relatives	Tina Bell (mother)

Thomas McKay Martin Jr. (born September 7, 1979), known as T. J. Martin, is an American filmmaker. He makes movies and TV shows.

Martin is famous for his film Undefeated (2011). He helped direct, edit, and film it. This movie won an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 2012. This made Martin the first African-American director to win an Academy Award for a full-length movie.

He also co-directed and co-edited LA 92 (2017). This film won a Primetime Emmy Award for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking in 2017. Later, he co-directed Tina (2021). This was a documentary about the singer Tina Turner. He was nominated for an Emmy for directing it.

Early Life and First Films

Martin was born in Seattle, Washington, on September 7, 1979. His mother, Tina Bell, was a singer. His father, Tommy Martin, was a guitarist. They were in a band called Bam Bam.

Martin went to Roosevelt High School. He then studied at Fairhaven College at Western Washington University. He finished college in 2005. While there, he co-directed his first documentary film. It was called A Day in the Hype of America (2002). This film was about the excitement around the Y2K problem. It won "Best Documentary" at the 2002 Rhode Island International Film Festival.

Martin's Career in Film

Making Feature Films

In 2007, Martin met Daniel Lindsay in Los Angeles. They worked together on a documentary called Last Cup: Road to the World Series of Beer Pong. Martin edited this film.

As a team, Martin and Lindsay then made Undefeated. This documentary is about a high school football team. It follows the players and their coach, Bill Courtney, for one season. Undefeated was shown at the 2011 SXSW Film Festival. It quickly became very popular.

The film won the Best Feature Documentary in 2012. Critics loved Undefeated, giving it a 96% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

In 2012, Ebony Magazine put Martin on their "Power 100" list. He also won an award for "Outstanding Achievement in Directing" from the Seattle International Film Festival.

In 2017, Martin and Lindsay made another documentary, LA 92. This film uses old videos to show the events after the Rodney King verdict in 1992. LA 92 was shown at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival. It later aired on the National Geographic Channel. Many publications, like Rolling Stone, called it one of the best documentaries of 2017. In June 2017, LA 92 won a Primetime Emmy Award for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking. It also has a 97% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

In 2021, Martin co-directed Tina. This was an HBO documentary about the life of music legend Tina Turner.

Television Work

In 2015, Martin co-directed a TV special called I Am Dying. It was about a woman with breast cancer and her sister.

In 2018, Martin co-directed an episode of the TV series Dogs. The episode was called "Territorio de Zaguates." It showed a special dog sanctuary in Costa Rica. This series premiered on Netflix.

Other Projects

Martin and Lindsay also work together as "Martin + Lindsay." They make short films and commercials. Their short film My Favorite Picture of You (2013) was based on an interview with Martin's grandparents. It was shown at many film festivals.

They have directed commercials for big companies like Starbucks, Google, and Toyota. In 2020, their "The Truth is Worth It" campaign for The New York Times won major awards. These included a Clio award and two Grand Prix Lions at Cannes Lions.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and Nominations