NEW YORK (AP) J.J. Abrams may be immersed in a galaxy far, far away these days, but he's taking a break from preproduction work on the new "Star Wars" film to accept a special honor at the 41st International Emmy Awards Gala.
Zachary Quinto, who recently reprised his role of Spock in Abrams' successful reboot of the "Star Trek" franchise, will present the honorary International Emmy Founders Award to the director-producer at Monday night's awards ceremony at the Hilton New York.
"J.J. Abrams is probably the most interesting creative talent in the industry right now. He's a great writer, producer, director and an amazing creator," said Bruce L. Paisner, president and CEO of the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. "He already at age 47 has a number of classic television shows like 'Felicity' and 'Lost' that have set a model for all kinds of shows that came afterward."
Abrams is executive producer of three currently running TV shows the science-fiction series "Revolution" and "Almost Human" and "Person of Interest," the crime drama revolving around an omnipresent government-sponsored surveillance network that premiered well before the recent revelations about the National Security Agency.
"J.J. is very good at anticipating what's going to be in the headlines, and he also creates new ways of looking at people and situations like he did in reinventing the 'Star Trek' franchise," Paisner said.