T. J. Martin

In 2017, Martin and co-director/co-editor Lindsay, made the documentary feature LA 92. Composed entirely of archival footage, the film explores the days of civil unrest that followed the acquittal of four LAPD officers captured on video beating motorist Rodney King—the events commonly referred to as the 1992 Los Angeles riots. LA 92 premiered at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival and made its broadcast premiere shortly thereafter on the National Geographic Channel. The film was named by several publications, including Rolling Stone and The Playlist, as one of the best documentaries of 2017. In June 2017, LA 92 won the Primetime Emmy Award for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking. The film was shortlisted for Best Documentary Feature for the 90th Academy Awards and holds a 91% rating on the review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes.

On April 28, 2015, Martin gave a talk at TEDx on Orcas Island, Washington, titled “Reimagining America’s Culture Narrative”, in which he discussed race and diversity in the film and television industry and mass media more broadly.

2015 saw the television premiere of the feature documentary I Am Dying, co-directed by Martin and produced by Joaquin Phoenix, Casey Affleck and Mary Lisio of Scott Free for the National Geographic Channel. The film chronicles Renee and Rita Heidtman as Renee loses her life to terminal breast cancer while her sister Rita cares for her.

Working officially as the directing duo Martin + Lindsay, Martin and Lindsay have continued their work across various platforms including short films, television, and commercial work. Their short film My Favorite Picture of You (2014) screened at numerous film festivals, was featured on The Atlantic and Vice, chosen as a Vimeo Staff Pick, and nominated for a Webby Award.

In November, 2012 Martin was listed on Ebony Magazine’s Power 100 list. That same year he received the award for “Outstanding Achievement in Directing” from the Seattle International Film Festival.

Undefeated premiered at the 2011 SXSW Film Festival and was purchased by The Weinstein Company for North American distribution just hours after the first screening. Released to near universal acclaim, the film went on to win the Academy Award for Best Feature Documentary in 2012. Undefeated holds a 96% rating on the review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes.

In 2007 in Los Angeles, Martin met future directing partner Daniel Lindsay, when they collaborated on the feature documentary Last Cup: Road to the World Series of Beer Pong, directed by Lindsay and edited by Martin. The film was distributed by Morgan Spurlock's company Warrior Poets.

Martin graduated from Roosevelt High School and went on to attend Fairhaven College at Western Washington University, where he studied American Cultural Studies, graduating in 2005. While there Martin co-directed his first film, the feature documentary A Day in the Hype of America (2002), concerning the hysteria around the Y2K problem, which won Best Documentary at the 2002 Rhode Island International Film Festival.

T. J. Martin (born Thomas McKay Martin Jr., September 7, 1979) is an Oscar and Emmy award winning American filmmaker. Martin's film Undefeated (2011), for which he was co-director, co-editor, and co-cinematographer, won the 2012 Oscar for Best Documentary Feature. His film LA 92 (2017), for which he was co-director and co-editor, won the 2017 Primetime Emmy for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking.

Martin was born on September 7, 1979 in Seattle Washington to Tommy Martin and Tina Bell, guitarist and singer, respectively, of the late punk/early grunge Seattle band Bam Bam.