Kevin Paul · CC BY 4.0

Damon Lindelof created and ran Lost, the ABC drama that helped define serialized network television in the 2000s, then went on to create HBO's The Leftovers and the limited series Watchmen (2019), winning three Primetime Emmy Awards across his career. Time named him one of its 100 most influential people in 2010; he also co-wrote Prometheus, Star Trek Into Darkness, and World War Z.