Lawrence Kasdan has directed, written, or produced twenty-one motion pictures, including Body Heat, The Big Chill, Silverado, The Accidental Tourist, and Grand Canyon. Among them, he has written or co-written four of the most successful films in motion picture history: Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, and The Bodyguard, the first original screenplay Kasdan sold. The Big Chill and The Accidental Tourist were nominated for Academy Awards as Best Picture. The Accidental Tourist was named Best Picture of 1988 by the New York Film Critics Circle. Grand Canyon won the Golden Bear as Best Picture of the 1992 Berlin Film Festival. Nominated for four Academy Awards and six Writers Guild Awards, Kasdan was honored by the Writers Guild of America with its Laurel Award for advancing the literature of motion pictures. In 2013, Kasdan joined creative forces with JJ Abrams to co-write Star Wars: Episode VII-The Force Awakens, the new entry in the worldwide phenomenon that is the Star Wars saga.