Although originally a journalist by trade, Irwin Allen began working in the film medium. He became one of the biggest names in show business during the 1970s, producing and directing some of its most popular films. After working in magazines and advertising, he produced the documentary The Sea Around Us. This film won an Academy Award for Best Documentary, and he decided to branch out into commercial film. His spoof of history, The Story of Mankind, was a critical and commercial disaster, but he scored box office success with The Big Circus, The Lost World, and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea.