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About Me

Jason Wishnow is the filmmaker behind TEDTalks, the Peabody Award winning video series watched nearly a billion times (even in outer space). Wishnow works at the intersection of film and emerging technologies and has been called an “online-video virtuoso” (New York Times, 2009), the “enfant terrible of digital film” (The Guardian, 2000), and one of the ten most influential digital filmmakers of 1999 (RES Magazine). Prior to joining TED, Wishnow founded one of the first film websites, The New Venue, in the mid-’90s, an entire decade before YouTube. In 2000, Wishnow organized the first handheld/mobile film festival, The Aggressively Boring Film Festival, named after the technical limitations of its time. As a director, Wishnow’s short films and music videos have played on television and in over 100 film festivals worldwide including Sundance, Seattle, São Paulo, Hong Kong, and RESFEST. Wishnow’s most recent project is We Are All Radioactive, a crowd-funded, bilingual, episodic documentary series about surfers and fishermen rebuilding coastal Japan after the 2011 tsunami and nuclear meltdown. Wishnow currently develops and directs narrative feature films, privately consults about digital video strategy, and continues to creative direct TEDTalks as TED’s “Film Director at Large.”

Location:
United States, New York, NY
Current organization:
TED
Current role:
Film Director at Large
Gender:
Male
I am:
Artist, Brainstormer, Connector, Entrepreneur, Filmmaker, Foodie, Global soul, Idea generator, World traveler, Writer/Editor
My website links:
www.wishnow.com, twitter @thewishnow
TED conferences attended:
TED2012, TEDGlobal 2011, TED2011, TEDWomen, TEDGlobal 2010, TED2010, TEDIndia 2009, TEDGlobal 2009, TED2009, TED2008
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TEDCRED 200+ TED StaffTED Attendee

More About Me

I'm passionate about

Telling stories, pushing boundaries, exploring new technologies (at the service of good storytelling), and spreading ideas.

An idea worth spreading

This one goes out to all the TEDx organizers who might have stumbled upon my profile. Here are two videos on how to shoot a TEDTalk from 2010: http://vimeo.com/20220549 and 2011: http://youtu.be/rf_Lm5IEmb4 - Enjoy!

Talk to me about

Talk to me about a movie you like. Tell me why I should see it. Tell me why you like it. (Or we can play this game with a book recommendation.)

People don't know that I'm good at

I recently started rock climbing. I can't say I'm any good at it... but it's something I've been enjoying.

My TED Story

I am often accused of having the best job in the world.

TED brought me on board weeks before TED2006 to develop, direct, and subsequently supervise the production of TEDTalks. I was the fifth person in the office and I also helped launch TED.com. I am privileged to have played my role as part of TED's transformation from elite, exclusive event to massive, egalitarian, world-changing movement (and to have met some astonishing and amazing people along the way).

Today, as TED's Film Director at Large, I still oversee TEDTalks creatively, but from the road, so I have more time to pursue outside projects (like directing and consulting).

Over to the right I'm supposed to pick a few of my "favorite talks" which is difficult because I love all my children, but as with real human babies, some are intrinsically more adorable than others.

Please drop me a line and point me to your favorite TEDTalk!

Comments

  • TEDCred score: +450.70 TEDCred reflects your contribution to the TED community.

  • +6

    A comment on Conversation: What's the best hidden gem in the TED archive?

    Feb 11 2011: ok june, i'll take your bait. here are a couple hidden gems:

    like batman and robin or chocolate and peanut butter, richard dawkins and david deutsch from TEDGlobal2005 are a formidable duo. most people who visit the site may not remember that way back in 2006 we used to post curated PAIRS of talks once a week. i consider this our most engaging lineup. i recommend watching them back to back.

    http://www.ted.com/talks/david_deutsch_on_our_place_in_the_cosmos.html
    http://www.ted.com/talks/richard_dawkins_on_our_queer_universe.html

    and i always regret i wasn't there to film them...
  • +2

    A reply on Talk: Thomas Dolby: "Love Is a Loaded Pistol"

    Jun 14 2010: Molly, Michael: The performer's name is Vusi Mahlasela, the song is called Thula Mama, and be sure to listen to his story before the song -
    http://on.ted.com/8OcN
  • +1

    A comment on Talk: Sam Harris: Science can answer moral questions

    Mar 22 2010: Today's TEDTalk was having a technical issue. Thanks for your patience this morning. We're on it. The video should be working now. Enjoy the talk! ***NOTE: you may need to refresh your browser's cache if you are still having difficulties***

  • A comment on Talk: Vik Muniz: Art with wire, sugar, chocolate and string

    Apr 7 2007: if you're in new york, i highly recommend the PS1 retrospective... after watching this talk it's such a treat to see the works up close

  • A comment on Talk: Hans Rosling: Stats that reshape your worldview

    Apr 6 2007: don't want to spoil any of the surprises... i'd rather let the material speak for itself... just give this talk three minutes or so (because you won't be able to stop there)

  • A comment on Talk: Jeff Han demos his breakthrough touchscreen

    Apr 6 2007: it's so rare for a computer to evoke an authentic feeling of awe... when i walked up to his latest, 8-foot model at TED 2007 there were three or four other people fooling around with it and we all just did our own thing for a few minutes. it felt perfectly natural (and really cool).

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