Jason Silva
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| Born | February 6, 1982 Caracas, Venezuela |
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| Main interests | Film, philosophy, futurism |
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Jason Silva (born February 6, 1982) is a Venezuelan-American television personality, filmmaker, and performance philosopher. He resides in Los Angeles, California and New York City.
Silva earned a degree in film and philosophy from the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. He, along with Max Lugavere, produced and starred in a video documentary/performance piece entitled "Textures of Selfhood"—an experimental film about hedonism and spirituality. "The Party-Philosophers" and "Intellectual Hedonists", as named by Angeleno Magazine, borrowed the name for the film from the Hedonistic Imperative, a website promoting the end to suffering by philosopher David Pearce.
The Atlantic describes Silva as "A Timothy Leary of the Viral Video Age".[1] He has also been described as "part Timothy Leary, part Ray Kurzweil, and part Neo from The Matrix".[2]
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Current TV [edit]
From 2005 to 2011, Silva was a presenter on Current TV. He co-hosted the show "Max and Jason" with Max Lugavere and they became a prolific hosting and producing duo, with stories ranging from illegal immigration and counterfeit IDs, to profiling a brave new singer songwriter right before signing a publishing deal, to a taped philosophical sit-down with director Darren Aronofsky. Their story on counterfeit IDs earned them a featured appearance and interview on Anderson Cooper 360. Their franchise, "Max and Jason Style" was one of the hallmarks of their work on Current TV. They covered issues in a distinctly unique way - often juxtaposing telegenic images and a heightened filmmaking aesthetic with bold and intelligent content.
He left the network in 2011 to become, according to The Atlantic, "a part-time filmmaker and full-time walking, talking TEDTalk."
The Immortalists and Turning into Gods [edit]
Silva produced and directed a short documentary film titled The Immortalists,[3] profiling scientists and philosophers, including Ray Kurzweil, about the philosophical implications of tinkering with our biology, merging with our technologies and overcoming our biological limitations. Inspired by the Stewart Brand quote: "We are as gods and might as well get good at it," the film is a love letter to science and technology. The film generated buzz among transhumanist circles for its impassioned exploration of the subject matter, and Silva has further explored Singularity studies by interviewing American filmmaker Barry Ptolemy on his recent film Transcendent Man.[4]
Silva is expanding The Immortalists into a feature length documentary titled Turning into Gods.[5][6]
Pangea Day [edit]
On May 10, 2008, Silva (along with Current TV co-host Max Lugavere, Lisa Ling, and June Arunga) hosted the first annual Pangea Day—a live 4-hour program of film, music, and speakers broadcast worldwide to over 150 countries and with a projected audience of 500 million people. The goal of the event, created by filmmaker Jehane Noujaim and TED curator Chris Anderson, was to unite the people of the world through the power of film.
Public speaking [edit]
An active and prolific speaker, Silva has recently spoken at Google, The Economist Ideas Festival, the prestigious DLD Digital Life Design Conference in Munich, TEDGlobal, the Singularity Summit, the PSFK Conference and the Festival of Dangerous Ideas.[2]
At TEDGlobal this past June 2012, Jason premiered "Radical Openness," a new short video.[7] In September 2012, Silva presented his Radical Openness videos at the opening keynote at Microsoft TechEd Australia.[8] Radical Openness was also featured in his presentation at La Ciudad de las Ideas conference on November 10th 2012.
Other [edit]
Silva has been featured in The Atlantic,[1] The Economist,[9] Vanity Fair,[10] Forbes,[11][12] Wired,[13] and many others.
In 2011 he became a fellow at the Hybrid Reality Institute, examining the symbiosis between man and machine.[14]
On August 15, 2012 he appeared on CBS This Morning.[15]
On September 24, 2012 he appeared on Australian ABC program Q&A alongside Tanya Plibersek, Kelly O'Dwyer, Mark Carnegie & Elliot Perlman.[16]
His film ATTENTION: The Immersive Power of Cinema[17] is part of the exhibition 'KINO und der kinamatografische Blick' ('CINEMA and the cinamatographic gaze'), 20 March - 2 June 2013, at MEWO Kunsthalle in Memmingen (Germany).[18]
He is hosting a show on Nat Geo called Brain Games.
References [edit]
- ^ a b "A Timothy Leary for the Viral Video Age". The Atlantic. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
- ^ a b "Jason Silva Bio". CAA Speakers. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
- ^ "At just 28, Jason Silva is thinking about DEATH - a lot". Fast Company.
- ^ "The 'Transcendent' Singularity is Near". Huffington Post.
- ^ Saenz, Aaron (June 2, 2010). "‘Turning Into Gods’ – Jason Silva’s Documentary on the Singularity". Singularity Hub. Retrieved 7 April 2011.
- ^ "Jason Silva Muses on Humans Turning Into Gods". Forbes.
- ^ Silva, Jason. "Radical Openness". Retrieved 17 August 2012.
- ^ Silva, Jason. "Radical Openness". Retrieved 28 September 2012.
- ^ "Jason Silva speaking at the Ideas Economy Conference in Innovation". Retrieved 17 August 2012.
- ^ "Why We Could All Use a Heavy Dose of Techno-optimism". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
- ^ "Radical Openness: A Trip Through Our Next Frontier". Forbes. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
- ^ "Four Steps To Finding Inspiration, From An Idea DJ". Forbes. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
- ^ "Jason Silva’s Captivating Videos Deliver a Dose of ‘Techno-Optimism’". Wired. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
- ^ "Hybrid Reality Fellows". Hybrid Reality Institute. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
- ^ "Jason Silva: Wonder junkie". CBS. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
- ^ "Q&A - Tanya Plibersek, Kelly O'Dwyer, Mark Carnegie, Elliot Perlman & Jason Silva". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 24 September 2012.
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlClW6-Ozms&list=UUiL3S6IS15fYdcNS8HOn2cw&index=11
- ^ http://www.mewo-kunsthalle.de/ausstellungen/kino.html
