Jesse Dylan is an American film director, and the founder, CEO and
creative director of the media production company Wondros. He is also a
member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and TED, and the founder of
Lybba, a non-profit devoted to the benefits of community, data and
technology in healthcare. He is the son of singer and songwriter Bob Dylan and
the brother of singer Jakob Dylan. Personal life
Dylan was born in New York City, and is the eldest son of musician Bob Dylan and
Sara Lownds Dylan. His siblings include Anna Lea, Samuel Isaac Abraham, and
Jakob Luke. In addition, his father adopted Sara's daughter from a prior
marriage, Maria Lownds. Bob and Sara Dylan divorced when Jesse was 11 years
old. Dylan is married to Susan Traylor; they
have two children. Dylan attended New York University film
school and began his career directing music videos for clients including Tom
Waits, Elvis Costello, Tom Petty, Lita Ford, Public Image Limited, and Lenny
Kravitz. Wondros
Dylan founded Wondros, a full-service production company which specializes in
translating complex business and prosocial ideas into simple media
messages. Wondros clients are a mix of organizations, corporations, and
individuals, including the Clinton Global Initiative, Desmond Tutu,
Creative Commons, The Columbia School of Journalism, TED, the Ford Foundation,
the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Harvard University, MIT Media Lab, Major
League Baseball, Cameron Diaz, and the Oprah Winfrey Network.
At Wondros, Dylan and the collective of storytellers focus on exploring and
explaining innovative projects and people. A film for The European
Organization for Nuclear Research, which explains the Large Hadron Collider, led
to Fast Company naming Dylan one of the Most Creative People of 2010.
He has created media projects for a diverse group of organizations,
including Bono’s non-profit ONE, the campaign fighting AIDS in Africa, the
Council On Foreign Relations, The Getty Foundation's Pacific Standard Time
Project, and a short film exploring innovation at Harvard Medical School for
the CATALYST project. Dylan is also an active member of TED, where he has
created materials and short films in support of TED Prize Winners.
Dylan’s work in music videos won him a 2012 MVPA Best Alternative Video Award
for his music video “Lonely Boy,” by the Black Keys. Dylan also worked on the
award-winning Ad Council campaign, “Your GED.”
"Yes We Can" In 2008, he directed the will.i.am Emmy
Award winning music video "Yes We Can," inspired by Barack Obama's campaign for
president. The film was created in three days, and featured over 30 celebrity
supporters singing then-Candidate Barack Obama’s New Hampshire Primary concession
speech. Originally posted on YouTube, “Yes We Can” received over 26 million
views just days after its release. In 2012, AdAge recognized “Yes We Can” as
one of the most influential political ads of all time.
Other Work His feature film directorial work
consists of comedies such as Kicking and Screaming, starring Will Ferrell and
Robert Duvall, and American Wedding. Other feature-length projects include
the documentary Crips and Bloods: Made in America, which explores the culture
of gangs and systemic violence in South Los Angeles. He produced the film for
director Stacy Peralta who premiered it at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival.
Dylan also produced and directed an original television series,
“CONversations with Ricky Jay,” which was built around sleight of hand artist
Ricky Jay. Lybba
In 2007, Dylan launched Lybba, a non-profit organization focused on the
open source healthcare movement. The project, according to Fast Company,
"combines the latest verified medical data with social networking to allow
patients and health-care professionals to make informed decisions." The
self-professed goal of the project: "to create an online central repository of
medical information." Since their foundation, Lybba has worked with such
partners as the Collaborative Chronic Care Network, And Early Development
Systems Initiative. Affiliations
Dylan is a fellow at Science Commons and is a member of the Broadcasting Board of
Governors. Dylan is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and TED.
References External links
Wondros Lybba
Jesse Dylan in The Wall Street Journal Jesse Dylan/Lybba on Marketwatch.com
Jesse Dylan on Air Mozilla Jesse Dylan, Creative Commons Fellow
Jesse Dylan at the Internet Movie Database