| Paul Jay | |
|---|---|
| Born | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Nationality | Canada |
| Citizenship | Canada United States |
| Occupation | Journalist, Filmmaker |
| Awards | Gemini Award |
Paul Jay is a journalist and filmmaker, and is creator and CEO of The Real News. Jay was born and raised in Toronto[1] and holds dual-citizenship with the United States. Jay is the nephew of screenwriter Ted Allan[2].
Return to Kandahar was a feature length documentary co-directed with Nelofer Pazira, star of the movie Kandahar. Although Kandahar was fictional, Return to Kandahar follows Pazira's return to Afghanistan in search of her childhood friend; her first attempt inspired the fictional movie. RTK won the Donald Brittain Gemini award for best social political documentary.[1]
Lost in Las Vegas was a feature length documentary for A&E. "Equal parts hilarious, heroic and heartfelt... often surprising, occasionally inspiring, frequently hilarious... You've got to see this thing to believe it. It's so good." (Rob Salem, The Toronto Star).[1]
Jay's Hitman Hart: Wrestling with Shadows, a feature length documentary, was screened in 25 major festivals and won more than a dozen awards. It has been called "one of the most acclaimed Canadian films in years"(eye magazine), "A tale as bizarre as Kafka and as tragic as Shakespeare" (Ottawa Citizen) and "one of the best films of 1998" (Peter Plagens, art critic for Newsweek). Hitman was produced in cooperation with the National Film Board of Canada, TVOntario, The 'A' Channel, CTV, A&E, BBC's Storyville, and La Sept/Arte.[1]
Never-Endum Referendum, also a feature length documentary, (CTV, SRC, Arte) was called "a moving, masterful piece of film-making about a tough subject". (Tony Atherton Ottawa Citizen)[1]
Jay was the creator and executive producer of CBC Newsworld's flagship debate program counterSpin, for six seasons the prime time debate show about the news of the day.[1]
Other work includes Justice Denied (Turner), The Life and Death of Owen Hart (TVO, A&E), Albanian Journey:End of an Era (TVOntario, CBC Witness), The Birth of Language (TVOntario and Discovery U.S.), Here's to the Cowboy (CBC, Disney, London Weekend, Central TV). Jay exec-produced Through Thick and Thin (CBCNewsworld), Machine Gun (3x1 Discovery Canada&US), and The Famine Within (TVO). Jay was the co-creator and co-executive producer of Face Off, a nightly prime time debate program that ran four years on CBC Newsworld.[1]
A past chair of the Canadian Independent Film Caucus (now called DOC), the main organization of documentary filmmakers in Canada, Jay is the founding chair of the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival. He chaired the Hot Docs! board for its first five years.[1]
Currently, Jay works as the main producer on his flagship news network The Real News. He worked with Gore Vidal for the launch of TRNN, which included the documentary: History of the National Security State. In this, Paul interviews Vidal, as well as Lawrence Wilkerson, Ray McGovern, and Antonia Juhasz. He also occasionally writes articles, such as for In These Times[3].