| Peter Joseph | |
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Peter Joseph, 2010 |
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| Born | Peter Joseph 1978 North Carolina, United States |
| Occupation | Film director, Film editor, Screenwriter, Producer, Composer, Activist |
| Years active | 2007 - present |
Peter Joseph (born 1978, North Carolina, USA) is an independent filmmaker. He has written, directed, narrated, scored and produced three non-commercial, self-produced and freely-distributed documentary films called Zeitgeist: The Movie, Zeitgeist: Addendum and Zeitgeist: Moving Forward. These films comprise what is called the "Zeitgeist Film Series". He is also the founder of the Zeitgeist Movement.
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Peter Joseph was born in North Carolina to a middle class family. The son of a mailman and a social worker, he began his creative interests with music at a young age. Later, seeking a career in percussion, he moved to New York initially to attend a conservatory, only to drop out after an inability to afford the tuition.[1] He lives and works in New York City and focuses on media related fields, including music composition, editing, post-production and other A/V related. He is also a former private equity trader, which he often comments upon as being his "introduction to the wasteful, destructive system known as Wall Street" [1]
After the release of Zeitgeist: Addendum, he founded the Zeitgeist Movement, which is a social sustainability organization. His work with the movement is now a large part of his daily activities - giving talks and helping to produce relevant media/materials to spread the interest for a social system called a resource-based economy.
Zeitgeist: The Movie (2007) was created as a personal project and was shown in New York as a free public awareness expression. After the event was over, the film was released online.
In October 2008, Zeitgeist: Addendum was released as a continuation of the first film, focusing on the core issues relevant to the subject of human corruption while in turn offering a solution. The website reports that it has an average 50,000 daily views, making it approximately 10 million as of August 2009. This does not include YouTube views and other platforms.
The third film, called Zeitgeist: Moving Forward, was released in theaters January 15, 2011. Some of its topics include human behavior, technology, and rationality. However its main theme centers around the current global economic system and its various repercussions to human civilization and the general health of our planet. It was released in 60 countries, in 31 languages, in 295 cities and 341 venues with sold out crowds in attendance. It has been noted as the largest non-profit independent film release in history.
On January 25, 2011, it was released online over the Zeitgeist Movement's official YouTube site, where it is available for free feature length viewing. It has since gathered a vast amount of views in a short period of time via the use of social networking websites. It is also available for free download from the Zeitgeist Movement's website, with instructions on how to create DVD copies as a means to further distribute its message.
On June 1, 2011, the Zeitgeist Film Series Website announced the fourth installment of the Zeitgeist Film Series, entitled: Zeitgeist: Beyond the Pale, set for release in late 2012, noting: "The focus will be on culturally dominant value systems, beliefs and institutions, with the challenge proposed: Are your values and beliefs sustainable? Are the deeply held, conditioned beliefs and reinforced patterns of behavior common today actually serving to advance our societies? Or are these beliefs holding back and even corrupting the human species to an extent that might lead to our extinction?"[2]
Joseph started the Zeitgeist Movement in 2009 towards the end of the second film, Zeitgeist: Addendum. This grassroots movement advocates social awareness and broad social change concepts—the most significant of which is the transition to a modern global society and a resource-based economy from the current money-based economy.
During a February 24, 2010 radio address, Joseph said of the movement, "We are not preaching any type of behavior. We are trying to readjust society in a positive way holistically through technology and science. It’s that simple."[3][4]
Joseph has lectured in a number of countries and platforms on the issues of sustainability and society. A notable event was Portugal's TEDx event in 2010. [5] He also is active with Monthly "Town-hall" lecture events in Los Angeles[6] and global ZDAY events annually.[7]
Joseph was the subject of a New York Times article[8] shortly after the 2009 Zeitgeist Day as well as numerous interviews by radio hosts and independent media journalists.[9] In mid-2009 the website Life Without Keys posted a review of Joseph's lecture "Where Are We Now?" calling Joseph "a naturally able rhetorician" and describing the lecture event as "a real success, with quite a few over-eager audience members staying up to an hour afterwards to question Peter and talk to each other." [10] In early 2010, a free downloadable online interview was made about Joseph by amateur documentary maker Charles Robinson in which Joseph discusses his life experiences.[11]
On March 26, 2011 he was featured live on Russia Today regarding the Economic Crisis.[12]
On July 26, 2011 he faced a long string of questions at Salvador, Brazil's international cinema festival, Cine Futuro, where he showed his movie Zeitgeist: Moving Forward and participated in debate on contemporary political filmmaking.[13]
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