Josh Tickell

Josh Tickell
Born August 7, 1975
Lancaster, Ohio, United States
Spouse(s) Rebecca Tickell (2010–present)

Josh Tickell is an American film director who specializes in movies with a social message. His first feature movie, Fuel [1] won the Sundance Audience Award for Best Documentary, was released theatrically in the United States and became a global sensation gaining over 1 million viewers on Netflix, iTunes, Hulu and CNBC.[2][3] The movie was screened in the White House for energy and environment staff working in the Obama Administration.

Tickell has been a featured guest on Jay Leno's The Tonight Show, Good Morning America, CNN, Discovery, Reuters, NBC, Fox and NPR. Articles on Tickell and his films have appeared in the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, USA Today, The Huffington Post, Hustler Magazine, Maxim Magazine, Popular Mechanics and thousands of international newspapers and magazines.[4]

He directed the Cannes Film Festival movie, The Big Fix.[5] The film explores possible connections between corporate and political malfeasance and the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. He went on to direct his third film, Freedom (2011),[6] which focuses on alcohol fuel and aired on the SuperChannel in Canada. He just completed his latest documentary, "PUMP," and is currently in production on "Good Fortune", The Official Biography of John Paul DeJoria, co-founder of Patrón Tequila and Paul Mitchell Systems.[7]

Josh Tickell holds Masters in Film from Florida State University's School of Motion Picture Arts.[8]

The Veggie Van Voyage

Tickell returned to the USA, bought an old diesel-powered Winnebago van that he painted with sunflowers and called the “Veggie Van".[9][10] He built a small biodiesel processor that he named “The Green Grease Machine” and then set off on a 25,000 mile, two-year tour of the USA powered by the biodiesel he made from used grease collected from fast food restaurants along the way. This journey, which eventually became known as The Veggie Van Voyage, attracted the attention of numerous media outlets, serving to promote the publicity of biodiesel as a viable alternative fuel.

Books

After the Veggie Van tour, Tickell wrote his first book, From the Fryer to the Fuel Tank – The Complete Guide to Using Vegetable Oil as an Alternative Fuel.[11] His second book is titled Biodiesel America: How to Free America From Oil and Make Money with Alternative Fuel. The book examines the status quo of the oil industry, the automakers and the government and offers an alternative energy roadmap to wean the US off fossil fuels.

Filmography

Clean energy advocacy

In September 2009, Tickell’s documentary on alternative clean energy, Fuel, was rolled out into 150 cities. In 2012, Tickell's advocacy for clean energy led him to join the advisory board of Grow Energy,[12] a startup focused on developing algae as a viable energy resource.

Education

Tickell holds an undergraduate degree in Sustainable Living from New College of Florida. After the publication of his first book, Tickell enrolled in Florida State University’s School of Motion Picture Television and Recording Arts where he earned his MFA in film.

See also

References