Ondi Timoner

Birth Name: Ondi Doane Timoner

Ondi Timoner is a director, writer and producer who takes on the impossible and makes it possible! She creates award-winning documentaries (features and shorts) which illustrate complex and polarizing ...Show More

Ondi Timoner is a director, writer and producer who takes on the impossible and makes it possible! She creates award-winning documentaries (features and shorts) which illustrate complex and polarizing people who are redefining culture. A force of nature unto herself, Ondi harnesses her passion to create unique narratives by deconstructing these visionary disruptors into relatable and identifiable characters.Timoner has the rare distinction of winning the Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize - twice! The first was for her 2004 documentary, DIG!, about the collision of art & commerce through the star-crossed rivalry between two bands. And the second for 2009's WE LIVE IN PUBLIC, about Internet visionary Josh Harris. Both films were acquired by the Museum of Modern Art in New York for their permanent collection. Her other award-winning features include THE NATURE OF THE BEAST (1994), JOIN US (2007), and COOL IT (2010).Timoner's latest feature documentary, BRAND: A SECOND COMING, chronicles comedian / author / activist Russell Brand's transformation from drug/sex/fame addict to unexpected political disruptor. It premiered as the Opening Night film at SXSW 2015. BRAND has gone on to win the Ashland Film Festival's No Limits Award as well as the Dramatic Storytelling in Documentary Award from the Sarasota Film Festival. The film will release theatrically in the United States through the Ignite Channel on September 25, 2015 followed by the theatrical releases in the UK by Metrodome and Australia through Village Roadshow.Ondi is the founder/CEA (Chief Executive Artist) of the award-winning production company, Interloper Films, and A TOTAL DISRUPTION, a network for entrepreneurs and artists - which documents the top thought-leaders driving the greatest revolution in the history of mankind with technology. A TOTAL DISRUPTION is best known for a distinguished series of theatrical shorts designed to empower artists to redefine the rules of engagement using the Internet -- OBEY THE ARTIST premiered at SXSW 2014 and follows world-renowned graphic artist, Shepard Fairey. AMANDA F---ING PALMER ON THE ROCKS about musician and Kickstarter record-breaker, Amanda Palmer, premiered at the Festival and won BEST SHORT DOC at Sheffield Doc/Fest '14. RUSSELL BRANDS THE BIRD about comedian/actor, Russell Brand's trip to Twitter HQ, premiered at Sheffield Doc/Fest '14. In 2014, Ondi was tapped to deliver the popular TEDxKC talk, "When Genius and Insanity Hold Hands," tracing the characteristics of the "impossible visionaries" she's documented in hopes of unlocking the innovators inside all of us. At SXSW 2015, Timoner unveiled a new short film THE LAST MILE ( A TOTAL DISRUPTION - WIRED co-produced) following a tech incubator founded inside San Quentin Prison, where inmates are learning to become entrepreneurs despite having no access to the internet or computers.In her free time, Ondi produces and hosts BYOD (Bring Your Own Doc) for thelip.tv, the only documentary talk show in the world with over 230 episodes covering more than 300 of the greatest films in studio and over 25 festivals since 2011.On the horizon, Timoner has identified her next two projects. In conjunction with Sundance Labs and the Tribeca All-Access program, she has written the story of another cultural lightening rod, photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, in a film called MAPPLETHORPE. It is her first "pre-scripted actor film" which she is slated to direct in 2016. And her newest screenplay is a life-long dream which will be turned into reality -- the story of her father, entrepreneur Eli Timoner, who founded the fastest growing airline in history, AIR FLORIDA. Eli was the original "disruptor" in Ondi's life and his courage and tenacity are what inspired Timoner to pursue her own unique path in telling the stories of so many visionaries.Timoner's other credits include a Grammy nomination for her short film on the band Fastball in '98 as well as creating, producing and directing the original VH-1 series Sound Affects in 2000. She has directed music videos for The Pixies, The Jonas Brothers, The Vines, DMC, Lucinda Williams, the Dandy Warhols, OK GO, among others. She's directed commercials and shorts for President Bill Clinton, Honda's "Dream the Impossible" series, CNN Heroes, State Farm, and Ford.She resides in Pasadena, CA and is a member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences and the Director's Guild of America, where she serves on the National Board. Hide