- Mick Ebeling
-
Mick Ebeling is an American film, television and commercial executive producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist. Ebeling is the founder and CEO of The Ebeling Group (TEG), a production company based in Venice Beach, California and the nonprofit The Not Impossible Foundation.[1] In April 2009, Ebeling flew five programmers and hackers from Graffiti Research Lab, Free Art and Technology Lab, and openFrameworks to Los Angeles and in the living room of his home created the EyeWriter, an open source, DIY device which enables individuals with paralysis to communicate and create art using only the movement of their eyes.[2] The EyeWriter project was conceptualized and first created for Tempt One, a Los Angeles based graffiti artist who was diagnosed with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in 2003.[3] Tempt1 wrote his first piece of graffiti after seven years using the EyeWriter on April 10, 2009.[4] Ebeling’s March 2011 TED talk: The invention that unlocked the locked-in artist discusses the creation of The EyeWriter and Ebeling’s mission to raise public awareness and inspire ideas that encourage change. With no technical background in ocular recognition technology, Ebeling asks the question: “If not now, then when? If not me, then who?” [5]
Contents
Career
Ebeling’s first entertainment job was launching Venice Beach based, FUEL in 1995. FUEL was a motion design studio using one of the first versions of the Adobe After Effects software. FUEL was bought by Razorfish in July 1999. Ebeling then went on to be the CEO of THEY. THEY was a cross-platform design company that worked with clients such as NASA. In 2001, Mick formed The Ebeling Group (TEG), a commercial and film production company that focuses on animation, design and visual effects.[6] From 2006 to 2011, under Ebeling’s leadership the company branched into film and long form content with credits on titles such as “Stranger Than Fiction” (2006), “Kite Runner” (2007), “Quantum of Solace” (2008), the award-winning animation “Yes, Virginia” television special for CBS (2009) [7] and a series of short films with Marvel Studios called “One-Shots” (2011).[8]
Personal life and education
Mick Ebeling was raised in a family of entrepreneurs and philanthropists, son of Marge and Les Ebeling.[9][10] He was born in Long Beach, California and raised in Phoenix, Arizona where he attended Brophy College Preparatory. He went onto play basketball for the Air Force Academy, Colorado before he transferred to University of California, Santa Barbara where he graduated in 1992 with a degree in political science.[11] Mick is married to Caskey Ebeling, an American filmmaker and screenwriter, they have three children: Angus, Bo Jameson, and Trace.[12] Caskey is a partner of The Ebeling Group and co-founder of The Not Impossible Foundation.[13] The Ebelings’ document the creation of the EyeWriter that began in the living room of their Venice Beach home in a documentary titled “Getting Up”.[14]
Appearances
- TEDxKids: Mick Ebeling at TEDxSMU in January 2011
- TED Talks: Mick Ebeling the invention that unlocked a locked in artist at TED in March 2011
- TED Talks: Mick Ebeling EyeWriter Needs You at TEDxDU in May 2011
Awards and nominations
Wins
- AICP (2010) The Next Awards Product Integration for Macy’s “Yes, Virginia” [15]
- SKIP of New York Ruby Slipper Award (2010) [16]
- Cannes Lions (2010) Film Craft Silver Award for Macy’s “Yes, Virginia” [17]
- Cannes Lions (2010) Titanium and Integrated Bronze Award for Macy’s “Yes, Virginia” [18]
- One Show (2010) Entertainment Gold Pencil Award for Macy’s “Yes, Virginia” [19]
- One Show (2010) Silver Pencil Award for Macy’s “Yes, Virginia” [20]
- One Show (2010) Banded Content Single Silver Award for Macy’s “Yes, Virginia” [21]
Nominations
- Grammy Award (2009) for Best Short Form Music Video for “Another Way to Die” by Jack White and Alicia Keys [22]
EyeWriter awards and press
- The 50 Best Inventions of 2010 by Time Magazine [23]
- Brit Insurance Interactive Award (2010) [24]
- Future Everything Lever Prize (2010) [25]
- Adam Frucci (25 August 2009), "EyeWriter Lets You Draw and Write Using Only Your Eyes", Gizmodo, http://gizmodo.com/5345147/eyewriter-lets-you-draw-and-write-using-only-your-eyes
- Jaymi Heimbuch (5 June 2010), "8 Incredible Health Innovations That Transform Lives", Planet Green, http://planetgreen.discovery.com/tech-transport/8-incredible-health-innovations-that-improve-lives.html
References
- ^ http://www.ted.com/speakers/mick_ebeling.html
- ^ http://gizmodo.com/5345147/eyewriter-lets-you-draw-and-write-using-only-your-eyes
- ^ http://www.infoniac.com/health-fitness/top-10-most-important-inventions-of-the-21st-century-in-medicine.html
- ^ http://creativity-online.com/news/an-eye-for-art-the-ebeling-group-and-graffiti-research-lab-take-on-a-cause/136205
- ^ http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/innovation/2011/0429/1224295375220.html
- ^ http://www.deathfall.com/forums/content.php?1610
- ^ http://www.coloribus.com/adsarchive/online-casestudy/macys-yes-virginia-13755055/
- ^ http://pro.imdb.com/name/nm3682506/
- ^ http://wellcarefoundation.org/margesStory.aspx
- ^ http://catholiccharitiesaz.org/Portals/0/documents/CC-web-annual.pdf
- ^ http://www.tedxphoenix.com/speakers
- ^ http://amiga.adage.com/ideacon10/10-MickEbeling.php
- ^ http://artisnow.com/?p=515
- ^ http://pro.imdb.com/title/tt2084839/maindetails
- ^ http://www.aicp.com/show/2010-next-awards.html
- ^ http://www.skipofny.org/events
- ^ http://www.coloribus.com/festivals-awards/cannes-lions/Cannes-Lions-2010/film-craft/--/silver/
- ^ http://www.coloribus.com/festivals-awards/cannes-lions/Cannes-Lions-2010/titanium-and-integrated/--/bronze/
- ^ http://www.oneclub.org/theoneshow/os/?search=10007E#olb=/_ajax/archive/?action=arc_work%26value=11395
- ^ http://www.oneclub.org/theoneshow/os/?search=10071T#olb=/_ajax/archive/?action=arc_work%26value=11878
- ^ http://www.coloribus.com/festivals-awards/one-show/One_Show_2010/branded-content/branded-content-single/silver/
- ^ http://www.vh1.com/news/articles/1604545/20090208/index.jhtml
- ^ http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2029497_2030618_2029822,00.html
- ^ http://www.designsoftheyear.com/2010/03/05/category-winners-2010-are-announced/
- ^ http://2010.futureeverything.org/abouttheawards/eyewriter2
External links
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
