Jon Fine
Filmmaker & Musician
Master Class Speaker
Through the Lens
Jon Fine is a filmmaker and musician. His work has taken him around the globe, filming Carlos Santana’s Peace Tour across Japan, Quincy Jones and Will Smith’s historic Jazz Day celebration in Havana, Cuba, Chaka Khan’s recording sessions in Mumbai, and rap icon Andre 3000’s foray into US politics. He spent a year on the road with Herbie Hancock & Wayne Shorter for the film “Possibilities” and went deep inside the coal mines of Slab Fork, West Virginia for “Still Bill”, the award winning feature he produced, shot and edited about songwriter Bill Withers.
He kept his camera rolling in the midst of mass arrests during the 2004 Republican National Convention in NY for “The Afterparty,” a documentary he shot and produced which led to a landmark lawsuit against the NYPD. He’s worked with film veterans Marc Levin, Alex Gibney, and Danny Glover and produced and edited “River of Gold” a feature about war photographer Ron Haviv’s investigation into illegal gold mining in the Peruvian rainforest.
Jon’s directed live concerts with Stevie Wonder, Hugh Masekela, Esperanza Spalding, Joss Stone, 50 Cent, Sean Paul, Shaggy and Tony Bennett.
Commercially, he worked with Apple from 2010-2017 editing their iconic launch films including “Designed by Apple” the only short film they’ve ever released about their notoriously secretive Industrial Design Studio. He’s edited campaigns for Gap, Jameson, Barneys, Puma and Clinique and created PSA’s for UNICEF, Peace Corps, Rainforest Alliance, Amazon Aid and (RED).
He consulted with Google’s Empathy Lab on a web series exploring Artificial Intelligence and edited a 200 screen video installation for architect Daniel Libeskind’s pavilion at the 2015 World Expo in Milan.
As a musician, Jon’s played with NYC afrobeat band Antibalas, produced a song with Beninoise superstar Angelique Kidjo, scored an Emmy nominated short film for the Atlantic, and created "Holy Forest” an acclaimed album featuring collaborations with artists from the US, Senegal & The Gambia. Jon currently lives in Bali, with his wife and two kids.
