Editing Jeff Dowd

{{Short description|American film producer}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2013}}
{{Infobox person
|name=Jeff Dowd
|image=Jeff Dowd.jpg|
|image_size=260
|caption=Dowd in 2009
|birth_date={{birth date and age|1949|11|20}}
|birth_place=[[United States]]
|death_date=
|death_place=
|occupation=[[Film producer]]
}}

'''Jeff Dowd''' (born November 20, 1949) is an American film producer and [[political activism|political activist]].

==Biography==
He was a member of the "[[Seattle Liberation Front|Seattle Seven]]",<ref>{{cite news | first=Guy | last=Raz | title=The Dude: A Little Lebowski, Alive in All of Us | date=May 25, 2008 | publisher=[[National Public Radio]] | url =https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90725993 | work =[[All Things Considered]] | access-date = July 23, 2009 }}</ref> who were jailed for contempt of court following a violent protest against the [[Vietnam War]]. He later moved to Los Angeles and became an independent movie producer and promoter, producing such films as ''[[Zebrahead (film)|Zebrahead]]''.<ref name=NYT>{{cite web|work=[[The New York Times]]|title=Zebrahead (1992) Review/Film Festival: Zebrahead; A Racial Chameleon In a Hidebound World|first=Janet|last=Maslin|author-link=Janet Maslin|date=October 8, 1992|url=https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9E0CE5D91030F93BA35753C1A964958260}}</ref> He met the [[Coen brothers]] while they were promoting their first film, ''[[Blood Simple]]'', and was a key (though not the only) inspiration for their character Jeffrey "The Dude" Lebowski from ''[[The Big Lebowski]]''.<ref>{{cite news|first=Jennifer |last=Sullivan |title="The Dude" abides on light rail |date=July 21, 2009 |url=http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2009512896_webthedude21m.html |work=[[The Seattle Times]] |access-date=July 23, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090725120430/http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2009512896_webthedude21m.html |archive-date=July 25, 2009 }}</ref>

In 2009, Dowd was involved in an altercation with movie critic John Anderson at the [[25th Sundance Film Festival|Sundance Film Festival]], after Anderson panned ''[[Dirt! The Movie]]'' (Dowd was the film's sales agent).<ref>{{cite web|last1=Ramos|first1=Steve|title=Critic Hits Dude at Sundance|url=http://www.vulture.com/2009/01/critic_hits_dude_at_sundance.html|website=Vulture|date=January 21, 2009 |publisher=www.vulture.com}}</ref> Anderson was eating breakfast when Dowd reportedly confronted him, and then incited a food fight and brief melee at the Yarrow Hotel Restaurant. Dowd did not press charges.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Thompson|first1=Anne|title=Sundance Watch|url=http://www.indiewire.com/2009/01/sundance-watch-john-anderson-pounds-jeff-dowd-186758/|website=Indiewire|date=January 21, 2009 |publisher=www.Indiewire.com}}</ref>

In 2011, Dowd was the subject of an 18-minute documentary-short directed by [[Jeff Feuerzeig]] and broadcast on the [[USA Network]] as part of its "Character" series.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/video/archive/2012/08/the-dude/261667/|title=The Dude Who Inspired 'The Dude' in the Coen Brothers' 'The Big Lebowski' |last=Cieplak-Mayr von Baldegg|first=Kasia|date=August 28, 2012|publisher=[[The Atlantic]]|access-date=September 2, 2012}}</ref>

==Filmography==
*''[[FernGully: The Last Rainforest]]'' (1992) (co-executive producer)
*''[[Zebrahead (film)|Zebrahead]]'' (1992) (producer)
*''Cement'' (1999) (co-executive producer)
*''The Last Game'' (2002) (TV) (executive producer)
*''[[Ocean of Pearls]]'' (2008) (executive producer)

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb name|id=0235669|name=Jeff Dowd}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120717051256/http://www.farfromglory.com/jeff_dowd_fortune.htm The Dude's Film School]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dowd, Jeff}}
[[Category:1949 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Film producers from Washington (state)]]
[[Category:American anti–Vietnam War activists]]