Biography

After three years as a post office truck driver, and five as a railroad Carman mechanic, Jay decided it was time to make films. Years later, he's still at it. Jay completed "Return to Kandahar", a feature-length documentary co-directed with Nelofer Pazira (star of the movie Kandahar). The film follows Pazira's return to Afghanistan in search of her childhood friend. Her first attempt to find Dyana, inspired the fictional movie Kandahar. This film is a documentary account of her second journey. Macleans called it "eye-opening . . .breathtaking". The Globe and Mail called it "wonderful . . . an astonishing story of the personal and political". The Ottawa Citizen called it "shocking, compelling . . . as suspenseful as any drama". Jay's _Lost in Las Vegas (2001)- was a feature-length documentary for A&E. "Equal parts hilarious, heroic and heartfelt . . . often surprising, occasionally inspiring, frequently hilarious . . . You've got to see this thing to believe it. It's so good." (Rob Salem, The Toronto Star)

Jay's Hitman Hart: Wrestling with Shadows (1998), a feature-length documentary, was screened in 25 major festivals and won more than a dozen awards. It's been called "one of the most acclaimed Canadian films in years" (Eye magazine), "A tale as bizarre as Kafka and as tragic as Shakespeare" (Ottawa Citizen) and "one of the best films of 1998" (Peter Plagens, art critic for Newsweek). 'Hitman' was produced in cooperation with the National Film Board of Canada, TVOntario, The 'A' Channel, CTV, A&E, BBC's Storyville, and La Sept/Arte.

Never-Endum-Referendum, also a feature-length doc, (CTV, SRC, Arte) was called ' a moving, masterful piece of film-making about a tough subject." (Tony Atherton Ottawa Citizen) Jay is the creator and executive producer of CBC Newsworld's flagship debate program counterSpin, now in its sixth season of prime time debate about the news of the day.

Other work includes "Justice Denied" (Turner), " The Life and Death of Owen Hart" (TVO, A&E), Albanian Journey:End of an Era (TVOntario, CBC Witness), The Birth of Language (TVOntario and Discovery U.S.), 'Here's to the Cowboy' (CBC, Disney, London Weekend, Central TV). Jay exec-produced 'Through Thick and Thin' (CBCNewsworld), 'Machine Gun' (3x1 Discovery Canada&US), and 'The Famine Within ' (TVO). Jay was the co-creator and co-executive producer of Face Off, a nightly prime time debate program that ran 5 years on CBC Newsworld.

A past chair of the Canadian Independent Film Caucus, the main organization of documentary filmmakers in Canada, Jay is the founding chair of Hot Docs!, the Canadian international documentary film festival. Jay was born and raised in Toronto.
- IMDb mini biography by: dmo

After three years as a post office truck driver and five as a railroad Carman mechanic, Jay decided it was time to make films. Years later, he's still at it.

Jay is currently producing the feature documentary "How to Stop a Nuclear War," based on Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg's book "The Doomsday Machine: Confessions of a Nuclear War Planner." The film is narrated by acclaimed actor Emma Thompson, with additional support from Kristen Stewart.

The film picks up where "The Day After" and "Oppenheimer" left off, unfolding as a gripping political thriller that unveils the stark realities of present-day nuclear dangers and the little-known history of the "institutional madness" that has brought us perilously close to the edge. Starting from the present and urgent threat, the documentary explores how we got here and proposes concrete solutions to greatly reduce the risk of nuclear war. The film tells the story of Ellsberg's journey from cold warrior hawk to anti-nuclear weapons activist, as he reveals the secrets and lies of nuclear war planning and discovers a culture of institutional madness and profit-making at the root of U.S. nuclear war strategy.

Jay has completed over 40 hours of interviews with Ellsberg and secured participation from more than 100 distinguished experts who will be featured as interviewees or advisors, including Senator Sam Nunn, Governor Jerry Brown, Richard Rhodes, Kai Bird, Peter Kuznick, Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, Ben Rhodes, and many others.

The Hollywood Reporter has published five exclusive articles on the upcoming documentary.

Daniel Ellsberg ‘How to Stop Nuclear War’ Documentary in the Works (Exclusive)

Emma Thompson to Narrate Daniel Ellsberg Documentary ‘How to Stop Nuclear War’ (Exclusive)

Barbra Streisand Kept Pentagon Papers Leaker Daniel Ellsberg Out of Jail, Says Filmmaker

‘The Day After’ Director Nicholas Meyer to Exec Produce Daniel Ellsberg Documentary ‘How to Stop Nuclear War’

Kristen Stewart Warns the World Is "Dangerously Close" to Nuclear Catastrophe

The project has taken Jay to speaking engagements at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo, the International Journalism Festival in Perugia, the Emergency Festival in Reggio Emilia, and the Outrider Nuclear Summit in Little Rock, as well as universities including UMass, Tufts, and the University of Toronto.

Jay is the editor-in-chief and host of theAnalysis.news, a video and audio current affairs interview and commentary show focusing on political economy, foreign policy, and nuclear policy from a progressive perspective.

His earlier work includes "Return to Kandahar," a feature-length documentary co-directed with Nelofer Pazira (star of the movie Kandahar). The film follows Pazira's return to Afghanistan in search of her childhood friend. Macleans called it "eye-opening...breathtaking." The Globe and Mail called it "wonderful...an astonishing story of the personal and political."

Jay's "Hitman Hart: Wrestling with Shadows" (1998) screened in 25 major festivals and won more than a dozen awards. It's been called "one of the most acclaimed Canadian films in years" (Eye magazine), "A tale as bizarre as Kafka and as tragic as Shakespeare" (Ottawa Citizen), and "one of the best films of 1998" (Peter Plagens, Newsweek). The film was produced in cooperation with the National Film Board of Canada, TVOntario, The 'A' Channel, CTV, A&E, BBC's Storyville, and La Sept/Arte.

Other work includes "Lost in Las Vegas" (2001) for A&E, called "Equal parts hilarious, heroic and heartfelt" (Rob Salem, The Toronto Star); "Never-Endum-Referendum," described as "a moving, masterful piece of film-making" (Tony Atherton, Ottawa Citizen); "Justice Denied" (Turner); "The Life and Death of Owen Hart" (TVO, A&E); and "Albanian Journey: End of an Era" (TVOntario, CBC Witness).

Jay was the co-creator and co-executive producer of Face Off and counterSpin, nightly prime-time debate programs that ran for ten years on CBC Newsworld. He is a past chair of the Documentary Organization of Canada and was the founding chair of Hot Docs - Canadian International Documentary Festival.

Jay was born and raised in Toronto.
- IMDb mini biography by: Paul Jay