Tyler MacNiven

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Tyler MacNiven
Tyler Kingsley MacNiven.jpg
OccupationFilmmaker
Television The Amazing Race 9

Tyler Kingsley MacNiven is an American filmmaker and reality television contestant.

Contents

Stanford University admission campaign

MacNiven first received attention in 1998 when, while a senior at the Woodside High School in Woodside, California, he launched a political-style campaign to supplement his application to Stanford University, where he had wanted to go since the seventh grade. [1] After turning in his early admission application, MacNiven held a press conference in front of Stanford's Bowman Alumni House. For the rest of the week, MacNiven and his volunteer staff of friends and family wore sandwich boards and passed out "Tyler MacNiven for Stanford Student" leaflets after school, among other traditional campaign activities. [2] MacNiven said, "There's so many outstanding people applying to Stanford these days that I actually want to be `out standing' in front of them, to show them that he really did have a passion to go there. [3] MacNiven was rejected. He said, "My goal was to make every possible effort, leaving no options untested. That's what the campaign was really about." He was told by the admissions officer that he was noticed and that his campaign was not detrimental, despite seeming foolish to many citizens. [1]

MacNiven graduated from UC Santa Cruz with a BA in politics, completing semesters abroad in Hungary and on a Semester at Sea, which has featured such great minds as Fidel Castro among others. [4] He claims to have been the last student of Tom Lehrer. [5]

Kintaro Walks Japan

In 2004, MacNiven walked the length of Japan over 145 days. He created a one-hour documentary of the trek, titled Kintaro Walks Japan . MacNiven cited three reasons for the journey. On his first trip to the country in 2002, he fell in love with the country and had to return. It was on this trip that a friend nicknamed him the "Kintarō," which means "Golden Boy," because of his blond hair. MacNiven hoped to win a girl over, but he ultimately went home without doing so.

Unable to find a distributor for the documentary of the trek, MacNiven burned 1,000 DVDs and began hawking copies of the film on the streets of San Francisco and at a restaurant his father owns. [6] One day, George Strompolos, an executive from the nearby Google campus, dropped by. "Dad showed the movie to him," MacNiven said. "He watched it and said, 'This is exactly what we need.'" Upon release, the film was averaging approximately 500 views a day at Google Video. [7]

Kintaro Walks Japan premiered at the Santa Cruz Film Festival in 2006 and was voted by the audience as "Best of Fest" and it received the highest winning vote in the 5-year history of the festival.[ citation needed ]

The Amazing Race

In 2006, MacNiven appeared as a contestant on the ninth edition of the American television series The Amazing Race . He and his teammate, B.J. Averell, who MacNiven met on the study abroad program Semester at Sea four years earlier, [4] beat out ten other teams to win the show's $1 million prize over Eric & Jeremy. BJ & Tyler, as they were identified on the program, were nicknamed "the hippies" by the other teams.

BJ & Tyler came in last in two legs of the season, but both the legs were non-elimination legs. [8] Host Phil Keoghan said, "They enjoyed every single moment they were on this race, whether they were in first or in last. They kept their spirit all the way to the end." [9] "If it's this successful to be hippies, we might as well stay hippies," Tyler said at the finish line in Colorado. [10] He also added, "BJ and I approached each country with wide eyes and enthusiasm and joy and a huge spirit of adventure and willing to share that with everybody we met. There's so much in this world. We might as well just take advantage of as much as we can and give back as much as we can and that's important. 'Cause that's how it all works." [11]

The Amazing Race 9 finishes

Roadblocks performed by MacNiven are bolded

EpisodeLegDestination(s)Detour choice (underlined)Roadblock performancePlacementNotes
1 1 United StatesBrazil Motor head/Rotor headNo roadblock2nd of 11
2 2 Brazil Press it/Climb itBJ1st of 10
3 3 BrazilRussiaGermany Scrub/ScourTyler4th of 9 [lower-alpha 1]
4Break it/Slap itBJ2nd of 9
5 4 GermanyItaly Foundry/LaundryTyler1st of 8
6 5 Italy Big fish/Little fishBJ2nd of 7
7 6 ItalyGreece Herculean effort/It's all Greek to meTyler5th of 6 [lower-alpha 2]
8 7 GreeceOman Camel/WatchtowerBJ5th of 5
9 8 OmanAustralia Sand/SeaTyler3rd of 5
10 9 Australia Dry/WetBJ4th of 4
11 10 AustraliaThailand Used fast forward1st of 4ƒ
12 11 ThailandJapan Maiden/MessengerTyler1st of 3
12 JapanUnited States Drill it/Deliver itBJ1st of 3
Notes
  1. Leg 3 was a double-length leg, with two Detours and two Roadblocks, shown over two episodes. The placement listed in the top row reflect the order teams arrived at the leg's halfway point.
  2. BJ & Tyler initially arrived 5th, but were issued a 15-minute penalty for taking a bus instead of a train all the way to the Isthmos Train Station. This did not affect their placement.

Related Research Articles

The Amazing Race is an adventure reality game show franchise in which teams of two people race around the world in competition with other teams. The Race is split into legs, with teams tasked to deduce clues, navigate themselves in foreign areas, interact with locals, and perform physical and mental challenges that often highlight aspects of a location's culture, history, or economy. Over the course of the Race, teams travel by airplanes, helicopters, trucks, bicycles, taxicabs, cars, trains, buses, boats and by foot. Teams are progressively eliminated at the end of most legs for being the last to arrive at designated Pit Stops, until only three remain. The first team to arrive at the finish line is awarded the grand prize.

<i>The Amazing Race 5</i> Season of television series

The Amazing Race 5 is the fifth season of the American reality competition show The Amazing Race. Hosted by Phil Keoghan, it featured eleven teams of two competing in a race around the world in order to win US$1,000,000. This season visited six continents and twelve countries and traveled over 72,000 miles (116,000 km). Starting in Santa Monica, racers traveled through Uruguay, Argentina, Russia, Egypt, Kenya, Tanzania, the United Arab Emirates, India, New Zealand, the Philippines, and Canada before finishing in Dallas. New twists introduced in this season included the Yield, where one team could force another team to stop racing for a predetermined amount of time, and a new non-elimination leg penalty where teams that finished last where stripped of all of the money they had accumulated during previous legs and would not receive any money in the subsequent leg. The season premiered on CBS on July 6, 2004, and concluded on September 21, 2004.

<i>The Amazing Race 6</i> Season of television series

The Amazing Race 6 is the sixth season of the American reality competition show The Amazing Race. Hosted by Phil Keoghan, it featured eleven teams of two competing in a race around the world in order to win US$1,000,000. This season visited four continents and ten countries and traveled over 40,000 miles (64,000 km). Starting in Chicago, racers traveled through Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Senegal, Germany, Hungary, France, Ethiopia, Sri Lanka, and Hawaii before finishing in Chicago. New twists introduced in this season include uniting teams for a task, the double-length leg, and limits on team members' Roadblock performances. The season premiered on CBS on November 16, 2004, and concluded on February 8, 2005.

<i>The Amazing Race 9</i> Season of television series

The Amazing Race 9 is the ninth season of the American reality competition show The Amazing Race. Hosted by Phil Keoghan, it featured eleven teams of two competing in a race around the world in order to win US$1,000,000. After the previous season's Family Edition, which had families of four racing around North America, this season returned to teams of two racing around the world. This season visited five continents and ten countries and traveled over 59,000 miles (95,000 km). Starting in Morrison, Colorado, outside of Denver, racers traveled through Brazil, Russia, Germany, Italy, Greece, Oman, Australia, Thailand, Japan, and Alaska before finishing in Greater Denver. The season premiered on CBS on February 28, 2006, and concluded on May 17, 2006.

Ronald D. Young Jr. is an American former POW in the 2003 Gulf military action against Iraq who later became a contestant in the reality show The Amazing Race 7. Young is also an Eagle Scout.

<i>The Amazing Race 10</i> Season of television series

The Amazing Race 10 is the tenth season of the American reality competition show The Amazing Race. Hosted by Phil Keoghan, it featured twelve teams of two competing in a race around the world in order to win US$1,000,000. This season visited four continents and thirteen countries and traveled over 40,000 miles (64,000 km). Starting in Seattle, racers traveled through China, Mongolia, Vietnam, India, Kuwait, Mauritius, Madagascar, Finland, Ukraine, Morocco, Spain, and France before finishing in the Hudson Valley. New twists introduced in this season include a mid-leg elimination; the Intersection, where two teams had to join up for a task; and a new non-elimination penalty, where the team who finished last in the previous leg had to finish first in the subsequent leg or else incur a 30-minute penalty. The season premiered on CBS on September 17, 2006, and concluded on December 10, 2006.

Kintaro Walks Japan is a documentary film produced and directed by Tyler MacNiven. It is an account of MacNiven's journey walking and backpacking the entire length of Japan from Kyūshū to Hokkaidō, more than 2000 miles in 145 days.

<i>The Amazing Race 11</i> Season of television series

The Amazing Race 11 is the eleventh season of the American reality competition show The Amazing Race. Hosted by Phil Keoghan, it featured eleven teams of two, ten returning teams from previous editions and a dating couple with members from two teams that had competed against each other, competing in a race around the world in order to win US$1,000,000. This season visited six continents and nine countries and traveled over 45,000 miles (72,000 km). Starting in Palmetto Bay, Florida, outside of Miami, racers traveled through Ecuador, Chile, Argentina, Mozambique, Tanzania, Poland, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Macau, Guam, and Hawaii before finishing in San Francisco. The season premiered on CBS on February 18, 2007, and the season finale aired on May 6, 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">B. J. Averell</span>

Brian Jeffrey Averell is an American actor and reality show contestant who won The Amazing Race 9 with teammate Tyler MacNiven. He is currently a CBS technology reporter and Periscope livestreamer broadcasting from all the major content conventions such as NAB.

<i>The Amazing Race 12</i> Season of television series

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Woodside High School (California)</span> Comprehensive public high school in Woodside, California, United States

Woodside High School is a public high school in Woodside, California, United States, on the border with Redwood City. It is part of the Sequoia Union High School District (SUHSD).

<i>The Amazing Race 16</i> Season of television series

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<i>The Amazing Race Australia 1</i> Season of television series

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<i>The Amazing Race 18</i> Season of television series

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<i>The Amazing Race 19</i> Season of television series

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<i>The Amazing Race 26</i> Season of television series

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<i>The Amazing Race 28</i> Season of television series

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<i>The Amazing Race 34</i> Season of television series

The Amazing Race 34 is the thirty-fourth season of the American reality competition show The Amazing Race. Hosted by Phil Keoghan, it featured twelve teams of two competing in a race around the world in order to win US$1,000,000. This season visited three continents and eight countries and traveled over 11,000 miles (18,000 km). Starting in Munich, racers traveled through Germany, Austria, Italy, Jordan, France, Spain, and Iceland before finishing in Nashville. New twists introduced in this season include the Scramble, where teams could perform the first leg's tasks in any order, and eliminating a team in every leg. The season premiered on CBS on September 21, 2022, following the premiere of Survivor 43, and concluded on December 7, 2022.

The Amazing Race 35 is the thirty-fifth season of the American reality competition show The Amazing Race. Hosted by Phil Keoghan, it features thirteen teams of two competing in a race around the world in order to win US$1,000,000. This season visited three continents and eight countries and traveled over 23,800 miles (38,300 km). Starting in Los Angeles, racers traveled through Thailand, Vietnam, India, Germany, Slovenia, Sweden, and Ireland before finishing in Washington. Elements of the show that returned for this season include the use of commercial flights, the Express Pass, and the U-Turn. In addition, the U-Turn Vote returned with a private vote rather than a public vote. Unlike past seasons, the 35th season features 90-minute-long episodes. The season airs on Wednesday nights on CBS beginning on September 27, 2023.

References

  1. 1 2 "Stanford says no to Tyler MacNiven, but he's upbeat, may reapply later." The Almanac, December 23, 1998.
  2. Oxfeld, Jesse. "They'll Try Anything." Stanford Magazine, April/May 1999.
  3. Delevett, Peter. "High school senior `runs' for Stanford." Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal, November 13, 1998.
  4. 1 2 "BJ & Tyler." CBS.com.
  5. http://www.buckswoodside.com/stories/tomlehrer.shtml Tom Lehrer's Last Class
  6. "Gentry August 2014" . Retrieved September 20, 2018.
  7. White, Patrick. "Online filmmaking has arrived Archived 2006-09-10 at the Wayback Machine ." Columbia News Service, February 14, 2006.
  8. Bayne, Richard J. "'Hippies' win 'Amazing Race'." Times Herald-Record, May 18, 2006.
  9. CBS. "'Team Hippie' Takes 'Amazing Race 9'." CBS News, May 18, 2006.
  10. "A frosty finish for 'The Amazing Race'." Chicago Tribune, May 17, 2006.
  11. "BJ & Tyler Win Million Dollar Prize." WISH-TV, May 18, 2006.