Jamie Johnson | |
---|---|
Born | James Wittenborn Johnson 1979 (age 43–44) |
Education | Pingry School New York University (B.A., 2003) |
Occupation(s) | Filmmaker, socialite, journalist, fashion designer |
James Wittenborn Johnson (born 1979) is an American heir, filmmaker, and socialite. He is a great-grandson of Robert Wood Johnson I (co-founder of Johnson & Johnson). He has also worked as a journalist and as a fashion designer.
Jamie Johnson was born in 1979 to Johnson & Johnson heir James Loring Johnson, son of John Seward Johnson I, [1] [2] and Gretchen Wittenborn Johnson, sister of screenwriter and novelist Dirk Wittenborn. [3] Johnson grew up with his four older sisters and a brother on a New Jersey estate. [4] [5] The family also had residences in East Hampton, New York and Jupiter Island, Florida. [6] [7]
He graduated from Pingry School, a preparatory school in Martinsville, New Jersey. [4] [8] He graduated with a B.A. from the Gallatin School at New York University in 2003, [9] where he studied Medieval history, [10] American history, [11] and filmmaking. [12] [13]
In 2003, his documentary film Born Rich premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. [4] It discussed his experience, as well as the experiences of ten other young heirs, of growing up with inherited wealth. [14] [15] There were sold-out screenings of the film in New York City for weeks. [16] The film was broadcast on television by HBO, as part of its America Undercover series. [4] [17] Johnson received two Emmy Award nominations for the film, in 2004: Outstanding Directing for Nonfiction Programming, and Outstanding Nonfiction Special; with Johnson receiving the latter nomination as a producer. [18]
In 2006, Johnson's second film, The One Percent , premiered at the TriBeCa Film Festival. The documentary examines the system that allows a growing wealth gap in America, focusing on the one percent of Americans who control 40 percent of the country's wealth. [19] [20] The film featured Robert Reich, Bill Gates Sr., Milton Friedman, and many others coming from various socioeconomic strata, including residents of Chicago's Cabrini–Green housing project and Hurricane Katrina victims. [19] [21] The film premiered on television on HBO's Cinemax in 2008. [21]
In 2003, Johnson was interviewed on The Oprah Winfrey Show about Born Rich in a namesake episode that also featured Paris Hilton and Nicky Hilton. [22] He was also interviewed about the documentary on Paula Zahn Now on CNN and CNN Sunday Morning before the film's television debut on HBO. [23] [24] In 2004, he was interviewed about the film on 60 Minutes on Australia's Channel 9. [25]
In 2006, he was on Oprah discussing The One Percent in an episode on "Class in America", along with Nicole Buffett, who was in the film. [26] Warren Buffett's disowning of Nicole shortly after the interview garnered media attention and was included in the HBO version of documentary. [27] [28] In 2008, Johnson was interviewed about the film on The Early Show on CBS on the day of the film's television debut on HBO. [29]
Johnson was on Oprah in 2009 discussing how the recession affects rich families [30] in an episode about the declining American middle class. [31] The wealth gap widened in the Great Recession that occurred after the 2006 episode on social class, [31] where Johnson stated that historians always list a growing wealth gap among the reasons for the decline of great civilizations. [26] In 2013, Johnson commented on meritocracy in America on All In with Chris Hayes on MSNBC on the day Prince George was born. [32]
In 2011, he had a cameo role as himself on Gossip Girl . [33] [34] In 2012, he had a cameo role as Julie's suitor in Arbitrage . [35]
From 2008 to 2011, Johnson wrote an online weekly column for Vanity Fair titled "The One Percent" on various perspectives, practices, and issues of the wealthy. [36] [37] He wrote an article titled "The One Percent" for The Huffington Post in 2008. [38] In 2014, he wrote for The New York Times about a White House summit for 100 young philanthropists and heirs to billionaire family fortunes where he was an invitee. [39]
In 2010, Johnson launched a high-end fashion collection called Black Sweater. [40] The clothing line was launched at Bergdorf Goodman in 2011. [41] [42] He started by making garments for friends and family after friends commented on custom clothing he had designed for himself. [43]
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2003 | Born Rich | Director, co-producer | |
2006 | The One Percent | Director, co-producer | |
2011 | Gossip Girl | Cameo as himself [33] [34] | Season 5, Episode 3 - "The Jewel of Denial" |
2012 | Arbitrage | Cameo as Julie's suitor [35] | |
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