Kel O'Neill

Kel O’Neill grew up in Andover, Massachusetts. Both of his parents were officers in the US Army, and met while serving together in Vietnam.{{cite journal |last=Martin|first=Michael |date=Winter 2007 |title=Citizen Kel |journal=V Magazine |location=Pg. 78 |publisher=Visionaire Publishing }}

O’Neill made his acting debut in 2002’s XX/XY, directed by Austin Chick and starring Mark Ruffalo and Kathleen Robertson. He later played roles in Easier With Practice, Stephanie Daley, and Brian De Palma’s 2007 war drama Redacted.{{cite journal |last=Martin|first=Michael |date=Winter 2007 |title=Citizen Kel |journal=V Magazine |location=Pg. 78 |publisher=Visionaire Publishing }} In 2007 he was hired to play the character of Eli Sunday in Paul Thomas Anderson’s There Will Be Blood, but was fired two weeks in production and replaced by Paul Dano. Of this experience and director Paul Thomas Anderson, O’Neill says “If he hadn’t fired me from There Will Be Blood I would probably still be an actor dreaming of making my own films someday.”{{cite web|last1=POV Staff|title=POV Interactive Shorts: Q&A with Eline Jongsma and Kel O'Neill ("Empire")|url=https://www.pbs.org/pov/blog/povdocs/2014/09/pov-interactive-shorts-qa-with-eline-jongsma-and-kel-oneill-empire/#.VCB31y5dUuo|website=POV's Documentary Blog|publisher=PBS.org|accessdate=9 March 2016|archive-date=13 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170413155417/http://www.pbs.org/pov/blog/povdocs/2014/09/pov-interactive-shorts-qa-with-eline-jongsma-and-kel-oneill-empire/#.VCB31y5dUuo|url-status=dead}}

While still an actor, O’Neill began working with Eline Jongsma, with whom he first collaborated in 2006 at an artist residency in Prishtina, Kosovo.{{cite journal |last=Martin|first=Michael |date=Winter 2007 |title=Citizen Kel |journal=V Magazine |location=Pg. 78 |publisher=Visionaire Publishing }} In 2009, Jongsma + O’Neill began production on Empire, a series of non-fiction video installations on the remnants of Dutch colonialism.{{cite web|last1=Siegel|first1=Hal|title=Ten Questions for Eline Jongsma & Kel O'Neill of Empire|url=https://www.pbs.org/pov/blog/news/2013/09/ten-questions-for-eline-jongsma-kel-oneill-of-empire/|website=POV's Documentary Blog|publisher=PBS.org|accessdate=9 March 2016|archive-date=16 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180816110242/http://www.pbs.org/pov/blog/news/2013/09/ten-questions-for-eline-jongsma-kel-oneill-of-empire/|url-status=dead}} The project had its premiere at The International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam in 2012{{Cite web|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/meet-the-filmmakers-who-are-excavating-the-former-dutch-colonial-empire/|title=Meet the Filmmakers Who Are Excavating the Former Dutch Colonial ‘Empire’|website=VICE|language=en-us|access-date=2016-03-09}} and its US premiere at the New York Film Festival in 2013.{{Cite web|url=http://www.filmlinc.org/films/the-empire-project/|title=The Empire Project {{!}} Film Society of Lincoln Center|website=Film Society of Lincoln Center|language=en-US|access-date=2016-03-09}} Empire was adapted to the web in collaboration with [https://www.pbs.org/pov/ POV],{{Cite web|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/hacking-the-shit-out-of-everything-part-2/|title=Hacking The Shit Out Of Everything: Part 2|website=The Creators Project|access-date=2016-03-09}} and this adaptation was nominated for a News and Documentary Emmy in the category New Approaches: Documentary Film.{{Cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/pov/blog/pressroom/2015/07/pov-nominated-for-13-news-documentary-emmy-awards|title=POV Nominated for 13 News Documentary Emmy Awards|last=Inc.|first=POV {{!}} American Documentary|website=POV's Documentary Blog|access-date=2016-03-09|archive-date=2016-03-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160310133311/http://www.pbs.org/pov/blog/pressroom/2015/07/pov-nominated-for-13-news-documentary-emmy-awards/|url-status=dead}} O’Neill and Jongsma [https://www.vice.com/en/article/inside-surinames-rainforest-destroying-gold-rush/ wrote about their experiences] filming Empire in Suriname’s gold mines for VICE.{{Cite web|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/inside-surinames-rainforest-destroying-gold-rush/|title=The Gold Rush That Is Destroying Suriname's Rainforest|website=VICE|language=en-us|access-date=2016-03-09}}

In 2015, O’Neill and Eline Jongsma won the Tim Hetherington Trust Award, which they used to help produce their follow-up to Empire, The Ark, a VR documentary about the fight to save the Northern White Rhino from extinction.{{Cite web|url=http://www.bjp-online.com/2015/04/tim-hetherington-visionary-award-announces-winner-of-20000-grant|title=Tim Hetherington Visionary Award gives £20,000 grant to experimental conservation documentary|website=British Journal of Photography|language=en-GB|access-date=2016-03-09}} Shot in California and Africa, the project focuses on parallel stories:{{Cite web|url=http://www.indiewire.com/article/this-vr-film-about-the-worlds-most-endangered-animal-needs-your-help-20150911|title=This VR Film About the World's Most Endangered Animal Needs Your Help|last=Bernstein|first=Paula|website=Indiewire|access-date=2016-03-09}} scientists in San Diego attempting in vitro fertilization to revive the species—of which only three remain—and workers on Kenya’s Ol Pejeta Conservancy guarding the remaining rhinos from poachers.{{Cite web|url=https://www.good.is/articles/a-virtual-reality-goodbye-to-the-last-white-rhinos|title=A Virtual Reality Farewell to the Last White Rhinos|website=GOOD Magazine|access-date=2016-03-09}} The Ark had its world premiere at the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival in the Storyscapes section.{{Cite web|url=https://tribecafilm.com/festival/storyscapes|title=Storyscapes {{!}} Tribeca|website=Tribeca|access-date=2016-03-09|archive-date=2016-03-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160310025237/https://tribecafilm.com/festival/storyscapes|url-status=dead}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.takepart.com/article/2016/03/06/rhino|title=With 3 of These Rhinos Left, Here’s a Chance to See Them Up Close|website=TakePart|access-date=2016-03-09|archive-date=2016-03-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160309034459/http://www.takepart.com/article/2016/03/06/rhino|url-status=dead}}

O’Neill and Jongsma’s other work includes Exit: A Mobile Guide To The Apocalypse, which was an Official Selection in the Future of Entertainment section of SXSW 2016.{{cite web|title=Cinematic Apocalypse: Storytelling for Smartphones|url=http://schedule.sxsw.com/2016/events/event_PP57739|website=SXSW|publisher=SXSW.com|accessdate=8 March 2016}}

• The Ark [2016] [co-director, with Eline Jongsma]
• The Empire Project (2012) [co-director, with Eline Jongsma]
• De transformatie van Genesis P-Orridge (2008) [co-director, with Eline Jongsma]

{{Reflist}}

• [http://www.jongsmaoneill.com/ Jongsma + O'Neill]
• {{IMDb name|0642221}}

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Category:American male actors

Category:Living people

Category:People from Andover, Massachusetts

Category:American male artists

Category:American artists

Category:Place of birth missing (living people)

Category:Year of birth missing (living people)

Category:Film directors from Massachusetts