Paul Jay is the President of Counterspin Films, a production company based in Toronto and New York.
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, 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
- Emma Thompson to Narrate Daniel Ellsberg Documentary ‘How to Stop Nuclear War’
- 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. He is also the founder and former editor-in-chief of The Real News Network, an independent, nonprofit news organization based in Baltimore, MD.
Selected Filmography
Jay’s “Return to Kandahar”, a feature-length documentary, was 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 the 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.” RTK won the Donald Brittain Gemini Award for best social-political documentary.
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, 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.
“Lost in Las Vegas” (2001) was a feature-length documentary for A&E. Rob Salem of The Toronto Star called it “Equal parts hilarious, heroic and heartfelt…often surprising, occasionally inspiring, frequently hilarious…You’ve got to see this thing to believe it.”
“Never-Endum-Referendum” (CTV, SRC, Arte) was called “a moving, masterful piece of film-making about a tough subject” (Tony Atherton, Ottawa Citizen).
Other work includes “Justice Denied” (Turner), “The Birth of Language” (TVOntario and Discovery U.S.), “Albanian Journey: End of an Era” (TVOntario, CBC Witness), “The Life and Death of Owen Hart” (TVO, A&E), “Here’s to the Cowboy” (CBC, Disney, London Weekend, Central TV), and “The Famine Within” (TVO). Jay exec-produced “Through Thick and Thin” (CBC Newsworld) and the three-part “Machine Gun” series (Discovery Canada & US).
Television
Jay was the co-creator and co-executive producer of counterSpin, CBC Newsworld’s flagship prime-time debate program, which ran for six seasons. Before that he created and executive produced Face Off. Together the two shows ran for ten years.
Industry
Jay is a past chair of the Documentary Organization of Canada and was the founding chair of Hot Docs, the Canadian international documentary film festival, chairing its board for the first five years.
Jay was born and raised in Toronto. He is a dual Canadian/American citizen.