Dr. Canard (The Film)

Mr. Jacobsen is the host and creator of the national PBS show, The Artist Toolbox, which has an estimated viewing audience of 30 million people. He has 30 years of experience in directing, working in films, television and stage. He directed the feature film Around the Fire, which won numerous awards including Italy’s Giffoni Film Festival and a Best Independent Filmmaker’s Award nomination at SIFF, and has produced several features, including the Columbia/Tri-Star picture Nervous Ticks starring Bill Pullman and Peter Boyle. His other major production credits include the HBO movie of the week Danger of Love, John Frankenheimer’s 52 Pick Up with Roy Scheider and Ann Margaret, and The Assassin with Charles Bronson. Films he directed, including the recent very well-received films, Arthur and Spinning, have played at major festivals around the world and won numerous awards including Best of Fest, Best Fiction Film at Action/Cut, Best Fantasy at MIFFF, Excellence in Film at Accolade, and gold, silver, and bronze awards at other festivals.

For the past ten years John was Executive Director of The Film School, which he co-founded with actor Tom Skerritt and writer Stewart Stern. He managed the Motion Picture and Television Department at UCLA Extension, is a script doctor, mentors directors and writers on their feature film and television projects, and also teaches master classes in acting, directing and writing all around the country at such fine institutions as The University of Washington, UCLA, Cornish, Seattle Central Community College, and Freehold. Mr. Jacobsen is proud of many things, but certainly he is most proud of his three sons and of winning the Big Brother of the Year Award for his work with The United Way.