Outside Line

Jack Gordon is an Emmy Award-winning nonfiction filmmaker based in Washington, D.C. He currently works at Events DC making short documentary films telling the stories behind some of the largest events in the nation’s capital. His latest short documentary, OUTSIDE LINE (2023), follows the unlikely rise of Rajah Caruth, one of the only Black drivers in NASCAR, as he forges an unlikely path from virtual racing to the sport's penultimate series. The film won a Capital Emmy® and is currently screening in film festivals across the United States.

His film THE PINS OF MADELEINE ALBRIGHT (2021) about Madeleine Albright’s groundbreaking use of fashion to influence diplomacy as one of the only women in the field, was nominated for a Capital Emmy® and won a Gold Telly Award. Prior to that, Jack directed CELESTIAL (2020), which follows a group of high school students competing in a offshore sailing race navigating exclusively using celestial navigation. CELESTIAL was an official selection in the Academy Award-qualifying Flickers’ Rhode Island International Film Festival, Woods Hole Film Festival, International Ocean Film Festival, and several others, in addition to playing at dozens of virtual and in-person screenings worldwide.

In 2019, Jack directed THE OCEAN KNOWS NO BORDERS (2019), which follows the story of Aunofo Havea, the first female licensed captain in all of Polynesia and the creator of the whale swimming industry in her native country of Tonga, as she inspires other women to face the unknown and break the glass ceiling. The film won Best Documentary Short at the Block Island Film Festival in 2020. A shorter version of Aunofo Havea’s story, BACK TO THE SEA (2021), continues to screen at film festivals globally including the International Ocean Film Festival, Washington West Film Festival, and the Korean International Ocean Film Festival.

Jack was the Video Intern at the Pan-Mass Challenge for three years, where he dramatically expanded their marketing and outreach through video in advancement of their mission to find a cure for cancer. Additionally, he has created films and videos for companies and organizations of all sizes nationwide. Jack graduated from the University of California in 2021, where he was a coxswain on the Varsity Rowing Team. Jack is based in Washington, D.C., but works globally.