American heir, filmmaker, and socialite (born 1979)
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.
Early life
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]
Career
Filmmaking
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]
Television appearances and cameo roles
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]
Writing
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]
Fashion
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]
Filmography
References
^
"Jamie Johnson" .
The Huffington Post . Retrieved 2016-09-18 .
^ Serwer, Andy (2003-11-24).
"Too Young, Too Rich? The problem of inherited wealth, seen through the camera of an heir" .
Fortune . Retrieved 2016-09-20 .
^ Gurley, George (2007-08-20).
"Fierce People" .
The New York Observer . Retrieved 2016-09-28 .
^
a
b
c
d Chaplin, Julia (2003-10-12).
"Biting the Silver Spoon That Feeds Him, on Film" .
New York Times . Retrieved 2013-05-28 .
^ Iredale, Jessica (2011-02-17).
"Boy's Night Out: Jamie Johnson" .
WWD . New York, NY:
Fairchild Publishing LLC . Retrieved 2016-09-19 .
^ Wittenborn, Dirk (2012-10-07).
"20 Rooms and a Couple of Friendly Ghosts" .
New York Magazine . Retrieved 2017-05-04 .
^ Merriman, Serena (2011-03-25).
"Boys Club" .
Vogue Italia .
Condé Nast . Retrieved 2017-05-04 .
^ Bragg, Susannnah (2003-12-01).
"Johnson '98 Directs HBO Documentary" . The Pingry Record . Vol. 130, no. 3.
The Pingry School . Archived from
the original on 2004-12-10. Retrieved 2016-11-10 .
^ Greller, Ken. (2012-12-10).
Friday’s Gallatin Arts Panel Was The Most Gallatin Thing Ever. NYU Local . Retrieved 2016-10-19;
"Celebrating the Arts at Gallatin: An Alumni Symposium" . NYU Gallatin Events Calendar .
New York University . 2012-12-07. Archived from
the original on 2016-10-19. Retrieved 2016-10-24 .
^ Thompson, Kevin D. (2003-10-31).
" 'Born Rich': Lifestyles of the rich and aimless" (PDF) .
The Laredo Morning Times .
Hearst Corporation .
Cox News Service . Archived from
the original (PDF) on 2016-10-06. Retrieved 2016-09-18 .
^ Vachon, Dana (March 2008).
"Why Jamie Johnson turned his camera on the rich and powerful" .
Men's Vogue . New York, N.Y.:
CondéNet . Archived from
the original on 2008-09-17. Retrieved 2016-09-28 .
^
"Speakers Biographies for the 2011 Summit" (PDF) . Nexus Global Youth Summit . Washington, D.C. p. 16. Archived from
the original (PDF) on 2016-10-06. Retrieved 2016-09-18 .
^
"Johnson & Johnson heir can release film, judge says" .
Arizona Daily Sun .
Associated Press . 2002-10-22. Retrieved 2016-10-22 .
^
" 'Born Rich' " .
Los Angeles Times . 2003-10-27. Retrieved 2016-09-20 .
^ Johnson, Jamie (2005-06-15).
"Jamie Johnson: Fable of Fortune" .
The Moth . Retrieved 2013-05-28 .
^ Cash, William (2003-11-07).
"The Rich Kids Are Different; When 23-Year-Old Billionheir Jamie Johnson Made a Film about His Superrich Set, New York Society Was Divided. Ostracised by the Bluebloods, Celebrated by the Media, Manhattan's Most Scandalous Scion Gives His First British Interview to William Cash" .
The Evening Standard . London. Archived from
the original on 2016-09-23. Retrieved 2016-09-20 .
^ Wolfe, Alexandra (2003-10-06).
"Born Rich Rag" .
The New York Observer . Retrieved 2016-09-19 .
^
"Jamie Johnson" .
Emmys.com .
Academy of Television Arts & Sciences . Retrieved 2017-09-09 .
^
a
b Rappaport, Julia (2008-08-21).
"Living in the Top One Per Cent is Subject of Independent Film" . The Vineyard Gazette .
Edgartown, MA . Retrieved 2016-09-21 .
^
"HBO: The One Percent: Synopsis" .
HBO . Retrieved 2016-09-21 .
^
a
b Rose, Lacey (2008-02-20).
"Q&A: Jamie Johnson On "The One Percent" (Part 1)" .
Forbes . Retrieved 2016-09-21 .
^
"Born Rich: Inside the Lives Of" .
The Oprah Winfrey Show . Chicago, IL:
Harpo Productions, Inc. 2003-10-13. Archived from
the original on 2007-12-04. Retrieved 2016-09-30 .
^
"PAULA ZAHN NOW" . CNN.com - Transcripts . 2003-10-23. Retrieved 2016-10-19 .
^
"CNN SUNDAY MORNING: Interview With Jamie Johnson" . CNN.com - Transcripts . 2003-10-26. Retrieved 2016-10-19 .
^
"Transcript: Poor little rich kids" . 60 Minutes Online .
Ninemsn . 2004-06-20. Archived from
the original on 2005-07-16. Retrieved 2017-07-23 .
^
a
b
"Class in America" .
The Oprah Winfrey Show . Chicago, IL:
Harpo Productions, Inc. 2006-04-21. Retrieved 2016-09-03 .
^ Goodman, Leah McGrath (2008-12-11).
"The Billionaire's Black Sheep" .
Marie Claire . New York, N.Y.:
Hearst Communications . Retrieved 2016-09-18 .
^
"Eat The Press: Warren Buffett Has No Granddaughter (Now That She Dished About Him In A Movie)" .
The Huffington Post . 2006-09-07. Retrieved 2016-09-22 .
^
"Johnson Heir Debuts Film" .
CBS News . 2008-02-21. Retrieved 2016-10-19 .
^
"Shifting Social Classes in America: How the Recession Affects Rich People" .
The Oprah Winfrey Show . Chicago, IL:
Harpo Productions, Inc. 2009-05-22. pp. 11–13. Archived from
the original on 2012-09-28. Retrieved 2016-09-18 .
^
a
b
"Shifting Social Classes in America" .
The Oprah Winfrey Show . Chicago, IL:
Harpo Productions, Inc. 2009-05-22. Retrieved 2016-10-24 .
^
"All In With Chris Hayes MSNBC July 22, 2013 5:00pm-6:01pm PDT" .
All In with Chris Hayes . 2013-07-22. Event occurs at 5:54pm.
MSNBC . Retrieved 2016-10-19 .
^
a
b "The Jewel of Denial".
Gossip Girl . Season 5. Episode 3. 2011-10-10.
The CW .
^
a
b Lombardi, Jasmine (2011-10-11).
"Spotted: Chris Benz (and others!) on the small screen" . Avenue Magazine . New York, N.Y.:
Manhattan Media . Retrieved 2016-09-29 .
^
a
b
"Jamie Johnson - Rotten Tomatoes" .
Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved 2016-09-20 .
^
"The One Percent" .
Vanity Fair . Archived from
the original on 2014-10-18. Retrieved 2016-09-19 .
^
"Jamie Johnson" .
Vanity Fair . Retrieved 2016-09-18 .
^ Johnson, Jamie (2008-02-19).
"The One Percent" .
The Huffington Post . Retrieved 2016-09-18 .
^ Johnson, Jamie (2014-04-20).
"Including the Young and the Rich: White House Hosts 'Next Generation' Young and Rich" .
The New York Times . Retrieved 2016-09-18 .
^ Holt, Emily (2010-02-19).
"Heir Line: Jamie Johnson's Fashion Collection" .
WWD . New York, N.Y.:
Fairchild Publishing LLC . Retrieved 2016-09-18 .
^ Heyman, Marshall (2011-03-25).
"Yarn of the Black Sweater" .
The Wall Street Journal .
Dow Jones & Company . Retrieved 2016-09-18 .
^ Prince, Daisy (2011-03-29).
"Charles Rockefeller and Hayley Bloomingdale Brave the Hail for Jamie Johnson's Sweater Song" .
The New York Observer . Retrieved 2016-09-18 .
^ Tadini, Luigi (2011-05-01).
"PYTs: Little Black Sweater" . Avenue Magazine . Vol. 35, no. 5.
Manhattan Media . p. 30. Retrieved 2016-09-29 – via
issuu .
External links