Award Winning Film and TV Producer Jason Blum ’91 to Deliver Commencement Address
Award Winning Film and TV Producer Jason Blum ’91 to Deliver Commencement Address
Three-time Academy Award nominee, two-time Emmy Award-winning producer, and Vassar College alumnus and Trustee Jason Blum ’91 will deliver this year’s address at the college’s 156th Commencement on May 24 on the Vassar campus, President Elizabeth Bradley announced.
President Bradley said she was thrilled that Blum had agreed to address Vassar graduates 29 years after he received his own diploma from the college. “Jason’s innovative work in the film and television industry is well known, but here at Vassar we are just as appreciative of the work he has done as a member of our Board of Trustees, particularly his passion for our commitment to being a need-blind institution,” she said. “I can’t wait to hear the message he delivers to the Class of 2020.”
At Vassar, Blum majored in drama. He said his Vassar experience had played a key role in shaping his future. “The courses I took at Vassar, as well as the other activities I was involved in, fueled my critical thinking skills and made me more curious about the world,” Blum said. “Those skills are imperative for anyone in the rapidly evolving entertainment industry.”
Blum, a three-time Academy Award-nominee for his work producing the films, BlacKkKlansman, Get Out and Whiplash, is the founder and CEO of Blumhouse Productions, a multi-media production company that pioneered a new model of studio filmmaking, producing high-quality, micro-budget films.
Through Blumhouse, he has produced over 150 movies and televisions series. In television, he recently produced Sharp Objects for HBO, starring Amy Adams and Patricia Clarkson, and for which Clarkson earned a Golden Globe Award. More recently, Russell Crowe won a Golden Globe Award for his portrayal of Roger Ailes in Blumhouse’s limited series, The Loudest Voice. Jason Blum’s two Emmy award wins were for his work producing the acclaimed docuseries, The Jinx, and the television movie The Normal Heart. Blum’s work in documentary films also garnered him two Peabody Awards.
Blum has been recognized by TIME magazine’s 100 list of the world’s most influential people and has appeared several times on Vanity Fair’s “New Establishment List.” In 2016, he received the Producer of the Year Award at CinemaCon. Jason is on the Board of The Public Theater in New York, the Sundance Institute and the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures.