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American film producer (born 1970) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mick Ebeling (born June 26, 1970)[1] is an American inventor, entrepreneur, author, speaker and philanthropist who focuses on developing technology that benefits humanity. Ebeling is the recipient of the Muhammad Ali Humanitarian of the Year Award[2] and was named as one of the Top 50 Most Creative People by Fortune Magazine, a Wired Agent of Change,[3] two time SXSW Innovation Award winner,[4] a two time Tribeca Disruptor Award winner,[5] and the only person to receive Time magazine's Top Invention of the Year two times – for the Eyewriter in 2010[6] and Bento in 2021.[7]
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Mick Ebeling | |
|---|---|
.jpg) at Internet Week New York May 18, 2015 | |
| Born | June 26, 1970 [1] |
| Alma mater | UC Santa Barbara ('92) |
| Occupation(s) | Inventor, social entrepreneur, speaker, philanthropist |
Ebeling is the founder and CEO of Not Impossible Labs,[8] a social tech incubator whose stated mission is to "create technology for the sake of humanity". Three companies have been spun off from the incubator: Bento, Music:Not Impossible, and Vibrohealth. Ebeling also founded the nonprofit organization The Not Impossible Foundation.[9]
Mick Ebeling has stated that he has "made it his life mission to make the impossible not impossible" and so, in 2011, he founded Not Impossible Labs, a tech incubator and think tank whose philosophy revolves around identifying absurdities and developing solutions designed to end these absurdities with technology. The company's projects tend to cater to a central character and solve their problem, following the belief that if you find out how to help one person, you can help many with the same solution. Not Impossible Labs’ first project, and also the impetus for its foundation, was the EyeWriter.
In April 2009, Ebeling flew five programmers and hackers from Graffiti Research Lab, Free Art and Technology Lab, and openFrameworks to Los Angeles and in the living room of his home created the EyeWriter, an open source, DIY device which enables individuals with paralysis to communicate and create art using only the movement of their eyes.[10]
The EyeWriter project was conceptualized and first created for Tempt One, a Los Angeles-based graffiti artist who was diagnosed with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in 2003.[11] Tempt One wrote his first piece of graffiti after seven years using the EyeWriter on April 10, 2009.[12] Ebeling's March 2011 TED talk "The invention that unlocked the locked-in artist" discusses the creation of The EyeWriter and Ebeling's mission to raise public awareness and inspire ideas that encourage change.[13]
Time magazine called it one of the "50 Best Inventions of 2010",[6] and the device is now part of the permanent collection of New York's Museum of Modern Art (MoMA).[14] Ebeling is also the executive producer of the documentary film Getting Up: The Tempt One Story, winner of the Audience Award at the 2011 Slamdance Film Festival.
Ebeling heard the story of Daniel, a boy from South Sudan who lost both arms during an explosion and, upon waking up, declared that he would rather be dead than not have arms so that he would be less of a burden for his family. Project Daniel was then born and, after extensive research, Not Impossible Labs managed to create a 3D-printable prosthetic arm. In November 2013, Ebeling flew to South Sudan. Of the project, Time's tech journalist Harry McCracken wrote, "it's hard to imagine any other device here doing more to make the world a better place."[15] Project Daniel has won numerous accolades, including a 2015 SXSW Interactive Innovation Award,[16] as well as being nominated for "Design of the Year" from London's Design Museum.[17] In 2014, it garnered the Titanium Cannes Lion[18] as well as Gold and Bronze Lions.[19] Project Daniel also won Association of Independent Commercial Producers' Next Cause Marketing Award,[20] Best in Show in the 2014 One Show,[21] Silver and Bronze Telly Awards,[22] and the 2014 Maker Faire Editor's Choice Blue Ribbon.[23] Project Daniel has been featured in Time,[15] Wired,[24] Business Insider,[25] Yahoo! Finance,[26] BBC,[27] The Guardian,[28] Globo,[29] The Independent,[30] and CNET.[31]
Since The EyeWriter and Project Daniel, Not Impossible Labs continues to focus on solving absurdities with technology. With Music: Not Impossible, the team created wearable technology that allows those who are deaf or hard of hearing to experience music through vibrations spread around their body.[32] Hunger: Not Impossible, now called Bento, is a simple text-based technology that connects those who suffer from food insecurity to pre-paid meals. The initiative was thought of as a response to the COVID crisis, and has become Not Impossible Labs' response to ending food insecurity.[33]
Ebeling's first book, Not Impossible: The Art and Joy of Doing What Couldn't Be Done, was released by Simon & Schuster on January 6, 2015, and documents his work with Not Impossible Labs, focusing on the EyeWriter and Project Daniel.[34]
Ebeling's first entertainment job was launching Venice Beach-based Fuel in 1995. Fuel was a motion design studio using one of the first versions of the Adobe After Effects software. Fuel was bought by Razorfish in July 1999. Ebeling went on to be the CEO of They. They was a cross-platform design company that worked with clients such as NASA. In 2001, Mick formed The Ebeling Group (TEG), a commercial and film production company that focuses on animation, design and visual effects.[35]
From 2006 to 2011, under Ebeling's leadership the company branched into film and long form content with credits on titles such as Stranger Than Fiction (2006), Kite Runner (2007), Quantum of Solace (2008), the award-winning animation "Yes, Virginia" television special for CBS (2009)[36] and a series of short films with Marvel Studios called "One-Shots" (2011).[37]
Ebeling is the executive producer of the documentary film Getting Up: The Tempt One Story, winner of the Audience Award at the 2011 Slamdance Film Festival.
In 2014, Ebeling was featured as one of Intel's Innovators for their "Look Inside" Series.[38][needs update] Other sponsored Innovators include Jack Andraka.
Ebeling's first book, Not Impossible: The Art and Joy of Doing What Couldn't Be Done, discusses his work on the Eyewriter and Project Daniel and was released by Simon & Schuster on January 6, 2015.[39] The Book is now in its fifth printing.
Mick Ebeling was raised in a family of entrepreneurs and philanthropists, son of Marge and Les Ebeling.[40][41] He was born in Long Beach, California, and raised in Phoenix, Arizona, where he attended Brophy College Preparatory. He went on to play basketball for the Air Force Academy, Colorado, before he transferred to University of California, Santa Barbara where he graduated in 1992 with a degree in political science.[42] Ebeling is married to Caskey Ebeling, an American filmmaker and screenwriter; they have three children: Angus, Bo Jameson, and Trace.[43] Caskey is a partner of The Ebeling Group and co-founder of The Not Impossible Foundation.[44]
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