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Max & Jason

Posted on 01. Jun, 2008 by Administrator in Film/TV, Profiles

words by Jason Dean,  photos by Robert Todd Williamson

Max Lugavere and Jason Silva received some sage advice a few years back: “If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” Max and Jason, best friends since their University of Miami days, have already done both. They work at an Emmy-winning independent cable network. Their voices resonate throughout youth culture, whether advocating “intellectual hedonism” or breaking down issues related to politics or the environment. And they regularly receive dual bear hugs from a guy named Al. That would be former Vice President Al Gore. 

As main anchor personalities and producers for Current TV, launched by Gore and businessman Joel Hyatt in 2005, Lugavere and Silva, both 26, have quickly become the poster kids for new media. To earn such a distinction, you might think they’d be brash, crass, or a tad on the obnoxious side.
That myth was dispelled as soon as they walked through the door at the BLD Café in Hollywood to meet me. Still basking in the afterglow of co-hosting Pangea Day, a worldwide consciousness-raising event seen live in 180 countries, the guys were energized, good-natured, and refreshingly articulate. 

“We felt like Matt and Ben at the Oscars,” says Silva of their Pangea Day experience, in which 25 award-winning short films were interspersed with celebrity appearances all coming together for a kind of “global campfire”, as Lugavere puts it. The event was broadcast live from Cairo, Kigali (Rwanda), London, Mumbai (India), and Rio de Janeiro as well as Los Angeles. (More info, as well as footage from the event, can be found at www.pangeaday.org.) 

“I can’t tell you how inspiring it was,” says Silva, making no effort to downplay his enthusiasm. “We were on the biggest sound stage in the world [Sony Studios in Culver City] for a noble cause, and after it was over, we were like, ‘Now what?’” 

The fact that Pangea Day was broadcast on Current TV (as well as mobile phones and the Internet) with their own anchors as co-hosts was a coup for the network. “We pitched ourselves independent of Current,” says Lugavere. “We were just hoping to present an award. We went from being interested in the event to hosting it within a month.” 

The duo’s graduation from the University of Miami to Current TV was a similar whirlwind chain of events. They had heard Gore was starting a new channel that was looking for passionate storytellers. On their way to earning degrees in film as well as psychology (Max) and philosophy (Jason), the two produced a short documentary, Textures in Selfhood, which found its way to the desk of president of programming David Neuman and, eventually, to Gore. “We graduated in December ’04,” recalls Lugavere. “We were hired in March ’05, and the network launched in August. We signed a two-year deal right away.” 

Current TV strings together short “pods” on almost any subject imaginable. Thirty percent of the content is user-generated. “We ease the transition from one jarring topic to another,” explains Lugavare. “It’s collective journalism, kind of like an iPod on shuffle,” adds Silva. “We provide context.” (You can check them out at current.com/maxandjason.) Current TV won’t fall into the “trash journalism” heap of E! Entertainment, Lugavere says, because viewers hold the channel to a higher standard. The audience votes on pieces they want to see, and the best ones make it to broadcast. Describing it as the HBO of You Tube, Silva points out, “The fluff doesn’t get votes.” 

Big media is already playing catch up to Current TV. CNN recently unveiled iReport.com, which looks like it’s on a fast track down the low road of exploitative hogwash. (The teaser on the Web site promises “Your stories. No boundaries. You won’t believe what people are uploading.”) (!!!) 

Current TV is getting solid reviews from high places. Says Silva: “Heavyweights of ‘old’ media are starting to recognize us as ambassadors of the new media revolution.” As a testament to this, Lugavere and Silva recently spoke on a panel at The Paley Center for Media in New York City entitled, “Beyond the Anchor Desk: The Rise of Citizen Journalism.” On June 10, they will be guests on the same panel at The Paley Center in Beverly Hills. 

Lugavere believes improved video and audio technology will eventually make it possible for anyone to record a story or documentary on their cell phone. In his teens, Lugavere was already somewhat of an Internet savant, if you will. At just 15, the native New Yorker was hired by PBS to build Web pages after the network did a feature on his technological savvy. Growing up in Venezuela, Silva remembers watching grainy images of CNN captured by the family’s giant satellite dish, which had to be rotated manually to locate a broadcast signal. Against the backdrop of extreme poverty and crime in the neighboring shanty towns, Silva became very aware of the vast disparity of fortune, opportunity, and hope that still exists between the social classes. 

With the election coming up, Lugavere and Silva both realize Current TV has the chance to shine in the national spotlight. “The youth vote is important,” says Silva. “There’s one candidate who has raised consciousness and hope,” he continues, coyly avoiding the “O” word. (No, it’s not Oprah, but you’re close.) 

The network strives to stay objective. When an editorial slant is presented, it’s treated as such, and viewers are invited to respond. While not manifesto-spouting activists, Lugavere and Silva will readily voice their opinions on politics, ethics, even quantum physics. Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez – to use a euphemism – is not intellectually equipped to do his job well. Stem cell research should be a medical reality, not a religious debate. And finally, thought and intention quantify their effects on reality. 

On that last point, Lugavere and Silva believe they have attracted opportunities to themselves, with Pangea Day being the most recent example. They profess an undying loyalty to those who have believed in them from the beginning. They consider Chris Anderson, curator of the TED conference, which spawned Pangea Day, to be not only a good friend but one of their heroes. Ditto for David Neuman and Al Gore. 

The interview now over, we leave the café and stroll down Beverly Blvd to my car, which had been parked at a broken meter. Relieved to find no ticket, we share a giant, Al Gore-style bear hug in the waning late-afternoon sun.

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Tags: Jason Silva, Max Lugavere, Pangea Day