Joshua Ligairi

Joshua Aukai Ligairi (born October 9, 1980) is an American filmmaker and podcaster, best known for the documentary Cleanflix (2012), which he wrote, directed, produced, and edited with filmmaker Andrew James. Ligairi co-created the non-fiction television miniseries Knights of Mayhem for National Geographic Channel in 2012 and appeared on the non-fiction competition show Pursuit of the Truth in 2013. Ligairi co-created the Movie Podcast Network in 2015. He hosts and produces several podcasts on the network. He founded the film production company Icarus Arts & Entertainment with his wife Rachel Mae Ligairi.

Early life

Ligairi was born on October 9, 1980 in Oahu, Hawaii, the son of a Fijian immigrant father and an American mother who were both attending BYU-Hawaii and working at the Polynesian Cultural Center in Laie, Hawaii at the time.[1]

Ligairi was raised in the Western United States.[2] He attended Timpview High School in Provo, Utah where he was active in sports and the arts. He left the United States after high school, living in the Netherlands and Belgium. Ligairi returned to Utah after two years abroad and attended Utah Valley University, where he was awarded a Distinguished Alumni Award in 2013, in the field of Journalism.

Filmmaking

Ligairi's film Cleanflix is a feature film documentary that premiered at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival on September 11th, 2009.[3] The film centers around the movie sanitization company CleanFlicks and other similar companies that were sued[4] by the Director's Guild of America for creating unauthorized, censored copies of their director's films.

Ligairi and James appeared at film festival screenings for Q&As in several U.S. cities including New York,[5] Los Angeles,[6] Salt Lake City,[7] Nashville,[8] Orlando,[9] Boston, and Charlotte.[10] Ligairi appeared on a panel discussion about the state of documentary film distribution with Michael Moore and other documentarians at Moore's State Theater during the Traverse City Film Festival in 2010.[11] After winning the award for "Best Documentary" at the New York United Film Festival in late 2010,[12] Ligairi and James signed a distribution deal with the festival's new distribution arm, United Films,[13] in April 2011.[14] The film was released to the public in 2012.

Ligairi co-created and developed the docu-reality miniseries Knights of Mayhem for National Geographic Channel in 2011. The series followed Charlie Andrews, the Captain of the Knights of Mayhem and World Champion Heavy-Armored Jouster, in his efforts to establish and legitimize the sport in the mainstream.[15]

In 2012, Ligairi competed on a reality show called Pursuit of the Truth, created by Vince Vaugh and Glenn Beck, to find "the next great documentary filmmaker."[16] The series featured establish filmmakers Ligairi and Chris Bell (Bigger, Stronger, Faster*) as well as four first-time filmmakers, each setting-out to create a feature film to be judged by an expert panel. The panel of judges included Tribeca Film Festival co-founder Craig Hatkof, Vaugh's business partner, Actor and Filmmaker Peter Billingsley (Couples Retreat), and documentary producer Daniel Chalfen (Budrus).[17] The Pursuit of the Truth winner would receive funding and distribution from Beck's television network, TheBlaze.[18] He ultimately placed third in the competition with his project, Plan 241, and was offered funding and distribution through TheBlaze, which he turned down. Ligairi has since been filming Plan 241 out-of-pocket.[19]]

Podcasting

Ligairi first began podcasting in 2011 with fellow documentary filmmakers Jay Cheel and Charlotte Cook for Cheel's website, TheDocumentaryBlog.com.[20] The podcast featured film reviews and interviews with documentary filmmakers. The podcast only lasted 12 episodes[21] but was named one of the Top 10 Film Podcasts[22] by USA Today's Whitney Matheson.

Ligairi began podcasting with former film critic Jason Pyles[23] on Movie Podcast Weekly[24] in 2012, first appearing as a guest on Episode 3[25] and beginning as an official host on Episode 14.[26]

The two were supported by co-hosts Karl Huddelston and Andy Howell as the comedic relief. The ensemble won four Podbody Awards in 2014, including prizes for "Best Podcast" and "Best Podcast Hosts."[27] Ligairi was a mainstay on the show for two years before announcing that he’d be taking a leave of absence for an undetermined amount of time on Episode 118.[28]

Ligairi co-founded Horror Movie Podcast in 2013 with former film critic Jason Pyles and author / film professor Kyle William Bishop.[29]

Film blogger Dave Becker[30] of DVDInfatuation.com[31] joined them as an official host on Episode 2.[32] The ensemble was nominated for two Podbody Awards for "Best Podcast" and "Best Podcast Hosts" in 2014. Ligairi and Pyles lost those awards to themselves and their other show, Movie Podcast Weekly.[33]

Ligairi took over Movie Stream Cast as producer and host from his Movie Podcast Weekly co-host Jason Pyles in November 2013.[34] Initially hosting the show with his wife and sometimes producer, Rachel Mae Ligairi, he later added additional co-hosts including film critic Cody Clark, photographer Aaron Thompson, Andy Howell of Movie Podcast Weekly, and William Rowan Jr of The Sci-Fi Podcast.[35]

Ligairi co-founded The Sci-Fi Podcast with Matt Daniels, Liz Gordon, and William Rowan Jr in March 2015.[36] He joined the show as producer, initially to help with recording and mixing the episodes as well as creating artwork and handling web development. Ligairi eventually became a part-time co-host.

Ligairi co-founded Movie Podcast Network, as the producer of Movie Stream Cast.[37]

Personal life

Ligairi married Rachel Mae Ligairi, née Turley, in Salt Lake City, Utah in 2003. They have two children.

References

  1. ↑ Wotherspoon, Dan (2012-04-18). "91: Cleanflix and What Its Story Reveals about Mormon Culture". Mormon Matters. Retrieved 2016-10-02.
  2. ↑ "CLEANFLIX". www.cleanflixthemovie.com. Retrieved 2016-10-02.
  3. ↑ Tribune, Sean P. MeansThe Salt Lake. "Utah morality tale premieres at Toronto". Retrieved 2016-10-02.
  4. ↑ Tribune, Vince Horiuchi The Salt Lake. "Utah film sanitizers ordered to cut it". Retrieved 2016-09-30.
  5. ↑ Casavant, Mary Anderson. ""CLEANFLIX" at STF | Filmmaker Magazine". Retrieved 2016-09-30.
  6. ↑ "Upcoming Cleanflix Screenings". newportbeach.festivalgenius.com. Retrieved 2016-09-30.
  7. ↑ Vice, Jeff (2010-08-05). "Salt Lake City Film Festival to screen more than 20 narrative and documentary features". Retrieved 2016-09-30.
  8. ↑ "A Trip To The Nashville Film Festival". 2010-04-23. Retrieved 2016-09-30.
  9. ↑ "Florida Film Festival:4-15-2010". Orlando Weekly. Retrieved 2016-09-30.
  10. ↑ "NEWS". ANDREW JAMES. Retrieved 2016-09-30.
  11. ↑ Smith, Nigel M. "Michael Moore Heads a Communal Mission at His Traverse City Film Festival | IndieWire". www.indiewire.com. Retrieved 2016-10-02.
  12. ↑ "CLEANFLIX". www.cleanflixthemovie.com. Retrieved 2016-09-30.
  13. ↑ "United Films – Cleanflix". www.theunitedfilms.com. Retrieved 2016-09-30.
  14. ↑ "CLEANFLIX DISTRIBUTION". icarusae.com. Retrieved 2016-09-29.
  15. ↑ Slater, Dashka (2010-07-08). "Is Jousting the Next Extreme Sport?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-09-30.
  16. ↑ Willmore, Alison. "Glenn Beck and Vince Vaughn Are Making a Documentary Filmmaker Reality Competition Show | IndieWire". www.indiewire.com. Retrieved 2016-10-02.
  17. ↑ "Pursuit of the Truth: Series Premiere Recap". Glenn Beck. Retrieved 2016-10-02.
  18. ↑ "Pursuit of the Truth: Series Premiere Recap". Glenn Beck. Retrieved 2016-09-30.
  19. ↑ "Plan241.com".
  20. ↑ "The Documentary Blog". thedocumentaryblog.com. Retrieved 2016-09-30.
  21. ↑ "The Documentary Blog » The Documentary Blog Podcast". thedocumentaryblog.com. Retrieved 2016-09-30.
  22. ↑ "Pop Podcast Primer: My top 10 film podcasts". Retrieved 2016-09-30.
  23. ↑ "THE FILM CRITIC". 2012-09-01. Retrieved 2016-09-30.
  24. ↑ "(no title)". moviepodcastweekly.com. Retrieved 2016-09-30.
  25. ↑ "Movie Podcast Weekly Ep. 003: Argo (2012)". 2012-10-15. Retrieved 2016-09-30.
  26. ↑ "Movie Podcast Weekly Ep. 014: Django Unchained (2012) and The Best Movies of 2012". 2012-12-31. Retrieved 2016-09-30.
  27. ↑ "The Multi Award-Winning Movie Podcast Weekly". 2014-07-24. Retrieved 2016-09-30.
  28. ↑ "Movie Podcast Weekly Ep. 118: The Interview (2014) and The Gambler (2014) and The Imitation Game (2014) and Into the Woods (2014) and The Best Movies of 2014". 2014-12-30. Retrieved 2016-09-30.
  29. ↑ "Barnes & Noble Author Profile - Kyle William Bishop".
  30. ↑ "2,500 Movies Challenge". Retrieved 2016-09-30.
  31. ↑ "2,500 Movies Challenge". www.dvdinfatuation.com. Retrieved 2016-09-30.
  32. ↑ "Horror Movie Podcast Ep. 002: Haunted Houses". 2013-11-08. Retrieved 2016-09-30.
  33. ↑ "The Multi Award-Winning Movie Podcast Weekly". 2014-07-24. Retrieved 2016-09-30.
  34. ↑ "Commencement: Jason Bids Farewell - Movie Stream Cast". 2013-11-10. Retrieved 2016-09-30.
  35. ↑ "Podcast Hosts". Retrieved 2016-09-30.
  36. ↑ "Meet the Hosts | The SciFi Podcast". thescifipodcast.com. Retrieved 2016-09-30.
  37. ↑ "Movie Stream Cast - We help you manage your queues". Movie Stream Cast. Retrieved 2016-09-30.
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