Biography
Born in Switzerland and raised in Portugal and England, Nicholas de Wolff was a theatrical actor and director for many years, with credits including Broadway (including the Lead Role of King Ferdinand in "1492"; Tom Stoppard's "Artist Descending a Staircase"; Kafka's "Metamorphosis" with Mikhail Baryshnikov and Rene Auberjonois), in London's West End(42nd Street), and several national and international tours. He served as the Artistic Director of Chicago's Greenview Arts Center, and launched the annual "Shakespeare on the Lake" festival there. He served on the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs Arts Committee for several years, and worked with the Goodman Theatre Shakespeare Colloquium - before moving to Los Angeles. During his first few years in LA, in addition to working on several feature films as a consultant or acting coach, he edited the 1998 Ovation Award winning translation of Chekhov's "The Seagull", as well as directed the world premiere of this new translation, in an LA Times "Best Bet" production at the Hollywood Theatre. He also won wide acclaim and awards (including another Ovation nomination) for co-writing and staging the one-woman show "Jonna's Body, please hold". In 1994 he founded City Arts Project, a national non-profit Arts education initiative. The organization produced the Los Angeles Performing Arts Festival for 3 years, before turning its focus to the development of an online arts resource forum, which included the world's first complete online searchable canon of Shakespeare's work, a database of over 400 original interviews with arts and entertainment professionals, and numerous "galleries" promoting Los Angeles area emerging artists, performers, and creative groups. He has spent the past 15 years deeply involved in New Media ventures, including Internet, social media, M&E technologies IP, and mobile communications. His professional affiliations include serving as a founding Governor of the Producers Guild of America's New Media Council. He is also a member of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences and has served several times on the jury for the Primetime Emmy Awards. Additionally, he is a member of the advisory boards of the CMO Institute, the Charter High School for the Arts, National Film Festival for Talented Youth, American Lung Association, and the Business Marketing Association, as well as a founding member of the Digital Watermarking Alliance.
