Turk Pipkin
Encyclopedia
Turk Pipkin is the co-founder of The Nobelity Project
, an education and action non-profit which seeks to find solutions to many pressing global problems, and which advocates for basic rights for children everywhere. He is also known for his work as an author, actor, comedian, and director.
, a film about global problems such as energy, hunger, land mines, and climate change. He then spent 3 years traveling to 5 continents and 20 countries filming a sequel, One Peace at a Time
, which focuses on solutions in the areas of water, nutrition, education, health care, opportunity, environment and peace. In 2011 The Nobelity Project released their third film, entitled Building Hope
about construction of Mahiga Hope High School in rural Kenya
. The Nobel Laureates he worked with include Desmond Tutu
, Wangari Maathai
, Ahmed Zewail
, Steven Chu
(current U.S. Secretary of Energy), Harold Varmus, Steve Weinberg, Muhammad Yunus
, Amartya Sen
, Jody Williams
, Sir Joseph Rotblat
and Richard Smalley
. The work with Roblat and Smalley were the final major interviews of their lives.
Turk Pipkin is also the project leader for The Nobelity Project’s work to build Mahiga Hope High School in the Aberdare Mountains of Kenya
.
Pipkin is a member of the Clinton Global Initiative, and in 2010 received the White Lotus Humanitarian Award from the Government of China at the Macau International Digital Film Festival.
. It is the first high school in the area of Mahiga near Nyeri
. Mahiga Hope High School along with its Mahiga Rainwater Court held its grand opening on October 1, 2010.
received "The Game Changers Award," an architectural grant from Nike, Inc.
to build a multiple purpose game, performance, and rain water collection facility. The facility serves Mahiga Hope High as well as a community center for Mahiga. It also provides the school's source of drinking water. The Mahiga Rainwater Court opened on October 1, 2010.
. His novels include "Fast Greens", and "When Angels Sing" which is currently being developed as a feature film by Fred Miller
. He has written for multiple television productions.
Writing credits include:
, and in the feature films The Alamo, Friday Night Lights, Waiting for Guffman
and Richard Linklater
's A Scanner Darkly
.
The Nobelity Project
The Nobelity Project is an Austin, TX-based nonprofit founded by Turk and Christy Pipkin, in 2006, while producing the film Nobelity. The nonprofit's principal goals include education and bettering the lives of people across the globe...
, an education and action non-profit which seeks to find solutions to many pressing global problems, and which advocates for basic rights for children everywhere. He is also known for his work as an author, actor, comedian, and director.
The Nobelity Project
In 2006 Turk Pipkin founded the non-profit organization The Nobelity Project with his wife, Christy Pipkin. After interviewing nine Nobel Laureates, he directed NobelityNobelity
Nobelity is a feature documentary which looks at the world's most pressing problems through the eyes of Nobel laureates, including Desmond Tutu, Sir Joseph Rotblat, Ahmed Zewail and Wangari Maathai. The film was premiered at the 2006 SXSW Film Festival and was the first of several sold-out...
, a film about global problems such as energy, hunger, land mines, and climate change. He then spent 3 years traveling to 5 continents and 20 countries filming a sequel, One Peace at a Time
One Peace at a Time
One Peace at a Time is a film by Turk and Christy Pipkin. It was produced by The Nobelity Project and was premiered to a sold out audience at the Paramount Theatre in Austin, Texas, USA, on April 14, 2009. It is the sequel to the film Nobelity...
, which focuses on solutions in the areas of water, nutrition, education, health care, opportunity, environment and peace. In 2011 The Nobelity Project released their third film, entitled Building Hope
Building Hope
Building Hope is a film by Turk and Christy Pipkin. It was produced by The Nobelity Project and premiered on March 12 at the 2011 South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas...
about construction of Mahiga Hope High School in rural Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
. The Nobel Laureates he worked with include Desmond Tutu
Desmond Tutu
Desmond Mpilo Tutu is a South African activist and retired Anglican bishop who rose to worldwide fame during the 1980s as an opponent of apartheid...
, Wangari Maathai
Wangari Maathai
Wangari Muta Mary Jo Maathai was a Kenyan environmental and political activist. She was educated in the United States at Mount St. Scholastica and the University of Pittsburgh, as well as the University of Nairobi in Kenya...
, Ahmed Zewail
Ahmed Zewail
Ahmed Hassan Zewail is an Egyptian-American scientist who won the 1999 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on femtochemistry. He is the Linus Pauling Chair Professor Chemistry and Professor of Physics at the California Institute of Technology.- Birth and education :Ahmed Zewail was born on...
, Steven Chu
Steven Chu
Steven Chu is an American physicist and the 12th United States Secretary of Energy. Chu is known for his research at Bell Labs in cooling and trapping of atoms with laser light, which won him the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1997, along with his scientific colleagues Claude Cohen-Tannoudji and...
(current U.S. Secretary of Energy), Harold Varmus, Steve Weinberg, Muhammad Yunus
Muhammad Yunus
Muhammad Yunus is a Bangladeshi economist and founder of the Grameen Bank, an institution that provides microcredit to help its clients establish creditworthiness and financial self-sufficiency. In 2006 Yunus and Grameen received the Nobel Peace Prize...
, Amartya Sen
Amartya Sen
Amartya Sen, CH is an Indian economist who was awarded the 1998 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for his contributions to welfare economics and social choice theory, and for his interest in the problems of society's poorest members...
, Jody Williams
Jody Williams
Jody Williams is an American teacher and aid worker who received the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize jointly with the campaign she worked for, the International Campaign to Ban Landmines...
, Sir Joseph Rotblat
Joseph Rotblat
Sir Joseph Rotblat, KCMG, CBE, FRS , was a Polish-born, British-naturalised physicist.His work on nuclear fallout was a major contribution to the agreement of the Partial Test Ban Treaty...
and Richard Smalley
Richard Smalley
Richard Errett Smalley was the Gene and Norman Hackerman Professor of Chemistry and a Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Rice University, in Houston, Texas...
. The work with Roblat and Smalley were the final major interviews of their lives.
Turk Pipkin is also the project leader for The Nobelity Project’s work to build Mahiga Hope High School in the Aberdare Mountains of Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
.
Pipkin is a member of the Clinton Global Initiative, and in 2010 received the White Lotus Humanitarian Award from the Government of China at the Macau International Digital Film Festival.
The Nobelity Project in Kenya
Mahiga Hope High School
In 2009 The Nobelity Project began construction on Mahiga Hope High School in rural KenyaKenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
. It is the first high school in the area of Mahiga near Nyeri
Nyeri
Nyeri is a town in situated in the Central Highlands of Kenya Kenya, which was the administrative headquarters of the country's former Central Province...
. Mahiga Hope High School along with its Mahiga Rainwater Court held its grand opening on October 1, 2010.
Mahiga Rainwater Court
In 2009, The Nobelity Project in partnership with Architecture for HumanityArchitecture for Humanity
Architecture for Humanity is a charitable organization that seeks architectural solutions to humanitarian crises and brings professional design services to communities in need...
received "The Game Changers Award," an architectural grant from Nike, Inc.
Nike, Inc.
Nike, Inc. is a major publicly traded sportswear and equipment supplier based in the United States. The company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, which is part of the Portland metropolitan area...
to build a multiple purpose game, performance, and rain water collection facility. The facility serves Mahiga Hope High as well as a community center for Mahiga. It also provides the school's source of drinking water. The Mahiga Rainwater Court opened on October 1, 2010.
Mahiga Hope Library
In 2010, along with the classroom building for Mahiga Hope High, construction began on the Mahiga Hope Library. This library will provide books to the community of Mahiga, donated by individuals as part of the book drive, 1000 Books for Hope. The library will have textbooks and reference books in English and Swahili.Work as an author
Turk Pipkin has worked as a screen and television writer, as a freelance journalist and contributing editor for numerous national magazines, and has authored nine books of fiction and nonfiction. His most recent book is the New York Times bestseller, The Tao of Willie, co-authored with Willie NelsonWillie Nelson
Willie Hugh Nelson is an American country music singer-songwriter, as well as an author, poet, actor, and activist. The critical success of the album Shotgun Willie , combined with the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Stranger and Stardust , made Nelson one of the most recognized...
. His novels include "Fast Greens", and "When Angels Sing" which is currently being developed as a feature film by Fred Miller
Fred Miller
-American football:*Fred Miller , American football tackle for the University of Notre Dame, heir to Miller Brewing Company...
. He has written for multiple television productions.
Writing credits include:
- When Angels Sing (Algonquin Books) Author. (Currently in development as feature film by producer Fred MillerFred Miller-American football:*Fred Miller , American football tackle for the University of Notre Dame, heir to Miller Brewing Company...
) - Fast Greens (Hardback Edition, Dial Press). (In development with Warner Bros/1492 Productions)
- The Old Man and the Tee (St. Martin’s Press) Author
- Born of the River (Softshoe Publishing) Author
- Harry AndersonHarry AndersonHarry Laverne Anderson is an American actor and magician.-Early life:Born in Newport, Rhode Island, Anderson was a street magician before becoming an actor.-Career:...
's "Games You Can't Lose" (Pocket Books) Co-author - Barton Springs Eternal, The Soul of a City (Softshoe Publishing) Co-editor
- Be a Clown! (Workman Books)
- Texas Monthly Magazine, Contributing Editor
Writing work in television
- Night CourtNight CourtNight Court is an American television situation comedy that aired on NBC from January 4, 1984, to May 20, 1992. The setting was the night shift of a Manhattan court, presided over by the young, unorthodox Judge Harold T. "Harry" Stone...
(1989) "Attack of the Mac Snacks" (1989) (TV) (co-writer) - Harry AndersonHarry AndersonHarry Laverne Anderson is an American actor and magician.-Early life:Born in Newport, Rhode Island, Anderson was a street magician before becoming an actor.-Career:...
: The Tricks of His Trade (1996) (TV) (writer) - Farm AidFarm AidFarm Aid started as a benefit concert on September 22, 1985, in Champaign, Illinois, held to raise money for family farmers in the United States...
: The Tenth Anniversary Concert (1995) (TV) (writer) - Walt Disney World Christmas Day Parade (2001) (TV) (writer)
- The World's Greatest Magic 5 (1998) (TV) (writer)
- The Glenn Miller Band Reunion (1989) (TV) (writer)
- Going to California (Showtime) (TV) (writer)
Filmography
Turk Pipkin is most known as an actor for his work in the HBO series The SopranosThe Sopranos
The Sopranos is an American television drama series created by David Chase that revolves around the New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster Tony Soprano and the difficulties he faces as he tries to balance the often conflicting requirements of his home life and the criminal organization he heads...
, and in the feature films The Alamo, Friday Night Lights, Waiting for Guffman
Waiting for Guffman
Waiting for Guffman is a mockumentary starring, co-written and directed by Christopher Guest that was released in 1997. Its cast included Catherine O'Hara, Eugene Levy, Fred Willard, Parker Posey and others who would appear in several of the subsequent mockumentaries directed by Guest.The title of...
and Richard Linklater
Richard Linklater
-Early life:Linklater was born in Houston, Texas. He studied at Sam Houston State University and left midway through his stint in college to work on an off-shore oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. While working on the rig he read a lot of literature, but on land he developed a love of film through...
's A Scanner Darkly
A Scanner Darkly
A Scanner Darkly is a BSFA Award winning 1977 science fiction novel by American writer Philip K. Dick. The semi-autobiographical story is set in a dystopian Orange County, California, in the then-future of June 1994...
.
| Year | Movie |
|---|---|
| 1983 1983 in film -Events:*February 11 - The Rolling Stones concert film Let's Spend the Night Together opens in New York*May 25 - Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, the final film in the original Star Wars trilogy, is released. Like the previous films, it goes on to become the top grossing picture of... |
Bill: On His Own |
| 1987 1987 in film -Events:*January 31 - The Cure for Insomnia premieres at The School of the Art Institute in Chicago, Illinois, to officially become the world's longest film according to Guinness World Records.... |
Night Court Night Court Night Court is an American television situation comedy that aired on NBC from January 4, 1984, to May 20, 1992. The setting was the night shift of a Manhattan court, presided over by the young, unorthodox Judge Harold T. "Harry" Stone... (TV) |
| 1991 1991 in film The year 1991 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*April 28 - Bonnie Raitt marries actor Michael O'Keefe in New York* Terminator 2: Judgment Day, became one of the landmarks for science fiction action films with its groundbreaking visual effects from Industrial Light & Magic.*November... |
Hard Promises Hard Promises Hard Promises is the fourth album by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers released in May, 1981. Its original working title was Benmont's Revenge... |
| 1994 1994 in film 1994 was a significant year in film.The top grosser worldwide was The Lion King, which to date stands as the highest-grossing traditionally-animated film of all time... |
Blank Check Blank check A blank cheque , in the literal sense, is a cheque that has no numerical value written in, but is already signed... |
| 1996 1996 in film Major releases this year included Scream, Independence Day, Fargo, Trainspotting, The English Patient, Twister, Mars Attacks!, Jerry Maguire and a version of Evita starring Madonna.-Events:... |
Waiting For Guffman Waiting for Guffman Waiting for Guffman is a mockumentary starring, co-written and directed by Christopher Guest that was released in 1997. Its cast included Catherine O'Hara, Eugene Levy, Fred Willard, Parker Posey and others who would appear in several of the subsequent mockumentaries directed by Guest.The title of... |
| 2001 2001 in film The year 2001 in film involved some significant events, including the first of the Harry Potter series and also the first of The Lord of the Rings trilogy... |
He Is Risen (The Sopranos) |
| 2001 2001 in film The year 2001 in film involved some significant events, including the first of the Harry Potter series and also the first of The Lord of the Rings trilogy... |
The Telltale Moozadell (The Sopranos) |
| 2001 2001 in film The year 2001 in film involved some significant events, including the first of the Harry Potter series and also the first of The Lord of the Rings trilogy... |
...To Save Us All from Satan's Power (The Sopranos) |
| 2004 2004 in film The year 2004 in film involved some significant events. Major releases of sequels took place. It included blockbuster films like Shrek 2, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, The Passion of the Christ, Meet the Fockers, Blade: Trinity, Spider-Man 2, Alien vs. Predator, Kill Bill Vol... |
The Alamo |
| 2004 2004 in film The year 2004 in film involved some significant events. Major releases of sequels took place. It included blockbuster films like Shrek 2, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, The Passion of the Christ, Meet the Fockers, Blade: Trinity, Spider-Man 2, Alien vs. Predator, Kill Bill Vol... |
Friday Night Lights |
| 2006 2006 in film - Highest-grossing films :Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top-grossing films that were first released in the United States in 2006... |
Pineapple Pineapple Pineapple is the common name for a tropical plant and its edible fruit, which is actually a multiple fruit consisting of coalesced berries. It was given the name pineapple due to its resemblance to a pine cone. The pineapple is by far the most economically important plant in the Bromeliaceae... |
| 2006 2006 in film - Highest-grossing films :Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top-grossing films that were first released in the United States in 2006... |
The Fleshy Part of the Thigh (The Sopranos) |
| 2006 2006 in film - Highest-grossing films :Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top-grossing films that were first released in the United States in 2006... |
A Scanner Darkly A Scanner Darkly A Scanner Darkly is a BSFA Award winning 1977 science fiction novel by American writer Philip K. Dick. The semi-autobiographical story is set in a dystopian Orange County, California, in the then-future of June 1994... |
| 2006 2006 in film - Highest-grossing films :Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top-grossing films that were first released in the United States in 2006... |
Infamous Infamous (film) Infamous is a 2006 American drama film, based on the 1997 book by George Plimpton, Capote: In Which Various Friends, Enemies, Acquaintances and Detractors Recall His Turbulent Career.... |
| 2006 2006 in film - Highest-grossing films :Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top-grossing films that were first released in the United States in 2006... |
Nobelity Nobelity Nobelity is a feature documentary which looks at the world's most pressing problems through the eyes of Nobel laureates, including Desmond Tutu, Sir Joseph Rotblat, Ahmed Zewail and Wangari Maathai. The film was premiered at the 2006 SXSW Film Festival and was the first of several sold-out... |
| 2009 2009 in film The year 2009 saw the release of many films. Seven made the top 50 list of highest-grossing films, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that as of this year, their Best Picture category would consist of ten nominees, rather than five .- Highest-grossing films :Please note... |
One Peace at a Time One Peace at a Time One Peace at a Time is a film by Turk and Christy Pipkin. It was produced by The Nobelity Project and was premiered to a sold out audience at the Paramount Theatre in Austin, Texas, USA, on April 14, 2009. It is the sequel to the film Nobelity... |