Tyler MacNiven
Encyclopedia
Tyler MacNiven is an American
filmmaker and reality television
contestant.
, California
, he launched a political-style campaign to supplement his application to Stanford University
, where he had wanted to go since the seventh grade. After turning in his early admission application, MacNiven held a press conference in front of Stanford's Bowman Alumni House. For the rest of the week, MacNiven and his volunteer staff of friends and family wore sandwich boards and passed out "Tyler MacNiven for Stanford Student" leaflets after school, amongst other traditional campaign activities. MacNiven said, "There's so many outstanding people applying to Stanford these days that I actually want to be `out standing' in front of them, to show them that I really do have a passion to go there."
Despite having a 4.05 grade point average, playing singles for the varsity tennis
team and being student body president at his high school, MacNiven was rejected. He said, "My goal was to make every possible effort, leaving no options untested. That's what the campaign was really about." He was told by the admissions officer that he was noticed and that his campaign was not detrimental. He eventually graduated from UC Santa Cruz with a BA in politics, completing semesters abroad in Hungary
and on a Semester at Sea
. He claims to have been the last student of Tom Lehrer
. During a short internship in South Africa
, he produced the promotional video for his host NGO.
over 145 days. He created a one-hour documentary
of the trek, titled Kintaro Walks Japan
. MacNiven cited three reasons for the journey. On his first trip to the country in 2002, he fell in love with the country and had to return. It was on this trip that a friend nicknamed him "Kintaro
," which means "Golden Boy," because of his blond hair. Lastly, MacNiven hoped to impress a girl, Ayumi Meegan, whose parents George Meegan
and Yoshiko Matsumoto recorded the longest unbroken walk in recorded history, spanning 19,019 miles.
Unable to find a distributor for the documentary of the trek, MacNiven burned 1,000 DVD
s and began hawking copies of the film on the streets of San Francisco and at a restaurant http://www.buckswoodside.com his father owns. One day, George Strompolos, an executive from the nearby Google
campus, dropped by. “Dad showed the movie to him,” MacNiven said. “He watched it and said, ‘This is exactly what we need.’” Today roughly 500 people watch the film every day at Google Video
.
Kintaro Walks Japan premiered at the Santa Cruz Film Festival http://www.santacruzfilmfestival.com in 2006 and was voted by the audience as "Best of Fest". It received the highest winning vote in the 5-year history of the festival.
of the American television series The Amazing Race
. He and his teammate, B.J. Averell, who MacNiven met during a "Semester at Sea" four years earlier, beat out ten other teams to win the show's $
1 million prize over Eric & Jeremy. BJ and Tyler, as they were identified on the program, were nicknamed "the hippies" by the other teams.
BJ and Tyler came in last in two legs of the race, but luckily both legs were non-elimination pit stops. Host Phil Keoghan
said, "They enjoyed every single moment they were on this race, whether they were in first or in last. They kept their spirit all the way to the end." “If it’s this successful to be hippies, we might as well stay hippies,” Tyler said at the finish line in Colorado
. He also added, "BJ and I approached each country with wide eyes and enthusiasm and a huge spirit of adventure. There's so much in this world. We might as well take advantage of as much as we can and give back as much as we can and that's important. That's how it all works."
as the male hippie who steals Chris's bone density scanner, though he is not mentioned in the credits.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
filmmaker and reality television
Reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded...
contestant.
Stanford University Admission Campaign
MacNiven first received attention in 1998 when, while a senior at Woodside High School in WoodsideWoodside, California
Woodside is a small incorporated town in San Mateo County, California, United States, on the San Francisco Peninsula. It uses a council-manager system of government. The U.S. Census estimated the population of the town to be 5,287 in 2010....
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, he launched a political-style campaign to supplement his application to Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
, where he had wanted to go since the seventh grade. After turning in his early admission application, MacNiven held a press conference in front of Stanford's Bowman Alumni House. For the rest of the week, MacNiven and his volunteer staff of friends and family wore sandwich boards and passed out "Tyler MacNiven for Stanford Student" leaflets after school, amongst other traditional campaign activities. MacNiven said, "There's so many outstanding people applying to Stanford these days that I actually want to be `out standing' in front of them, to show them that I really do have a passion to go there."
Despite having a 4.05 grade point average, playing singles for the varsity tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
team and being student body president at his high school, MacNiven was rejected. He said, "My goal was to make every possible effort, leaving no options untested. That's what the campaign was really about." He was told by the admissions officer that he was noticed and that his campaign was not detrimental. He eventually graduated from UC Santa Cruz with a BA in politics, completing semesters abroad in Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
and on a Semester at Sea
Semester at Sea
Semester at Sea is a study abroad program founded in 1963, now managed by the Institute for Shipboard Education in Charlottesville, Virginia. The University of Virginia is the current academic sponsor for the program while the program, itself, is run on a cruise ship called the MV Explorer...
. He claims to have been the last student of Tom Lehrer
Tom Lehrer
Thomas Andrew "Tom" Lehrer is an American singer-songwriter, satirist, pianist, mathematician and polymath. He has lectured on mathematics and musical theater...
. During a short internship in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, he produced the promotional video for his host NGO.
Kintaro Walks Japan
In 2004, MacNiven walked the length of JapanJapan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
over 145 days. He created a one-hour documentary
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
of the trek, titled Kintaro Walks Japan
Kintaro Walks Japan
Kintaro Walks Japan is a documentary film produced and directed by Tyler MacNiven. It is an account of MacNiven's journey walking and backpacking the entire length of Japan from Kyūshū to Hokkaidō, more than 2000 miles in 145 days....
. MacNiven cited three reasons for the journey. On his first trip to the country in 2002, he fell in love with the country and had to return. It was on this trip that a friend nicknamed him "Kintaro
Kintaro
is a folk hero from Japanese folklore. A child of superhuman strength, he was raised by a mountain hag on Mount Ashigara. He became friendly with the animals of the mountain, and later, after catching Shutendouji, the terror of the region around Mount Ooe, he became a loyal follower of Minamoto no...
," which means "Golden Boy," because of his blond hair. Lastly, MacNiven hoped to impress a girl, Ayumi Meegan, whose parents George Meegan
George Meegan
George Meegan is a British long-distance walker best known for his unbroken walk of the entire Western Hemisphere from the southern tip of South America to the northernmost part of Alaska, in 2,425 days...
and Yoshiko Matsumoto recorded the longest unbroken walk in recorded history, spanning 19,019 miles.
Unable to find a distributor for the documentary of the trek, MacNiven burned 1,000 DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
s and began hawking copies of the film on the streets of San Francisco and at a restaurant http://www.buckswoodside.com his father owns. One day, George Strompolos, an executive from the nearby Google
Google
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
campus, dropped by. “Dad showed the movie to him,” MacNiven said. “He watched it and said, ‘This is exactly what we need.’” Today roughly 500 people watch the film every day at Google Video
Google Video
Google Videos is a video search engine, and formerly a free video sharing website, from Google Inc. Before removing user-uploaded content, the service allowed selected videos to be remotely embedded on other websites and provided the necessary HTML code alongside the media, similar to YouTube...
.
Kintaro Walks Japan premiered at the Santa Cruz Film Festival http://www.santacruzfilmfestival.com in 2006 and was voted by the audience as "Best of Fest". It received the highest winning vote in the 5-year history of the festival.
The Amazing Race
In 2006, MacNiven appeared as a contestant on the ninth editionThe Amazing Race 9
The Amazing Race 9 is the ninth installment of the American reality television show The Amazing Race. This season featured eleven teams of two with a pre-existing relationship in a race around the world to win one million dollars. The show premiered on Tuesday, February 28, 2006 and concluded on...
of the American television series The Amazing Race
The Amazing Race
The Amazing Race is a reality television game show in which teams of two people, who have some form of a preexisting personal relationship, race around the world in competition with other teams...
. He and his teammate, B.J. Averell, who MacNiven met during a "Semester at Sea" four years earlier, beat out ten other teams to win the show's $
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
1 million prize over Eric & Jeremy. BJ and Tyler, as they were identified on the program, were nicknamed "the hippies" by the other teams.
BJ and Tyler came in last in two legs of the race, but luckily both legs were non-elimination pit stops. Host Phil Keoghan
Phil Keoghan
Philip John "Phil" Keoghan is a New Zealand-born television personality, best known for hosting the U.S. version of The Amazing Race on CBS, since its 2001 debut. He is also the creator and host of No Opportunity Wasted, which has been produced in the United States, New Zealand, and Canada...
said, "They enjoyed every single moment they were on this race, whether they were in first or in last. They kept their spirit all the way to the end." “If it’s this successful to be hippies, we might as well stay hippies,” Tyler said at the finish line in Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
. He also added, "BJ and I approached each country with wide eyes and enthusiasm and a huge spirit of adventure. There's so much in this world. We might as well take advantage of as much as we can and give back as much as we can and that's important. That's how it all works."
Movie Roles
Tyler has had a small role in the movie The Pursuit of HappynessThe Pursuit of Happyness
Varèse Sarabande released the soundtrack on January 9, 2007, which included sixteen tracks.-Box office:The film debuted first at the North American box office, earning $27 million during its opening weekend and beating out heavily promoted films such as Eragon and Charlotte's Web...
as the male hippie who steals Chris's bone density scanner, though he is not mentioned in the credits.