Tiffany introduced herself to us wearing a black dress and quickly scurried to get her tan panama hat with a black ribbon. Her casual manner put us all at ease. “I like to consider myself a conversation maker,” Tiffany said. “I make films, and I do experiments with technology and live events. But really what I’m trying to do is to make people laugh, make them feel, and then make them think and ultimately act. And the ripple effect of seeing films that make you think has far reaching outcomes.”
But I Don’t Want to be a Doctor
When Tiffany Shlain was young, her favorite thing to do was go to the movies with her parents and then follow up with Chinese food and hours of discussion. “I really always wanted to be a filmmaker,” Tiffany said, “But I was kind of discouraged from it because my father was worried about me making a living as a filmmaker. My brother was a doctor, my father was a surgeon my mother was a psychologist and we were all supposed to be doctors.” This wasn’t Tiffany’s plan, though. The Internet and Woody Allen
During her high school years, Tiffany joined up with her Iranian friend to make a world peace website. Barbra Boxer noticed her website and named her peace ambassador to the Soviet Union at age 18. It was then that Tiffany knew that whatever she did, the internet would be a large part of it. In fact, she started the famous Webby Awards—an award that recognizes important and innovative websites around the world.