Who does Joseph Gordon-Levitt want to work with?

Joseph Gordon-Levitt is coming to Web Summit. We’re excited.

He’ll be giving a Centre Stage talk on November 10, Web Summit Day Three, where he’ll be focusing on how tech can foster creativity and help build creative communities.

Since Joseph founded HitRecord in 2004 — an online platform that allows musicians, writers, filmmakers and more to collaborate on a wide array of projects — we figured we’d ask him with whom he’d most like to collaborate.

He also told us about the person with whom he’s most enjoyed collaborating…

Jaron Lanier

Jaron is a computer scientist, early pioneer in VR, an incredible musician and collector of rare instruments, and the author of two books: You Are not a Gadget and Who Owns the Future. I read the second last year, and it really impacted my thinking. It’s something I touch on the talks that I’m looking forward to give at Web Summit.

He talks about the way the economy works in relation to intellectual property. A lot of what happens on the internet is purported to be free, but that’s actually a myth, because there’s lots of money being generated. It’s just that money is all concentrating. It’s all going to a few very powerful entities with the greatest amount of computing power.

He’s not just a writer I like though. He’s one of those rare people who’s as talented a humanitarian as he is a technician. He just blows my mind.

Alan Kay

Alan is attributed with inventing object-oriented programming and graphic user interface, which are two of the most important innovations that are part of everything we do with computers nowadays.

I’ve gotten to know him a little bit recently, and besides his incredible inventions, he’s also just one of the most vigorous and inspiring thinkers I’ve ever had a chance to talk to. He just has an incredible way of thinking about how technology and history got together.

Perhaps not coincidentally he’s also really into music. He has really fascinating talks about education and some of my favourite conversations with him have been about how education is evolving. Most of what goes on in schools nowadays is based on a way of thinking about education that’s more than 100 years old.

Education is something that I ultimately, one day in the long-term, would love to be involved in. I’m a huge fan of the intersection between education and entertainment. Jim Henson is one of my personal idols. Sesame Street is arguably one of the most impactful pieces of media ever because of how it cross-pollinated entertainment with education.

Vi Hart

Vi actually works with Alan Kay at Viewpoints Research Institute. I’ve never met her, but I’m a huge fan of her work. She makes these really beautiful videos about the intersection of math and music. She has this incredible way of telling a story about anything, whether it’s physics or society, and she does it in this way that’s not only intellectually uncompromising, but very entertaining and relatable. She often uses math and music to add to her analogies and I just love her videos. They’re another way of thinking about things.

Bret Victor

Bret also works at Viewpoints Research Institute. What I love about him is that the technology he works on is all about encouraging people’s ideas to come out. He creates intuitive interfaces for coding for example. If you want to code a video game, oftentimes it’s a very abstract and technical activity –– he’s working on creating tools that allow people to intuitively follow their creativity to carry out these technical tasks.

I’ve seen Bret work mostly in the realm of engineering and tech, and I would love to apply some of his thinking to creativity — building tools for artists — because HitRecord is a community, and I’m looking forward to it becoming more and more of a useful tool. We want it to be a place that encourages people to get their ideas out there; to express themselves. That’s ultimately the core of what HitRecord is: hitting the record button to get what’s inside of you outside.

Jay Smooth

Jay has been making videos for years. Since I first started being aware of people making videos and putting them on the internet, he’s always been one of my favourites. He always has really clear-headed ideas about things and expresses them in a way that’s specific, but also relatable, and he’s just one of my favourite people on the internet.

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Over the course of Joseph’s career, he’s worked with some of the foremost names in contemporary cinema. Who’s had the biggest impact on his career though?

Rian Johnson

Rian wrote and directed two movies I was in: Brick, and Looper. Right now he’s actually in the middle of writing and directing Episode Eight of Star Wars.

One of the many, many things I love about working with him is his spirit of collaboration. This is a guy with such incredible ideas, and yet he has the humility to remain open to other people’s ideas. He knows how to find that balance.

He strikes that sweet spot that I think is key for any film director: being open to spontaneity and collaboration but at the same time being strong about his own vision. It’s something I strive to do as well as he does.