Jonathan "Jon" Shestack is a film producer. He has produced well-known movies such as ''

Air Force One Air Force One is the official air traffic control designated call sign for a United States Air Force aircraft carrying the president of the United States. In common parlance, the term is used to denote U.S. Air Force aircraft modified and used ...

''. Additionally, he was one of the founders of

Cure Autism Now Autism Speaks Inc. is a controversial autism advocacy organization and the largest autism research organization in the United States. It sponsors autism research and conducts awareness and outreach activities aimed at families, governments, a ...

, an autism organization that merged with

Autism Speaks Autism Speaks Inc. is a controversial autism advocacy organization and the largest autism research organization in the United States. It sponsors autism research and conducts awareness and outreach activities aimed at families, governments, an ...

in 2006. His father is Jerome J. Shestack, a well-known lawyer from

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. Shestack has stated that his production style involves starting with a pitch for a script. He then refines the idea as needed until a studio decides that it will be made into a movie. He has also advocated giving credit to people that play an indirect role in moviemaking. He has been eager to use the films he produces to raise money for autism research. Shestack started

after his son, Dov, was diagnosed with autism. One of the organization's goals was to raise money for scientific research on autism. Shestack received many donations from connections in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

. He was known for being able to attract significant donors and awareness, to the extent that he played a major role in convincing congress to pass the important Combating Autism Act of 2006. Initially, Shestack was against the merger of the organization with Autism Speaks, but decided to eventually accept the merger. Shestack has stated that

Ari Ne'eman Ari Daniel Ne'eman (; born December 10, 1987) is an American disability rights activist and researcher who co-founded the Autistic Self Advocacy Network in 2006. On December 16, 2009, President Barack Obama announced that Ne'eman would be appoin ...

, an autistic activist, did not want to understand the challenges of severe autism when he was being nominated to the

National Council on Disability The National Council on Disability (NCD) is an advisory agency on disability policy in the United States for all levels of government and for private sector entities NCD is an independent agency of the United States government headquartered in ...

References

External links

*
California Resolution Honoring Jonathan Shestack
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shestack, Jonathan American film producers American television producers Activists from California 1959 births Living people