Boaz Frankel (born
Portland, Oregon
Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populou ...
, 24 May 1982) is an American television personality who hosted and co-created the television show ''Clips & Quips''
and created the video series ''The Un-Road Trip'', slated to become a television series on
Halogen TV
Halogen TV was an American digital cable and satellite television channel that aired feature-length films, documentaries, short films, and original reality programs that centered on making positive social changes and making the world a better ...
in 2011.
He is also the curator of
The Kazoo Museum in
Beaufort, South Carolina
Beaufort ( , a different pronunciation from that used by the city with the same name in North Carolina) is a city in and the county seat of Beaufort County, South Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1711, it is the second-oldest city in South ...
and owner of one of the largest collections of
kazoos in the world.
[
]
Early life and education
Frankel grew up in Portland, and graduated from Wilson High School in 2000. He attended New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin.
In 1832, ...
's Tisch School of the Arts
The New York University Tisch School of the Arts (commonly referred to as Tisch) is the performing, cinematic and media arts school of New York University.
Founded on August 17, 1965, Tisch is a training ground for artists, scholars of the a ...
, graduating in 2004 with a degree in dramatic writing.
Career
College television
While studying at NYU Frankel co-created a late-night talk show, ''On The Cusp'', that became the most popular program to ever air on NYU TV. In 2004, in his final year at Tisch, Boaz appeared on the '' Today Show'''s "The Intern" segment where he went on to win the top prize. Also during his senior year he became an intern on '' Last Call with Carson Daly''. It was during his internship that Frankel heard about auditions for the WB reality show, ''Studio 7
:''"Studio 7" was also the original developmental title for the NBC drama Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.''
''Studio 7'' is an American game show that premiered on July 22, 2004 on The WB.
''Studio 7'' was hosted by Pat Kiernan. Each episode feat ...
'', in which he appeared on one episode in August 2004.
After graduating from NYU in 2004, Frankel created and hosted ''Clips & Quips'', an offbeat entertainment talk show that aired online and on college television stations nationwide for three years.[ He arranged the first kazoo-sponsored TV show and taught Peter Sarsgaard to play kazoo and ]Sarah Silverman
Sarah Kate Silverman (born December 1, 1970) is an American comedian, actress, and writer.
Silverman was a writer and performer on '' Saturday Night Live'', and she starred in and produced '' The Sarah Silverman Program'', which ran from 2007 t ...
to play dreidel
A dreidel, also dreidle or dreidl ( ; yi, דרײדל, dreydl, plural: ''dreydlech''; he, סביבון, sevivon) is a four-sided spinning top, played during the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. The dreidel is a Jewish variant on the teetotum, a ...
. Amongst other celebrities who appeared on the show, Frankel has interviewed Natalie Portman
Natalie Portman (born Natalie Hershlag, he, נטע-לי הרשלג, ) is an Israeli-born American actress. She has had a prolific film career since her teenage years and has starred in various blockbusters and independent films, receiving mu ...
, Pierce Brosnan
Pierce Brendan Brosnan (; born 16 May 1953) is an Irish actor and film producer. He is best known as the fifth actor to play secret agent James Bond in the Bond film series, starring in four films from 1995 to 2002 ('' GoldenEye'', '' Tomorrow ...
,[ Dame Judi Dench and ]Will Ferrell
John William Ferrell (; born July 16, 1967) is an American actor, comedian, and producer. He first established himself in the mid-1990s as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy show ''Saturday Night Live'', where he performed from 1995 to 20 ...
.[ In June 2007, Boaz brought ''Clips & Quips'' to an end and began development of ''Backstage Live'', a new online entertainment talk show for Social Strata.][
]
The Un-Road Trip
In April 2009 Frankel started a project called the Un-Road Trip in which he travelled across North America for 10 weeks using any mode of transportation except for the gas powered car and documented his progress on video, Twitter, blogs and in photos. The trip began in Portland, Oregon, from where he travelled across the United States and to parts of Canada, returning to Portland at the end of the journey. Frankel's goal was to find alternative modes of transport and during the trip the modes of transport he used include: a duffy boat
An electric boat is a motorboat, powered watercraft driven by electric motors, which are powered by either on-board battery packs, solar panels or electric generator, generators.
While a significant majority of water vessels are powered by di ...
, a paddle boat, Harley-Davidson
Harley-Davidson, Inc. (H-D, or simply Harley) is an American motorcycle manufacturer headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1903, it is one of two major American motorcycle manufacturers to survive the Great Depressi ...
motorcycle, train, electric bicycle[ kayak, paraglider, Couchbike, Treadmill Bike]
, Segway and camel.[ Coverage of the trip by the media included NBC's ''Today Show'' and ]CBC Television
CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French- ...
's '' The National''.[
the Un-Road Trip is being developed as a 10 episode television series for ]Halogen TV
Halogen TV was an American digital cable and satellite television channel that aired feature-length films, documentaries, short films, and original reality programs that centered on making positive social changes and making the world a better ...
who have licensed the footage Frankel produced during the trip and given him a contract to produce, co-write and host the series.[
]
The Pedal-Powered Talk Show
In 2012, Frankel started the "Pedal-Powered Talk Show", a show where Frankel interviews people in a desk attached to the front of a bicycle. The show is set in Portland, Oregon.
Other work
In fall 2009 Frankel took a freelance job with the Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...
in Washington, D.C. producing videos describing some of the eccentric mail delivery methods used by the U.S. Postal Service. He became the U.S. project manager for the Earth Day celebration in 2010, responsible for various aspects of event organization from producing videos to writing educational materials for schools.[
In addition to the above projects, Frankel has carried out freelance reporting assignments for Current TV.][
]
The Kazoo Museum
Frankel is the owner and curator of The Kazoo Museum, which was the only kazoo museum on the West Coast[ when it opened in Seattle in 2007.] The museum has since been relocated to Beaufort, SC where it officially opened in its new location in October 2010.
References
External links
GoBoaz Website
Clips & Quips
Un-Road Trip
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frankel, Boaz
American television personalities
1982 births
Living people
Television personalities from Portland, Oregon
Ida B. Wells-Barnett High School alumni
Tisch School of the Arts alumni