Jim Blashfield (born September 4, 1944, Seattle, Washington) is an American filmmaker and media artist, best known for his short films such as Suspicious Circumstances and The Mid-Torso of Inez, and his music videos for musicians Talking Heads, Joni Mitchell, Nu Shooz, Paul Simon, Peter Gabriel, Michael Jackson, Tears for Fears, Marc Cohn, , and "Weird Al" Yankovic. He has collaborated with Bill Frisell and the Oregon Symphony.

Blashfield is the recipient of a Cannes Golden Lion, a Grammy Award, and 17 MTV Video Music Award nominations, including 3 Awards.

Other films include Bunnyheads, SuctionMaster, Vanity, and The Tasseled Loafers, an irreverent interpretation of Hector Berlioz' Dream of a Witch's Sabbath with music by the Czech Philharmonic, and the recent film Basement Suite.

Recent multi-image installations include the 11 screen welded aluminum sculpture "Mechanism", Tilicum Crossing's "Flooded Data Machine", the 7 screen "Circulator" and the 5 screen "Conveyor".^[1]

Filmography

Selected short films

• The Mid-Torso of Inez, (1978) Produced in collaboration with Vern Luce
• Suspicious Circumstances, (1985) Music by Steve Koski, Ken Butler and Stan Wood
• My Dinner with the Devil Snake (1990)
• The Tasseled Loafers, (2001) Music by Hector Berlioz and the Czech Philharmonic
• St. Helens Road, (2002) Music by the Land Camera Micro Orchestra (2002)
• The Lone Ranger, (2002) Music by Bill Frisell
• Bunnyheads, (2007) Based on the sculpture of Christine Bourdette, co-produced with Lourri Hammack
• SuctionMaster: Triumph of Science (2008)
• Vanity (2010)

Moving Image Installations

• Evolution of a City, (1997) Produced in collaboration with Carol Sherman
• Running Dog w/ Cactus, (2002)
• The Resurrectory, (2004) In collaboration with the Liminal Performance Group
• Conveyor, (2010)
• Circulator, (2011)
• Flooded Data Machine, (2015)
• Mechanism (2017)

Theater / Performance

• Bird of Paradise, (1989) Written and directed in collaboration with Victoria Parker

Music videos

• "And She Was", Talking Heads (1985) / MTV Nominations (1986): Best Group Video, Best Concept Video
• "Good Friends", Joni Mitchell (1985)
• "I Can't Wait", Nu Shooz (1985)
• "Boy in the Bubble", Paul Simon (1986) / MTV Nominations (1987): Best Video, Best Special Effects, Best Art Direction, Most Experimental, Viewers' Choice
• "Don't Give Up" (version 2), Peter Gabriel & Kate Bush (1986)
• "Leave Me Alone", Michael Jackson (1989) / Grammy Award (1990): Best Short Form Music Video / Cannes Golden Lion Award (1989): Best Special Effects / MTV Award (1989): Best Special Effects / MTV Nominations (1989): Best Video, Breakthrough Video, Best Art Direction, Best Editing, Viewers' Choice
• "Sowing the Seeds of Love", Tears for Fears (1989) / MTV Awards (1990): Breakthrough Video, Best Special Effects / MTV Nominations (1990): Best Group Video, Best Post-Modern Video
• "Walk Through the World", Marc Cohn (1993)
• "Pancreas", "Weird Al" Yankovic (2006)

Sesame Street

Blashfield Studio produced several segments directed by others for Sesame Street during the 1980s and the 1990s.

• The Word is No
• Monster in the Mirror
• Exploring in Your Closet
• Forty Blocks from My Home
• Isadora's Sneakers - a short about the seasons
• I Like to Pretend - I Can Fly / I'm an Astronaut