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CV

Douglas Ridloff is a renowned poet and visual storyteller, creating original works in American Sign Language (ASL). His performances have earned him national and international acclaim, with appearances in countries such as Jamaica, Cuba, France, Germany, Israel, Australia, and the United Kingdom. He has also performed at prestigious venues, including the Whitney Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Jewish Museum, the 9/11 Memorial Museum, the Nelson-Atkins Museum, and SITE Santa Fe. His work has been featured by major outlets like NBC News, Circa, HBO, Vice, CNN’s Great Big Story, and at TEDxVienna and TEDxUniGeneva.

Beyond his own creative work, Douglas is a passionate advocate for ASL literature. He is the executive director of *ASL SLAM*,  https://www.aslslam.org/

Douglas also extends his passion for ASL to the film industry as a producer and director. He produced and directed the short film *Idle Hands*, for which he won the Best Director award at the Clin d'Oeil Festival. Most recently, he served as a Consulting Producer for Marvel’s *ECHO* and has worked as an ASL Consultant for various high-profile film and television projects, including *A Quiet Place 1 & 2*, Marvel’s *Eternals*, *Saturday Night Live*, *Hawkeye*, and *Only Murders in the Building*. 

Selected Poetry / Performance / Events / Workshops

2022

PJ Library, location (performer)  The Story of Purim in ASL

 

2021

Radcliffe-Harvard Institute (performer, presenter)  Transients: A Poetry Reading and Discussion with Douglas Ridloff

 

2020

Nelson Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City (organizer, host, performer)  Deaf Cultural Festival 

 

2019

TEDxUniGeneva (performer) Seeing Music

The Jewish Museum, New York City (performer)  Poet Douglas Ridloff Responds to OY/YO & Douglas Ridloff Responds to Leonard Cohen: A Crack in Everything

Planet Word, Washington, D.C.  (performer)  The Spoken Word

Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, Moscow, Russia (performer, presenter)  The Sophistication of Sign Language Poetry: A Workshop by Douglas Ridloff

Rochester Institute of Technology (performer, presenter) Embodying Theory in the Classroom

 

2018

TEDxVienna (performer, presenter)  Deaf Poets Society

9/11 Memorial Museum (performer, presenter)

Whitney Museum (curator, performer, presenter) 

Caribbean Christian Center for the Deaf, Jamaica, (workshop leader) 

Australia Tour  (performer) Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Townsville, Cairnes, and Perth

Israel Tour Sign (performer) Tel aviv, Jerusalem, and Haifa 

Norway Tour (performer, workshop leader) Oslo, Stavanger, Trondheim, Bergan, and Sandefjord 

2016

The Met Museum, Met Signs Tour in ASL: Public Parks, Private Gardens: Paris to Provence

SITE Santa Fe, (performer)  Moebius Path by Francisca Benitez with Douglas Ridloff

Whitney Museum, (curator, performer, presenter) 

9/11 Memorial Museum (performer) 

The Jewish Museum, New York City (performer, host) ASL SLAM

Columbia College, Chicago (artist in residence) 

 

2015

LaGuardia Community College, New York City (workshop leader) 

St. Petersburg College Clearwater Campus (workshop leader) 

 

2013

Northeastern University, Boston (workshop leader) 

Deaf Film Camp: Creative Content Development (workshop leader) 

 

2008-2018

Douglas Ridloff Live! & The Capital D Show (performer, creative director)

California, Colorado, Connecticut, Chicago, Indiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Boston, Las Vegas, New Jersey, New York, Vermont, Seattle, Washington, D.C., Miami, Tampa Bay, St. Petersburg, Berlin, Reims, Calgary, Lyon, Cuba, Wolverhampton, Jamaica, Helsinki, Niagara Falls, Canada, and Copenhagen..
 

Creator/Founder

ASL SLAM, Non-Profit Organization, Board President & Director, 2008-Present

www.ASLSLAM.com                

Film Production | Consulting 

2022

Echo, Marvel Studios, Consulting Producer,  

Only Murders in the Building Season 2, ASL Consultant for Nathan Lane, Selena Gomez, and Joey Caverly

 

2021

Hawkeye, Marvel Studios, ASL Consultant for Vincent D’Onofrio, Fra Fee, & Alaqua Cox  

Eternals, Marvel Studios, ASL consultant for Chloë Zhao, Lauren Ridloff, Kumail Nanijiani, Lia Mchugh, Brian Tyree Henry, and Barry Keoghan

 

2020

Only Murders in the Building Season 1, ASL Consultant for Nathan Lane, Olivia Reis, and Joey Caverly

A Quiet Place II, ASL Coach for John Krasinski, Emily Blunt, Millicent Simmonds, and Noah Jupe 

 

2019

Crying Hands, Teater manu, Oslo, Norway  ASL Consultant 
 

2018

A Quiet Place, ASL Coach for John Krasinski, Emily Blunt, Millicent Simmonds, and Noah Jupe 

Saturday Night Live, A Kanye Place, ASL Coach for Donald Glover

Saturday Night Live, ASL Coach for Sam Rockwell 

 

2016

Love Me Now by John Legend, Actor, 2016

Coffee Shop

Crushed 

At First Sign

Purgatory

Earology

Sign Gene 

2008-2014

My Crazy Love (2014)

Transients (2011)

Re-Defining D-E-A-F (2008)

Press

2022

CNN: 'CODA' is just one recent film influenced by deaf creators who are changing the industry

 

2021

Kveller: This Deaf Jewish Dad Taught the Cast of ‘Eternals’ Sign Language 

 

2019

APLUS: ASL SLAM Poetry in NYC  

The Jerusalem Post: ‘Signing is cool’   

Algemeiner: Online Social Network Geared to Deaf, Signing Community Launches in Israel

Israel National News: 80 hearing impaired children celebrate bar, bat mitzvah

Forward: In Israel, There Are Poetry Slams For The Deaf

 

2018

Poets & Writers: An Explosion of Language:  Publishing American Sign Language Poetry

Poetry Society: The Noblest Gift The Fight To Preserve American Sign Language-Poetry Takes Center Stage 

The Center for the Humanities, CUNY: Publishing American Sign Language Poetry

 

2017

NBC NEWS: Deaf Poet's Visual Poetry: Creative Storytelling Without Words 

CNN Great Big Story: Spoken Without Words: Poetry with ASL SLAM 

Circa: ASL Slam's 'open hands' event lets the deaf express themselves through poetry 

HuffPost: Meet The Man Bringing Slam Poetry To The Deaf Community

 

2016

Review Journal: Nevada’s first ASL slam for deaf, hard-of-hearing held in Henderson

 

2015

Westword: ASL SLAM Provides an Artistic Outlet for Denver's Deaf Community

 

2014

Hopes&Fears: Internet slang meets American Sign Language

 

2013

Contently: Slamming for Solidarity

 

Education

M.S Deaf Education Elementary/Secondary, May 2001, Western Maryland College, Westminster, MD                                            

Graduated with Honors ASLPI (American Sign Language Proficiency Interview)- Score: 5.0/5.0 


B.S. Physical Education May 1999 Gallaudet University, Washington, D.C.

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