Ari Gold

Ari Gold (born 1970) is an American filmmaker, actor and musician. His short film Helicopter was about the aftermath of his mother Melissa Dilworth Gold's 1991 death. His feature debut Adventures of Power premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival and made its European debut at the 2008 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.

Early life and education Ari Gold was born in San Francisco, California in 1970. He is the son of American novelist Herbert Gold and Melissa Gold (née Dilworth). His twin brother is musician Ethan Gold, and he has a sister Nina Gold. He also has two half-sisters from his father's first marriage. His mother, Melissa Dilworth, is the daughter of J. Richardson Dilworth, a longtime financial advisor of the Rockefeller family.

He attended New York University (NYU) to study film, and Columbia University, graduating in 1992.

Career Culture (1999), which Gold directed and starred in, is a 60-second short film, shot entirely in one take with no rehearsal.

Helicopter (2001, copyrighted 2000) is a short film dealing with the aftermath of the death of his mother Melissa in the 1991 Vallejo helicopter crash that also took the life of rock impresario Bill Graham and pilot Steve Kahn. Gold won High Times Magazine's "Stoner of the Year" award (2001).

Adventures of Power (2008) was written and directed by Gold, and is a cult comedy about a mine worker (played by Gold) who discovers an underground subculture of air-drummers who have the power to change the world.

In 2017, Gold co-wrote and directed the ultra low-budget film The Song of Sway Lake.

Gold produced, directed, and acted in 2025 film Brother Verses Brother. The film was first released at the 2025 SXSW Film Festival.

Filmography

Feature films

Short films Year Film Credited as Director Producer Writer Actor 1995 Nonstop Pyramid Action 1996 Frog Crossing 1999 Culture 2001 Helicopter 2011 Lucas Gets Kidnapped!

Music Gold is an occasional member of two comedic music projects with The Brothers Gold, with his brother Ethan Gold on guitar; Ari sings and plays ukulele.

Gold sings in the new wave folk band, The Honey Brothers. The Honey Brothers started small in 2001, a few college friends singing for people on the street corners of New York. Since then, they have released two studio albums, one live album, and made a guest appearance on the TV show, 90210. The other core members of The Honey Brothers are Andrew Vladeck, Daniel Posner, and Adrian Grenier. Ethan Gold is a former member of the band; in 2010 he was replaced by Dan Green.