Born in Manhattan, attended Putney School and Columbia University. For the first twenty-five years of his adult life Jared was an actor on Broadway and Hollywood. His credits include “Dallas” for which he originated the role of ‘Dusty Farlow’, “How the West Was Won”, “War of the Worlds”, and “The Fantastic Journey”, in which he played Varian. He starred on Broadway in the Tony award winning “Torch Song Trilogy”. He left acting to co-found and direct Philadelphia’s inner city youth media center, Big Picture Alliance. In this capacity he has directed over 30 films; receiving awards from Cine Eagle, Intercom, and the Chicago International Film Festival. Beside “Dazhengzhou,” he has authored two illustrated books; ‘Caprivi” and “Letter From Zibo”, and the novel “Avagadro’s Number”. In November 2012 Jared had a one-person show at the Bill Lowe Gallery in Atlanta, Georgia. He and his wife, Chinese classical dancer Yu Wei, live in Philadelphia and Monhegan island in Maine.