Jesse Byron Dylan (born 6th January 1966, New York City) is the eldest son of musician Bob Dylan and his first wife, Sara Dylan. He is an American film director whose credits include the 2001 Method Man/Redman comedy How High, the third film in the American Pie trilogy American Wedding (2003), and the 2005 Will Ferrell film Kicking & Screaming. Jesse also directed Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds video of 'Red Right Hand' in 1994. Jesse Dylan first came to the attention of the press notably the Melody Maker, at the age of three, after banging his head on a door knob whilst boarding the Queen Elizabeth 2 to sail with his parents to the Isle Of Wight, where his father was headlining the 1969 festival, on August 31.
Robert Shelton in No Direction Home, The Life and Music of Bob Dylan described Jesse Dylan as being a very likeable outgoing boy, who followed his father almost everywhere he went, in and around the family home, Hi Lo Ha, which was situated in the wooded area of Byrdcliffe, in Woodstock making notes of what Bob was doing in a small notebook. In 1983, at the age of seventeen, Jesse Dylan had a belated bar mitzvah at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem. His father dutifully flew in to play his part.
Jesse Dylan attended New York University but did not graduate. He made pop videos, and television ads for the Los Angeles production company Straw Dogs, which merged with Paradise Music Entertainment Inc., a publicly traded company. Jesse was a major investor along with Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon and was appointed Chairman, becoming a successful businessman. In late 2004, the company was reorganized as Paradise Industries Inc., and specializes in developing and producing music festivals, events and branding campaigns for such corporate clients as Coors . He married the film actress Susan Traylor and their first son William was born in 1995. They live in the Hollywood Hills.
Recent activity has shown Jesse Dylan to be very active in the indie scene. He recently directed Vagrant band The Eels "Trouble With Dreams" music video. He also recently directed several television commercials for the American Express Open campaign through his production company Form
