Molly DeWolf Swenson is an American entrepreneur, musician and Emmy-winning film producer. She is best known for being a co-founder of Los Angeles-based media company RYOT, which was acquired in 2016 by HuffPost / AOL (now Oath, Inc, a subsidiary of Verizon),[1] a venture capitalist at LA-based technology fund 3Rodeo[2] and a contestant on Season 10 of American Idol while she was interning at The White House under President Barack Obama.[3]
Swenson was born in Seattle, to a doctor mother and a dancer father. She attended Garfield High School and then Harvard University, where she graduated in 2010.[4]
While interning at the White House, she auditioned for American Idol, where she was considered an early top contender.[5] After American Idol, she was hired by Global Philanthropy Group[6] where she worked with Shakira, Kobe Bryant, and Ben Stiller on philanthropic strategy.[7] She met Bryn Mooser and David Darg and co-founded RYOT in 2012 in a garage in Venice.[8] After pivoting into documentary, virtual reality and 360 video production, RYOT was acquired by HuffPost / AOL in April 2016 for around $15 million.[9]
In 2017, Swenson was named to Forbes 30 Under 30[10] and a producer on the Emmy-winning, Oscar-nominated documentary short Body Team 12, now on HBO.
In November 2017, Variety reported that Swenson was leaving RYOT at the end of 2017.[11] The publication also broke the news in March 2018 that she was tapped by Guy Oseary to join Live Nation's Maverick as its first-ever "Chief Impact Officer."[12] In July, 2018 she worked with artist G-Eazy to launch his first nonprofit initiative, Endless Summer Fund.[13]
DeWolf Swenson is credited with bringing the social texting app Community to Oseary in 2019 while working with him at Maverick.[14]
| Year | Title | Distributor | Format | Credit | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Mitimetallica | Short Documentary | Associate Producer | ||
| 2014 | Positive | Short Documentary | Associate Producer | ||
| 2015 | Gardeners of Eden | Pivot (Participant Media) | Feature Documentary | Associate Producer | |
| 2015 | Body Team 12 | HBO | Short Documentary | Coordinating Producer | |
| 2016 | Virtually Mike and Nora | Hulu | Virtual Reality Series | Executive Producer | |
| 2016 | The Big Picture: News in VR | Hulu | Virtual Reality Series | Producer | |
| 2017 | Fear Us Women | Verizon go90 | Short Documentary | Associate Producer | |
| 2018 | Door No. 1 | Hulu | Virtual Reality Series | Executive Producer | |
| 2018 | On Her Shoulders | PBS | Feature Documentary |
Known by the stage name Molly DeWolf, she auditioned in Milwaukee in 2010 for Season 10 of American Idol, making it through Hollywood Week to the final Las Vegas round.[15]
On December 8, 2017, she opened for Kimbra in Los Angeles and released a single from her debut album, 8 Seconds.[16]