Jen Viens
Jen is a Queer Canadian filmmaker and actor originally from the west coast. After studying theatre at UBC, they trained with Matthew Harrison at the Actor’s Foundry in Vancouver, and later with Jock MacDonald and Isabel Farias-Lehoux at Straeon Acting Studio.
Jen began acting semi-professionally at the age of fifteen, but her performing and directing aspirations were cemented long before that; after writing and directing a dog food commercial starring their older brother at the tender age of 5, they knew they were hooked. Over the years, performing and directing complimented one another, and have ranged from devised theatre, to staged readings, to film and TV. In an effort to continue to explore and create as an artist, Jen started self-producing many theatre and screen projects. Though producing was borne out of necessity, Jen discovered that they were quite good at it, and it soon became a third passion alongside directing and performing.
During their time on the west coast, Jen started a production company and theatre school that focused on engaging drama classes for kids and teens, as well as large-scale, multi-faceted theatrical events that presented the classical plays of Oscar Wilde in a vineyard. After several successful years, Jen pivoted the company to focus more on film and web, and moved into coaching actors one-on-one for stage and screen. One of the first web projects they undertook, Battle Jar, received critical acclaim from the webseries community, and can be found on SparkkTV’s streaming platform.
After spending many years focusing on producing their own projects, Jen began lending their skills and creativity to other peoples’ work. Now that Jen has garnered a modest resume of theatre, short film, and webseries, they have turned her sites towards larger budget projects with a more ambitious scope.
Jen now focuses more intensely on writing original scripts for television and film and garnering more extensive experience as a Producer and Director. Most recently, Jen directed the comedic webseries ‘Unicorn Included’ about a man and his Unicorn roommate, which premiered at the Seoul WebFest. Jen is currently developing an original sci-fi series, and is set to direct and produce two additional short films in the coming year. Jen loves to tell unconventional stories about strong characters whose stories aren’t often portrayed on screen or stage.
Credits include:
The Bold Type (TV; Actor), Fatal Vows (TV; Actor), American Dreamers (Feature; 1st AD), YidLife Crisis (Webseries; Production Coordinator/Actor), Unicorn Included (Webseries; Producer/Script Consultant/Director), Home (Feature; Producer’s Assistant), Party Princess (Webseries; Co-Director), Twilight; New Moon (Feature; Stunt Double), Battle Jar; Resolving Arguments Since the Dawn of Time (Webseries; Co-Creator/Actor/Director)