BIO

Jeni Jones

Jeni Jones has worked in the entertainment industry for over 20 years, as a professional, award-winning director, screenwriter, playwright, actor, dancer, rapper, producer, editor, martial artist, and radio host. Jeni has spent her entire life seamlessly navigating behind the camera & in front of it, as well as on & off stages of all sizes. Jeni earned her BA in Theatre Directing & English Literature from Fordham University in NYC & her MFA in Film Directing from CalArts.

Throughout her film & T.V. career, Jeni has worked behind the scenes as a production & development executive at several notable companies such as Starz Media, The Film Department & Exclusive Media, during which time she has been credited for her creative contributions to numerous feature films including LAW ABIDING CITIZEN starring Jamie Foxx & Gerard Butler, END OF WATCH with Jake Gyllenhaal, SNITCH with Dwayne Johnson, PARKLAND alongside Tom Hanks’ Playtone, John Carney’s music-driven film BEGIN AGAIN, Golden Globe-nominated RUSH starring Chris Hemsworth (to name a few - credits avail on IMDB).

As an independent filmmaker, her films have played at & received recognition from festivals such as Cannes, Rotterdam & Sundance. As a director, her recent direction of the stageplay WOMEN ON THE VERGE earned the production an NAACP Award and sold-out run in 2019. She also recently directed the award-winning short film CLUB RAT$, which premiered at the Oscar-qualifying L.A. Shorts & Chelsea Film Festivals & was used to raise money & awareness for RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network). The film has gone on to play numerous festivals & to win multiple awards.

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Jeni is also an accomplished playwright & screenwriter, who has been brought on board to consult on & write original screenplays for indie producers. She is the co-creator of two original music-driven T.V. Shows, as well as the screenwriter of multiple original feature films currently in development.

Her production company, PLANK PRODUCTIONS has a full slate of films in development. (See IMDB)

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Jeni is a rapper, singer, music producer & recording artist who performs frequently & whose music & music videos can be found on all platforms. She will release her first album in 2020. In 2019 Jeni was invited to NASA to attend a rocket launch & wrote a kid-friendly space jam called SPACE DRAGON, which has a video & educational program in production. She is currently writing and workshopping her original hiphop musical called THE SHORE which she incorporates into her live performance set.

She produces & hosts a weekly, nationally syndicated underground hiphop FM Radio show called JENI FROM THE BEACH.

As a martial artist, she has traveled to China to train with the Shaolin monks & is a blackbelt in Wushu.

Lastly, Jeni is a trained professional dancer, teacher, martial artist & choreographer. A classically trained dancer, she is well versed in the jazz styles of Luigi, Fosse, Horton & her mentors Christine Baltes & Hama. She is a member of two dance companies: Jazz Spectrum Dance Company & Women of Worth. As a musical theatre performer, she's trained with Tony Award winners Ann Reinking, Joel Grey & Tommy Tune & attended the prestigious Broadway Theatre Project. She has performed at large venues like the O.C. Performing Arts Center, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, & Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center. Most recently she performed a Jazz solo at the Arizona Dance Festival '22 and at LA Jazz Dance Alliance '22.

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She is starred in the 2020 production of VERACITY at the Hudson Theatre in Hollywood, CA, for which she won an acting award, and has a role in the feature film HEAVEN'S REVENGE.

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