Creative Director / Interaction Designer
Greater New York City Area
- Current
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- Founder / Creative Director at Milkweed Media Design
- Writer / Designer / Director at Independent Artist
- Past
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- Adjunct Professor at Temple University
- Media Arts Instructor at SAY Sí
- Deputy Director at Esperanza Center
- Education
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- Temple University
- Gordon College
- Recommended
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8 people have recommended Jen - Connections
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connections
- Industry
- Media Production
- Websites
Jen Simmons’s Summary
Web designer and developer. Filmmaker and theater projection designer. Consultant and teacher.
Jen Simmons’s Specialties:
Web Design & Development Specialties: Drupal and WordPress theming and development; online video distribution; user experience and information architecture; CSS, XHTML, webstandards; filmmaking and cinematography; video compression and technical specs; search engine optimization and internet marketing strategies; strategic use of social networking.
Jen Simmons’s Experience
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Founder / Creative Director
Milkweed Media Design
(Internet industry)
2005 — Present (4 years )
Designing websites and videoblogs for independent artists, small businesses, and media companies. Specializing in standards-based design, wordpress themeing and internet video.
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Writer / Designer / Director
Independent Artist
(Fine Art industry)
1988 — Present (21 years )
As an independent artist, I made several short films, and designed projection, lighting, scenic and sound for theater productions.
• created computer-driven, four-channel, interactive video projections on seven screens for Violet Fire: A Multimedia Opera about Nikola Tesla (2006) which premiered at the National Theater of Belgrade, Serbia for Tesla’s 150th birthday, and traveled to the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Next Wave Festival
• wrote, produced and directed Inclinations (2005), a short romantic comedy, which traveled the circuit to over 25 festivals, and was acquired by MTV for inclusion in LOGO’s Click List: Best in Short Film series
• wrote and produced Bush for Peace (2003) a two-minute experimental film, selected for RESfest, and Media the Matters as well as many other festivals, screening in over 100 venues around the globe. I also promoted the film virally across the internet, where over 150,000 people watched it online -
Adjunct Professor
Temple University
(Educational Institution; Higher Education industry)
September 2003 — May 2006 (2 years 9 months)
Taught several film school courses at Temple University, in subjects including videoblogging, videography, 16mm film production and sound recording, digital editing, web design aesthetics, and multimedia production.
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Media Arts Instructor
SAY Sí
(Media Production industry)
2000 — 2002 (2 years )
Team-taught digital filmmaking, digital photography and collage, flash game development, graphic design and website development in an after-school lab setting, to 15-20 high school students. Students worked independently and in small teams to complete their media projects for public exhibitions.
• motivated teenagers to birth creative projects of their own expression and complete their projects in a timely manner, without use of grade-based or pay-based incentives
• provided advice and vision for future expansion of SAY Sí’s campus, as the Board of Directors began envisioning a capital campaign that led to the rental and renovations of a 25,000 square foot facility
• while I was at SAY Sí, we were honored by the President’s Committee on the Arts Coming Up Taller award and selected for the Sundance Institutes’ Reel Studio: Young Filmmaker program -
Deputy Director
Esperanza Center
(Non-Profit Organization Management industry)
December 1992 — November 2000 (8 years )
The Esperanza Center is community-based, multidisciplinary arts center in San Antonio, Texas. Without officially having a job title, I simultaneously fulfilled the roles of deputy director, theater technical director, stage manager, exhibition installer, graphic designer, web master, bookkeeper, and construction project manager.
• co-produced over 300 live events — visual art exhibitions, concerts, book readings, panel discussions, performance art, theater shows, and twelve films festivals
• facilitated a period of tremendous organizational growth — our annual budget increased from $45,000 to $500,000/year, and the staff expanded from 2 to 10 people during my tenure
• oversaw the acquisition, design and renovation of a 10,000 sq. ft. art center, with a 300-seat theater
• played a significant role as a Plaintiff in Esperanza v. City of San Antonio, a major federal arts-funding case that netted a strongly-worded victory for the constitutional rights of diverse artists
Jen Simmons’s Education
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Temple University
MFA , Film Production , 2002 — 2007
University Fellow
Summa Cum Laude -
Gordon College
BA , Sociology, Theater, Mathematics , 1987 — 1991
