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
Strong visual designer with roots in creating experiences for live audiences.
Filmmaker continually plugged into the latest innovations in online video.
Collaborator experienced in leading creative teams through process.
Consultant skilled in teaching, translating and explaining technology.
Artist-programmer who understands natural constraints of code.
Jen Simmons’s Specialties:
online video distribution; user experience and information architecture; CSS, XHTML, webstandards; wordpress themeing; 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 (3 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 (20 years)
As an independent artist, I have 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; 5001-10,000 employees; Higher Education industry)
2005 — 2006 (1 year)
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
