Victoria "Vicky" Jenson (born March 6, 1960) is an American film
director of both live-action and animated films, and has been said to
be "one of Hollywood's most inspiring female Directors". She has
directed projects for DreamWorks Animation, including Shrek, the first
film to win an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, giving rise to
one of Hollywood's largest film franchises.Jenson began painting
animation cells at the age of 13. She attended the Academy of Art
University in San Francisco and California State University
Northridge. She "started as a background artist at Hanna-Barbera in
1977, became a storyboard artist for Warner Bros., Marvel and Disney
Television, and variously worked as a production designer, art
director and co-producer". In the early 1980s, Jenson worked on the
storyboard backgrounds on the He-Man and the Masters of the Universe
cartoon series for Filmation. She was also a design and color stylist
on Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures, the influential Ralph Bakshi
reboot of Mighty Mouse, in the 1980s. She held the same position with
The Ren & Stimpy Show in the early 1990s, for creator John Kricfalusi.
For both Mighty Mouse and Ren & Stimpy, Jenson was among those
"responsible for the development of the visual style" of the series.
In 1992, Jenson was the art director for FernGully: The Last
Rainforest, and the production designer for Computer Warriors: The
Adventure Begins and Playroom. In 2000, Jenson began working for
DreamWorks as a production designer and story artist for The Road to
El Dorado.Having worked on The Road to El Dorado (2000) for
DreamWorks, the studio initially hired Jenson to work on Shrek as a
story artist, with the directors to be Andrew Adamson (also a
first-time director) and Kelly Asbury, who had joined in 1997 to
co-direct the film. However, Asbury left a year later for work on the
2002 film Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, and Jenson was selected by
producer Jeffrey Katzenberg to be the new director of the film. Jenson
recalled her experience being brought into Shrek, and eventually
tapped to direct, as follows:Jenson described the directing process as
one in which "we didn't try to figure out how to make adolescents
laugh. You have to use yourself as the best judge and use your own
instincts. We figured if we laughed at it, chances are good someone
else would too". According to Adamson, the co-directors mutually
decided to split the work in half, so the crew could at least know
whom to go to with specific questions about the film's sequences: "We
both ended up doing a lot of everything", "We're both kinda control
freaks, and we both wanted to do everything." Following the success of
Shrek, Jenson went on to co-direct Shark Tale with Bibo Bergeron and
Rob Letterman. In 2003, while working on Shark Tale, Jenson received
the first annual Kiera Chaplin Limelight award given at the Women's
Image Network Awards.
director of both live-action and animated films, and has been said to
be "one of Hollywood's most inspiring female Directors". She has
directed projects for DreamWorks Animation, including Shrek, the first
film to win an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, giving rise to
one of Hollywood's largest film franchises.Jenson began painting
animation cells at the age of 13. She attended the Academy of Art
University in San Francisco and California State University
Northridge. She "started as a background artist at Hanna-Barbera in
1977, became a storyboard artist for Warner Bros., Marvel and Disney
Television, and variously worked as a production designer, art
director and co-producer". In the early 1980s, Jenson worked on the
storyboard backgrounds on the He-Man and the Masters of the Universe
cartoon series for Filmation. She was also a design and color stylist
on Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures, the influential Ralph Bakshi
reboot of Mighty Mouse, in the 1980s. She held the same position with
The Ren & Stimpy Show in the early 1990s, for creator John Kricfalusi.
For both Mighty Mouse and Ren & Stimpy, Jenson was among those
"responsible for the development of the visual style" of the series.
In 1992, Jenson was the art director for FernGully: The Last
Rainforest, and the production designer for Computer Warriors: The
Adventure Begins and Playroom. In 2000, Jenson began working for
DreamWorks as a production designer and story artist for The Road to
El Dorado.Having worked on The Road to El Dorado (2000) for
DreamWorks, the studio initially hired Jenson to work on Shrek as a
story artist, with the directors to be Andrew Adamson (also a
first-time director) and Kelly Asbury, who had joined in 1997 to
co-direct the film. However, Asbury left a year later for work on the
2002 film Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, and Jenson was selected by
producer Jeffrey Katzenberg to be the new director of the film. Jenson
recalled her experience being brought into Shrek, and eventually
tapped to direct, as follows:Jenson described the directing process as
one in which "we didn't try to figure out how to make adolescents
laugh. You have to use yourself as the best judge and use your own
instincts. We figured if we laughed at it, chances are good someone
else would too". According to Adamson, the co-directors mutually
decided to split the work in half, so the crew could at least know
whom to go to with specific questions about the film's sequences: "We
both ended up doing a lot of everything", "We're both kinda control
freaks, and we both wanted to do everything." Following the success of
Shrek, Jenson went on to co-direct Shark Tale with Bibo Bergeron and
Rob Letterman. In 2003, while working on Shark Tale, Jenson received
the first annual Kiera Chaplin Limelight award given at the Women's
Image Network Awards.
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