Profile: Jennifer Berry: Championing Diversity in Storytelling

Jennifer Berry is a multi-award-winning screenwriter, director, and playwright based in Los Angeles, renowned for her commitment to inclusivity and representation in the film industry.

With a 90% female/non-binary cast and crew in her productions, along with additional crew members with disabilities, Berry brings a unique and powerful perspective to her work. In 2020, she was honored with the California Distinguished Achievement in the Arts Award by Congressman Adam Schiff. 

Her film The Exchange premiered as the opening short at the Madrid International Film Festival, and she continues to break barriers with her latest project, Motherload, currently in post-production.

Connect with Jennifer

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A clip from the acclaimed short film "The Exchange" (** course language warning)

Berry’s critically acclaimed plays, including Big Pharma, which toured nationally for five years, and Ojalá, later adapted into a screenplay, demonstrate her depth as a storyteller. Her works have been recognized by prestigious institutions such as the Pasadena Playhouse and the Eugene O’Neill Theater Conference, cementing her place in both theater and film. Additionally, she has been featured in Ms. Magazine and other feminist publications for her advocacy in women’s representation.

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As a professor at California State University Northridge, she educates future generations on gender and media through courses such as “Women In Entertainment.” Berry’s participation in the Regenerative Creation Cohort and the RespectAbility 2024 Entertainment Lab exemplifies her ongoing commitment to amplifying diverse voices.

Where are your beginnings as a storyteller, creator, and filmmaker begin?

My storytelling career began by ending an audition! After my third audition on a hot July day in the mid 1990s, I noticed, once again, that I was reading an underdeveloped, vacuous part for a female. The only description of the part was that she was “ruggedly beautiful.” As I read over dismal dialogue and briefly rehearsed with my scene partner, I exasperatedly said. “I could write a better script than this.” He looked at me and said. “Why don’t you?” I threw the bad script in the trash, left the audition and picked up my pen. That one choice on that one day would allow me to write myself into a better life. Creating parts, plays and films for strong women characters who want to control their own destiny – like me

How has your participation in the Regenerative Creation Cohort impacted your work as an artist?

ReGenerative Cohort has been vital for my growth as a filmmaker in the last year. Firstly, it is a safe place to try on your largest thinking among women who are going for their creative lives. We live in a society that makes life very challenging for artists. There isn’t enough financial support for the creative process in its beginnings. Capitalism rewards some artists inside an old model. What reGEN is doing is giving space and place for a new kind of storytelling. Storytelling from voices that have been silenced or sanctioned. The cohort is a process, a marker, a kinship, a gathering of intelligence  that allows risk taking. Which is the basis for sustainable filmmaking. Probably the most important aspect of it is: community. Too many artist try to go it alone and end up quitting. Every month gathering with these women, reminds me to keep going, keep dreaming, and keep doing!

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