JEN COVENS

Jen started off dancing tap and jazz at nine years old. She played alto saxophone for 3 years in the all-city band in elementary school. In high school, she directed and edited her first public access TV show SOUP as a part of a teen awareness project with United Way. In her senior year, Jen produced and directed her peers in You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown – casting herself as Snoopy. Going off to Hampshire College, she studied video production tirelessly, leaving her initial plan of a dual chemistry major behind. She also began working in the theater as the school’s first all digital sound designer. She made video and sound for projects ranging from science fiction to Greek tragedy, including a 7-act show of original dance at Amherst College. She also worked part-time with media services, where she engineered sound for the schools’ live bands and events.

While still officially in college, she did a four-month internship at The Lab the•art•re•grüp in San Francisco where she was quickly promoted from desk clerk to house technical director. During this time, she worked in McCune’s engineering department and at Video Free America as the office manager. For her senior thesis, she directed, designed and performed a multi-projection dance theater piece with a 30-person cast and crew - The Effects of Stereo.

After getting her Bachelor’s of Art in 1997, she came to San Francisco from the east coast and worked as a postproduction lab technician for a private art school, teaching herself Avid and ProTools.

In 1999, She designed a multi-projection backdrop for Golden Gate Opera's Performance of Verdi's Un Ballo In Maschera at the Florence Gould Theater, Palace of the Legion of Honor.

In 2000, she began location sound recording for a variety of independent films. Her first feature as a mixer was Steakhaus Productions’ By Hook or By Crook which won the Official Selection Audience Award at Sundance in 2002.

Also in 2000, Jen choreographed and danced in the multimedia performance piece Winter Stories by Tari Karkanen at SF’s Venue 9 Theater.

At the end of 2000, she directed and edited a 7-camera shoot for Future Primitive Sound – a live concert of The Tino Corp starring Jack Dangers (also known for MeatBeatManifesto), Ben Stokes with DJ Radar and special guest MC Z-Trip.

In 1998 and then again in 2002, Jen traveled through Europe and Czech Republic filming Europa and A Train to Nowhere - her two Super8 experimental narratives. Europa screened at the Cork Film Festival in Ireland in 1999 and A Train to Nowhere screened at the Short Circuits Film Festival at SF’s Artist Television Access in 2003.

In 2003, Jen designed the sound for Hardcore Thrush Productions, an independent theatre company. Their fall season included Stage Frights – a night of one-acts and It’s a Wonderful Dyke – a gay tribute to the classic tale.

After being promoted to Technical Supervisor at the art school in 2001, she dove into her job creating, upgrading, maintaining, and purchasing all of the equipment needed to run the department’s 120 editing stations and 15 projection-based classrooms. For three years, Jen resolved the department’s growing needs with flawless organization, strict protocols, and money saving purchases. In 2002, with the help of her team, she designed and installed a 31-seat Final Cut Pro fiber-channel RAID to serve over 900 students.

“Getting my ProTools certification is only one part of my detailed training at Pyramind. Another aspect is cultivating a critical ear. I want to pursue sound engineering as a career because it combines so many things that interest me. There’s the science, the art and the performance all wrapped up into one. It is an art form that takes practice and careful guidance. The six-month training is perfect for me. Here I can sharpen the skills I need to succeed in this competitive business.”

At Pyramind, under the guidance of the Sound for Picture Series, Jen finished the sound for the short film Circe that will be touring the festival circuit this year. As a current student, she spends her time creating house tracks, recording for a variety of talent, and mastering music. Look out for her next project– The Trilogy of Las Vegas, a three-room installation piece with film, sound and dance about global warming and its effect on the dreaming mind. She runs Avid DV and Protools LE at her home studio - earthseed productions. Check http://www.esproductions.org to see more of her work.

Watch "Circe"
>> Watch Streaming QuickTime Video - 24 MB