Actor / Director Profile

Vicky Jenson started in animation as a cell painter. She learned to paint backgrounds on "The Flintstones" (1960) and "Smurfs" (1981) at Hanna Barbera Studios where she worked summers to cover fall semesters at the Academy of Art College in San Francisco.After transferring to Cal State University at Northridge to study literature and fine art, Vicky designed backgrounds and drew storyboards for Filmation, Marvel, Disney TV and Warner Bros on such classics as "He-Man and the Masters of the Universe" (1983), "Taz-Mania" (1991), _Batman_ and "Jem" (1985). Live action feature storyboard work followed for directors Wayne Wang and John Hughes. Jenson also continued in animation, developing visual styles for Ralph Bakshi and John Kricfalusi on such groundbreaking series as "Mighty Mouse, the New Adventures" (1987) and "The Ren & Stimpy Show" (1991).In 1988, Vicky landed her first major role in live action as Production Designer on a low-budget horror film that shot in Yugoslavia. After returning to the US and animation, Vicky served as Art Director on the traditionally animated feature FernGully: The Last Rainforest (1992). She then joined Universal Cartoons to work alternately as a director, art director and producer on a variety of animation for TV.In 1996, Vicky joined DreamWorks, where she has served as a production designer and story artist on The Road to El Dorado (2000), story artist on Chicken Run and director on both the Academy Award winning Shrek and the Academy Award Nominated Shark Tale (2004). While directing Shark Tale (2004), Vicky also directed a 25-minute, live-action short, Family Tree (2003), which premiered at Sundance and went on to win a multitude of festival awards in 2003 and 2004.