Vicky Jenson

Victoria Jenson (born March 4, 1960) is an American film director of both live action and animated films. 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.

Career Biography and early work Jenson began painting cels at the age of 13. She attended the Academy of Art University in San Francisco and California State University Northridge, and learned to paint backgrounds on The Flintstones and The Smurfs at Hanna Barbera Studios where she worked summers to cover fall semesters. and the production designer for Computer Warriors: The Adventure Begins and Playroom.

DreamWorks In 2000, Jenson began working for DreamWorks as a production designer and story artist for The Road to El Dorado. In 2003, while working on Shark Tale, Jenson received the first annual Kiera Chaplin Limelight award given at the Women's Image Network Awards.

Live-action work She directed a live-action short, Family Tree, which "premiered at Sundance, screened at countless festivals, including Sundance, SXSW, Aspen and Malibu and went on to win multiple festival awards". She was represented by the Anonymous Content agency for the campaign.

In 2015, Jenson directed a stage production of the play, Time Stands Still, by Donald Margulies. The Los Angeles Times wrote of Jenson's stage directorial debut: "the staging by Vicky Jenson successfully captures the script's broad contours", and Broadway World praised the production, stating that "Vicky Jenson smoothly directs her uniformly skilled four-member cast".

Skydance Animation In July 2017, it was reported that Jenson was directing an untitled animated fantasy film. The film tells of a teenager who "comes of age using magical powers to defend her family when the opposing forces of light and darkness threaten to divide her kingdom. The untitled project was later titled Spellbound. In 2026, Jenson announced that she had lost her job with the studio during the previous year.

Personal life Jenson is the sister of classical violinist Dylana Jenson. Jenson owns a Border Collie.

Filmography Feature films Year TitleDirectorArtDirectorLayoutDesignStoryArtistProductionDesignerOtherNotes 1985 The Secret of the Sword 1987 Rock Odyssey Background Artist Slam Dance Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night 1988 She's Having a Baby Pound Puppies and the Legend of Big Paw Design 1990 Playroom 1992 FernGully: The Last Rainforest Layout 2000 The Road to El Dorado Chicken Run Additional Story 2001 Shrek 2003 Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas 2004 Shark Tale 2005 Cerebral Print: The Secret Files Actress 2008 Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa Development 2009 Post Grad 2024 Spellbound Story, Voice of Old Blue-Haired Woman

Television

Awards and nominations