GOOD TALK WITH JESSICA Q. CHEN
Director & Producer of SURF NATION
Jessica Q. Chen is a Chinese American filmmaker and journalist for the L.A. Times. Her work explores stories and change around women’s issues, youth culture and sports.
In 2022, Chen directed her first feature-length documentary, SURF NATION, which documents the beginnings of China’s surf culture through the Chinese Olympic surf team. It premiered at the 2022 Mountainfilm Festival and won the Santa Cruz Film Festival Audience Award.
She was associate producer for a National Geographic feature-length documentary and was awarded the Aldred I. duPont-Columbia Award for her work. The film, “Hell on Earth: The Fall of Syria and the Rise of ISIS,” premiered at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival. She has a master’s degree in investigative reporting from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University and a bachelor’s in biology from UC Irvine.
She was associate producer for a National Geographic feature-length documentary and was awarded the Aldred I. duPont-Columbia Award for her work. The film, “Hell on Earth: The Fall of Syria and the Rise of ISIS,” premiered at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival. She has a master’s degree in investigative reporting from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University and a bachelor’s in biology from UC Irvine.