Jean is based in LA, San Diego, and South Africa, where she has unshakable roots and often returns. She lived and studied in KwaZulu-Natal, coming of age politically and personally there. Her fiery relationship with her mother, South Africa’s miraculous complexity, and the international perspective gained surviving as a maid (among other things) aged 17-19 and starting from scratch in the USA at 34 made her who she is today. Her feature, “Waking a Queen”, connects these threads, and scored Page Awards Bronze and Cinequest Silver. She irresponsibly left a successful career as a journalist to pursue her filmmaking dreams in 2010, earning a double MFA (Screenwriting/Directing) at Chapman University, and a Student DGA Award for her thesis short co-starring the late, great John Heard. She published her Afro-futuristic graphic novel, a Dwayne McDuffie Award Nominee, released her first feature, Nobody Leaves ’til Jesus Comes, in 2024, and is a Blklst.com recommended writer (for another feature, “Fun Friday”)