Jennifer Betit Yen

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Jennifer Betit Yen (born in New York City, New York and a citizen of the US and Ireland) is an actor, lawyer, producer, and writer.^[1] On May 9, 2019, Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York City officially proclaimed the day "Jennifer Betit Yen Day" in honor of Betit Yen's acting and activism work.^[2] That day, Betit Yen gave a speech about the importance of representation in entertainment media to a crowd of one thousand people at Gracie Mansion.^[3]

As an actor, Betit Yen has performed for East West Players in Los Angeles,^[4] The Manhattan Theatre Source in New York City, which garnered her a The New York Times mention,^[5] and has been cast in 'New Amsterdam' (NBC), Royal Pains (USA), the FX show Dirt, TBS's 'Search Party,' and FOX's America's Most Wanted among others.^[6] She has also done a significant amount of voiceover work, including for Reading Rainbow with LeVar Burton and voicing the "sporty, bouncy and outspoken" character of Avery on the series The Beacon Street Girls. The sci fi film, "Lifeline," in which she starred, premiered at the Museum of the Moving Image in New York City in 2019.^[7]

Since 2012, she has been the President of the Film Lab, a non-profit dedicated to the promotion of diversity in media,^[8][9] and she launched the Film Lab’s first production arm, AAFL TV.^[10] For her work at the Film Lab, she has been written up by Huffington Post, Backstage Magazine and other media outlets.^[11][12]

Her first screenplay, The Opposite of a Fairy Tale, about elder abuse, written with help from her friend, writer/director Aaron Woolfolk, received grant funding from the Ms. Foundation for Women. Her web series, La La Land, won an Accolade Award for Best TV Pilot in 2009. Her 2018 pilot, "Mirror Mirror," a TV sitcom addressing gender bias was a semi-finalist in the 2019 Women's International Film & Arts Festival.^[13] In 2019, she starred in the series 'Second of Silly,' which she also wrote, which won recognition at the NYC Festival of Cinema in 2019.^[14]

Betit Yen writes the blog "Ethical is Beautiful. Be Beautiful"^[15] and founded MyJennyBook, a company creating personalized multimedia stories for children. She launched the agritech start-up A2Px in 2019, aimed at assisting struggling animal based farmers transition to more lucrative, humane and environmentally friendly plant-based farming.^[16]

Films[]

Short films[]

Betit Yen wrote and starred in the 2009 Accolade Award-winning web series and TV pilot La Land in 2009, which she wrote and produced in Los Angeles. She also starred in the web series My Not So subConscious, co-starring and written by Kamran Khan, in New York City. She wrote and produced the film The Opposite of a Fairy Tale, which was screened at multiple festivals, universities and at HBO.^[17] The sci fi, "Lifeline," in which she starred, premiered at the Museum of the Moving Image in New York City in 2019.^[18]

Betit Yen can also be seen in a multitude of short films, including The Martini, co-starring James Kyson.

Feature films[]

Betit Yen’s feature film debut, Interrogation, a thriller which starred James Noel Huban, Sereivuth Eang and Albert M. Chan, was an official selection of the Boston International Film Festival. Betit Yen went on to appear in the Gary Busey film, Daze, and Need for Speed II: Special Edition, among others.

Television[]

Betit Yen has appeared in television shows such as Royal Pains (USA Network) and Search Party (TBS Network).^[19][20][21]

She created the television series Mirror Mirror, a comedy sitcom about addressing gender-based micro-aggressions in the tech and venture capital space, which premiered on CBS.^[22][23]

She is a prominent speaker on the need for authenticity and diversity in mainstream media, and launched the television series Film Lab Presents to showcase contemporary American content that accurately portrays America's diverse and heterogenous culture.^[24][25] The series started a huge success on the municipal network NYCLife under Katherine Oliver and Mayor Michael Bloomberg.^[26][27]

When asked by a different City administration to change the series' name to Asia, the producers declined on the grounds that contemporary American content should not be required to contain racial labels merely because its cast includes people of Asian descent. The producers moved the series to CrossingsTV after Betit Yen argued against caving to mainstream pressure to force shows with Asian American actors into niche categories. The show can now be seen on AAFL TV, Time Warner Cable and Xfinity.^[24]

Plays[]

Betit Yen appeared in the play YUT HO, written by Howard Fong and directed by veteran actress Elizabeth Sung (Joy Luck Club). She has also appeared in Tennessee Williams's Suddenly, Last Summer as Catharine Holly,^[28] the Manhattan Theatre Source’s Paper Dragon in the role of Bot,^[5] The Snapple Theatre, and many other venues. Backstage Magazine described Betit Yen as a "drop-dead-gorgeous Asian passing fancy" in Paper Dragon.^[29] Betit also created the IWATTAU ("Immigrants: We Are Them. They Are Us") project, utilizing interactive live theatre and story telling to address issues of racism and xenophobia at The Tank Theatre in midtown Manhattan in 2019.^[30]

Other experiences[]

Betit Yen is an attorney licensed in New York, Massachusetts and Washington, D.C. She is admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States of America, although she does not currently practice law, having become a full-time actress.

Betit Yen is also the CEO of the children’s book company MyJennyBook, which creates personalized multi-media stories for children. The books have been featured in programs at Weill Cornell Medical College and the Head’s Up program for pediatric literacy.^{[citation needed]}

Betit Yen has a strong commitment to the community and volunteer work. She runs the non-profit Asian American Film Lab, which has provided education and production to promote diversity in media since 1998 and oversees the famous annual 72 Hour Film Shootout, past judges of whom include hip hop icon Russell Simmons and playwright David Henry Hwang.

Betit Yen’s work garnered her attention from Backstage Magazine, among others.^[31] In 2012, she was elected as the organization's first female president.^[8]

Betit Yen also writes the blog "Ethical is Beautiful. Be Beautiful", which is devoted to showcasing positive and constructive ways people can enjoy life in a way that is friendly to animals and the environment, and can make lifestyle choices that are ethical and sustainable.

References[]