Today we’d like to introduce you to Jake Jensen.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Jake. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I moved to LA five years ago to pursue my acting career. I had already done a lot of print and commercial work in cities such as Miami, New York, and Atlanta, but was ready to focus more on TV and film. Three years ago, I met my creative and producing partner Kiké Adedeji in an acting class and on set for a short film. We loved the concept of the short film and decided to expand on the concept and turn it into a TV series called Marmousch: The Other Second coming about a narcissistic televangelist, Evangeline Marmousch, and her new co-host of God Talk, former pro baseball player turned country music star Beau Davenport. We started out by writing the pilot episode, creating a show bible, and filming a teaser video for the show.
During the course of the past three years, we have formed Heaven on Earth Productions and have a number of tv and film projects in various stages of development. We are currently looking for producing partners and pitching our content to studios and networks. We recently finished a comedy feature film script and are currently pitching a cabaret show as well. Kiké is an accomplished actor, singer, and performer. With her singing talent, as well as my piano skills, we look forward to performing more together musically as well as on stage and on camera. Kiké is currently writing and performing in Oaxaca, Mexico, and I am currently shooting a feature film in Los Angeles, called bUMS which I am really excited about. We currently hold weekly production and creative meetings via video conferencing and continue to work on various scripts and projects.
I also recently finished a run with Collaborative Artists Ensemble playing the role of Michael in the west coast premiere of Unraveled, a wonderful play by Jennifer Blackmer. The whole cast became family to me and it was wonderful to be on stage in LA. I would love to do more theater in the future as well as continue to pursue more film and tv roles. I have trained with some great acting coaches in Los Angeles including Faith Rumer at The Artist First Studio and Richard Seyd at Seydways Acting Studio.
Creating our own content for Heaven on Earth Productions has been a difficult as well as fulfilling journey of creating content together. It has also thrown both Kiké and myself way out of our comfort zones from a business perspective and continues to be constant challenge of networking, branching out, and learning how to pitch our material and content. We have spent hundreds and hundreds of hours together over the past three years, both creating content as well as learning more about the business side of the entertainment world. Ultimately it is exciting to not only be pursuing roles as an actor but also creating content that we care about as well as possible roles for ourselves.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Moving to LA has been an exciting and challenging journey. From finding agents to meeting casting directors, networking, and building relationships, it has been a roller coaster of highs and lows. Finding a community through acting classes and workshops, and finding a support structure has been key to handling the ups and downs of this industry. It has also been extremely helpful to have a creative and producing partner like Kiké Adedeji to help bounce ideas off of, to support each other, and to ultimately create meaningful content together. Creating our own content and projects together, learning the business side of pitching together, and being there for each other has been key to finding success and enjoying the journey. I also love LA. I love the weather, I love being around the industry, I love learning and meeting creative people from all over the country and the world.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Heaven on Earth Productions – what should we know?
We are Jake Jensen and Kikélomo Adedeji and we are actors, singers, and writers, based in Los Angeles. We started creating content in 2016 and call our production company Heaven on Earth because that’s what movies, TV, and theatre are for us.
We also have our serious side and think writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie said it best: “… the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete.”
Our other Heaven on Earth creations include a TV comedy about a take-no-prisoners narcissistic middle-aged (at least in her own mind) televangelist in Nashville who is married to a closeted Tennessee State senator, a feature film comedy about three estranged adopted adult siblings, each of a different race, who must compete against each other in a triathlon in order to win their late uncle’s fortune, a TV drama about the Four Corners area of the southwest focusing on four intersecting families, and a saga that spans 80 years about a Chinese man who sails to San Francisco in 1920 and becomes a famous chef while juggling the two families he has in Chinatown. View all of our projects at https://www.heavenonearth.productions/
Jake is an actor, musician, screenwriter, and producer. He has a PhD in Sport Psychology and specializes in mindfulness training for athletes, actors, and others. His experiences while attending graduate school in east Tennessee helped fuel the development of Marmousch, set in Nashville, which is about a southern evangelist, a retired uber-pious baseball player, and country music. And the Lord. Jake has many projects in development including one about sport psychologists and can’t wait to play Victor Lemmons in The Race (see our Projects page).
Kiké is an actress, singer, solo performer, cabaret performer, screenwriter, and producer. Kiké’s wild creation, that deliriously delightful chanteuse, Luscious, is awaiting her Broadway debut with the solo cabaret play, Luscious! In Love at Last. In addition to Luscious! Kiké has written and performed the solo play, Tolula, which Heaven on Earth is developing into a feature film (see our Projects page). Kiké also works with other solo performers developing both the script and the performance. As a singer, she creates and performs cabaret shows including a The Silly and the Sublime in which she explores the glorious and sometimes surprising songs in movie musicals. Did the Gershwins really write an S and M song? Yes, they did. While Kiké waits for Luscious to get her butt on Broadway, she continues to adapt and write teleplays and screenplays for Heaven on Earth.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
I think it’s extremely important to keep consistency with training, acting, creating, and learning. Even when I have not been auditioning as much as I would like, or not booking as many roles, I still feel like I have been productive by creating my own content and having projects in different stages of development. It has also been very helpful to have a creative outlet with the different projects that Kiké and I have been working on over the past three years. I think it is also extremely important to network and continue to build a connection of friends, supporters, and people in the industry who are not afraid to tell you how to improve and what you need to work on. We have had some industry professionals give us feedback on our scripts and work that is not always easy to hear but has ultimately pushed us to continue to work hard, persevere, and create better content. It may sound cliché, but really learning to embrace the journey and enjoy the intrinsic process of growing, developing, learning, and becoming better actor and performers has been key for us.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.jakejensenofficial.com
- Phone: 8018082611
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @jakejensenofficial
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jakejensenofficial/
- Twitter: @jakejensenactor
- Other: www.heavenonearth.productions
Image Credit:
Deborah Hanock, Walter Tab
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