Jennifer Saunders
Jennifer Saunders is a native Detroiter and Co-Founder of People 4 People Productions.
As a graduate student of Media Studies at The New School For Social Research in 1986,
Saunders learned how to integrate media, theory, research, and management
with production work in film, audio, video, and digital media.
In 86', Saunders also joined the New York City Department of Education
as a Teacher of English Language Arts, and Video Production at JHS #22 in Manhattan.
In 1991, when she joined the faculty at Rutgers University in Newark, New Jersey
as an Adjunct Professor of Film Studies, she began combining the study of Film
with History, Media Literacy, Current Events, and Pop Culture studies
to inspire students to see the world globally and to take ownership of their learning.
Coined by her as 'Film Media Literacy Education', the use of Film Studies to teach
multiple academic and technical disciplines was such a big hit with students, it became
Saunders' signature teaching style and the reason she returned to NYC to teach inner-city youth.
From 97' until 99', she worked as a Video Production Teaching Artist with Young Audiences/NY,
NYC's leading teaching artist agency to bring Film Media Literacy Education
to hundreds of public school children throughout New York City.
In 1999, she re-joined the NYC Department of Education as a Film Teacher
at the High School of Art and Design, New York City's premier HS for film students
aspiring to enter the Film Industry as young media professionals.
In 2002, Saunders joined the faculty at The HS of Graphic Communication Arts
located in the 'Hells Kitchen' section of Manhattan as a Teacher of Film Media Literacy,
Video Production, Photography, and Forensic Photography.
As the schools' NYC Mentoring Program Coordinator, she was awarded
'Certificates of Recognition' each year she served from 2002-2004 for her dedication and service
to students, mentors, and parents, and for the school partnership she formed
with the Kirkpatrick & Lockhart law firm and Manhattan Midtown Community Court.
In 2005, her students were awarded 'Special Recognition' by the Manhattan Neighborhood Network
for the creation of 'Who's To Blame', the story of the struggle of being a high school student
in a failing NYC public high school. The film aired in 2.5 million homes in the U.S.
and in 14 countries for two weeks during International Education Week.
Since 2008, Saunders has worked to build the capacity for Film Media Literacy Education
to thrive in mainstream and underserved American communities, to raise awareness of its importance
as a new form of 21st-Century Foundational Learning and to develop and deliver to youth worldwide,
'Filmmaking-On-Mobile', her signature-styled program using mobile communications technology
and the video capabilities of the modern smartphone.
