Jenni Olson

Jenni Olson (b. October 6, 1962) was born and raised in Falcon Heights, Minnesota. Olson is a film exhibition curator, director, award winning documentary filmmaker, and author. Olson co-founded and still writes for PlanetOut.com,cite web| url=http://www.offscreen.com/biblio/essays/inside_jenni_olson/ |title=Inside the Homo Studio: with Jenni Olson |accessdate=2006-12-19 |author=Ryan Diduck |date=June 30, 2006 |work=Queer Perspectives |publisher=Offscreen.com ] and campaigned to have a barrier erected on the Golden Gate Bridge.cite news |first=Andrew |last=Blum |title=Suicide Watch |date=March 20, 2005 |publisher=The New York Times |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/20/movies/MoviesFeatures/20blum.html?ex=1166677200&en=5f58d5b57b6cf65f&ei=5070 ]

Biography

Olson was educated at the University of Minnesota. In 1986, while still a student, Olson founded the Minneapolis/St.Paul Lesbian, Gay, Bi & Transgender Film Festival, initially under the name Lavender Images.cite news |first=Dave |last=Ford |pages=F1 |title=S.F. film historian's latest book uses movie posters to shed light on changing mainstream views of lesbians and gay men |date=October 15, 2004 |publisher=San Francisco Chronicle |url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/10/15/WBG0F96VMV1.DTL&hw=Jenni+Olson&sn=001&sc=1000 ] Olson was inspired in this move by Vito Russo's book, "The Celluloid Closet". In 1992 Olson was hired by the company Frameline and moved to San Francisco to work as guest curator on the San Francisco International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, before being appointed co-director alongside Mark Finch. After three years Olson left this position to co-found the website PlanetOut.com.cite web |url=http://www.sfist.com/archives/2005/07/08/interview_jenni_olson.php |title=Interview: Jenni Olson |accessdate=2006-12-19 |author=Matt Baume |date=July 8, 2005 |publisher=SFist ] Olson worked as director of entertainment and e-commerce for the site, as well fulfilling the same roles for Gay.com. She also created the PopcornQ section of the PlanetOut.com website, basing the section on her book "The Ultimate Guide to Lesbian & Gay Film and Video." [cite web |url=http://www.glbtq.com/contributors/bio_262.html |title=Contributor Biography: Jenni Olson |accessdate=2006-12-19 |publisher=glbtq.com ] [cite web |url=http://www.joyoflifemovie.com/castandcrew.html |title=Cast and Crew |accessdate=2006-12-19 |work=The Joy of Life official website ] In 1997 Olson attended the Sundance Festival and arranged, along with Morgan Rumpf, a small brunch aimed at fellow queer attendees. The event quickly established itself as a regular occurrence, and in 2001 Outfest: The Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Film Festival became sponsors to the event. [cite web |url=http://www.planetout.com/entertainment/news/?sernum=961&navpath=/entertainment/sundance/ |title=Where the indie-film A-gays play |accessdate=2006-12-19 |author=Jenny Stewart |date=January 20, 2005 |publisher=Planetout.com ] The sponsors described it in 2005 as "the premiere gay and lesbian industry event during Sundance". [cite press release |title=here! Networks to Present 10th Annual Outfest Queer Brunch at Sundance Film Festival |publisher=here! Networks & Outfest: The Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Film Festival |date=December 8, 2005 |url=http://www.outfest.org/archives/ad.news10.html |accessdate=2006-12-19 ] By June 2006, Olson had become Director of Consumer Marketing for Wolfe Video/Wolfe Releasing.

Works

Olson initially compiled trailers into documentary features, showing "Homo Promo", her compilation of vintage gay movie trailers at the Amsterdam Gay & Lesbian Film Festival in 1991,cite journal |last=Morris |first=Gary |year=2004 |month=August |title=I Changed My Socially Constructed Sexual Identity! |journal=Bright Lights Film Journal |issue=45 |id=ISSN: 0147-4049 |url=http://www.brightlightsfilm.com/45/queer.htm |accessdate=2006-12-19 ] and her work in this area has been recognised as instructional in teaching students contextualisation. [citation |title=Spilling out onto Castro Street |first=Marc |last=Siegel |periodical=Jump Cut |number=41 |date=May 1997 |page=131-136 ] She continued compiling trailers throughout the 1990s, with her last such compilation released to date being "Bride of Trailer Camp", released in 2001. During this period Olson also wrote "Ultimate Guide to Lesbian & Gay Film and Video" (1996). The book was based on Olson's BA thesis, [cite web |url=http://www.library.yale.edu/rsc/gayles/gayfilm.html |title=Drama and Film |accessdate=2006-12-19 |date=08/05/06 |work=Gay & Lesbian Research Guide |publisher=Yale University Library |quote=originated as her B.A. thesis at the University of Minnesota ] . Her next book was "The Queer Movie Poster Book" (2004). This book was suggested in 1991 by Stuart Marshall, who recommended Olson pitch the idea to London's Gay Men's Press. Although the book was turned down by both them and Serpent's Tail, to whom the idea was pitched as a follow up to her previous book, Olson was eventually commissioned to write the book in 2002. Olson based the work in part on her own collection of such material, which she has subsequently donated to San Francisco’s GLBT Historical Society. Her collection was exhibited at the San Francisco Public Library in 2004, with Olson delivering an accompanying lecture.

In 2005 Olson released "The Joy of Life", her debut feature, which won Best Outstanding Artistic Achievement at the 2005 Outfest and at the 2005 Newfest received Best U.S. Narrative Screenplay, [cite web |url=http://joyoflifemovie.com/pressplaydates.html |title=Press Materials, Reviews, Upcoming Screenings |accessdate=2006-12-19 |publisher=Official website ] and has been favorably reviewed in a number of publications. It also garnered Olson the Marlon Riggs Award by the San Francisco Film Critics Circle in 2005. Working on the film led Olson to pen an open letter to the "San Francisco Chronicle" on the matter of the Golden Gate Bridge's position as the top suicide landmark in the world. Olson's former colleague, Mark Finch, had jumped from the bridge on January 14, 1995, and Olson used this event to inform her own film. Her letter was published on the tenth anniversary of Finch's death and supported the Psychiatric Foundation of Northern California's launching of a campaign for a barrier to be installed on the bridge. [cite news |first=Jenni |last=Olson |pages=B9 |title=Power Over Life and Death: Another toll goes up on the Golden Gate Bridge |date=January 14, 2005 |publisher=San Francisco Chronicle |url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/01/14/EDGSMAPFFA1.DTL&hw=Jenni+Olson&sn=015&sc=120 ] Olson also distributed her film to the bridge's board of directors, noting "several of the bridge directors told me they appreciated seeing the film and found it illuminating", and in March of 2005 the board voted to explore the installation of a barrier to prevent jumping.

References

External links

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* [http://www.planetout.com/popcornq/ PopcornQ, Olson's contribution to Planetout.com]