Jason Ensler

Jason Ensler
Born	(1970-07-21) July 21, 1970
Occupation	Film/television director and television producer
Years active	2001–present

Jason Ensler is an American film director, television director, producer, and screenwriter.

Early life

Jason Ensler attended Brandeis University where he earned a BA in Politics and Theater.² He graduated USC School of Cinematic Arts with an MFA in Cinema/Television production.  

Career

Ensler began his work in television as part of the creative team at NBC 2000, a division of NBC promo. He designed launch campaigns for The West Wing, Scrubs, Frasier, Third Watch, The Olympics, and The NBA.  He produced and edited the Upfront presentation for NBC's 75th Anniversary, and wrote and directed The Zucker Follies, a musical mockumentary starring Megan Mullally, Sean Hayes, Martin Sheen, and many others.³

In 2002, Ensler directed Behind The Camera: The Unauthorized Story of Three's Company for NBC, which documents the true story of ambition, greed, and betrayal that rocked the set of the hit show Three's Company. He directed Martha, Inc.: The Story of Martha Stewart starring Cybill Shepherd and Tim Matheson, which chronicled Martha Stewart's rise to fame, subsequent incarceration for insider trading, and eventual comeback. Both films were critically acclaimed when they aired in May 2003, and became the highest rated TV movies of the decade.⁵

He began his career in episodic television with episodes of Scrubs and The West Wing before directing the feature film Grilled for New Line Cinema.⁶ Written by William Tepper, and starring Ray Romano, Kevin James, Burt Reynolds, Juliette Lewis, SophiaVergara, Kim Coates, and Michael Rapaport, Ensler created a darkly comedic character study which showcases Kevin James and Ray Romano in unexpected performances.   It received mixed reviews, but has since gained a loyal fan base with its release on VOD.⁷

Ensler was asked by Jonathan Groff and Conan O'Brien to direct and produce the pilot and series of Andy Barker, P.I. starring Andy Richter and Tony Hale.   It was listed on Entertainment Weekly's top 10 shows of 2006.  A more comprehensive oral history⁸ of the show was published by Uproxx in 2015. Ensler has since directed and executive produced the pilots for: The Eastmans, Franklin & Bash, Hart of Dixie, Cult, The Curse of The Fuentes Women (2015), and Transylvania (2016).

He recently directed two episodes of Fox’s hit show, Lethal Weapon, the critically acclaimed exorcism chapter of The Exorcist, and the show’s season finale.

He has also directed episodes of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, The Goldbergs, Sirens, Hostages, Grace and Frankie, Red Band Society and The Newsroom. 

Documentaries

Ensler is on the executive board of Shifting Baselines, a think tank and production entity founded and run by author and filmmaker Randy Olson, that seeks to find more effective ways of communicating science to the public. He produced, directed and edited IRIS, a documentary for Children's Hospital Los Angeles, about Retinoblastoma, a rare form of children’s eye cancer, which was effective in passing legislation in California for early detection. And he produced, directed, and edited Farewell, My Subaru, a short documentary about author Doug Fine and the hard-won benefits of his carbon neutral lifestyle in rural New Mexico.¹³

Filmography

Films

Television

References

¹ http://www.reunion.com/jasonensler/

² http://www.mocavo.com/The-Justice-Brandeis-University-Aug-1991-May-1992-Volume-Roll-12-Volume-45-Number-1-Volume-45-Number-25/297790/100

and http://2degreesofalie.tumblr.com/post/36148487895/directorproducer-jason-ensler-shares-stories-of

³ http://www.firstpost.com/topic/person/eric-mccormack-nbc-mockumentary-2002-video-shNJIXU7G9Q-218-12.html

and http://gogoartqueen.tumblr.com/post/15462587273/pitypie-the-zucker-follies-an-nbc-promo-from

⁴ http://www.sitcomsonline.com/jacksbistro/nbcmovie.html

⁵ http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/12/arts/television-review-those-sweet-days-when-a-sitcom-had-clout.html

⁶ http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/07/movies/moviesspecial/the-class-of-200405.html?_r=0

and http://variety.com/2004/film/columns/eatery-immortalized-in-grilled-pic-1117908102/

⁷ http://www.cinemablend.com/dvds/Grilled-1663.html

⁸ http://uproxx.com/tv/2015/04/andy-barker-pi-oral-history/

⁹ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4730122/

¹⁰ https://cinema.usc.edu/alumni/hotsheet/2014april.cfm

¹¹ https://www.wsj.com/articles/tv-review-foxs-red-band-society-1410491741

¹² http://thisisjasonensler.com/blog/?p=444

¹³ http://scienceblogs.com/shiftingbaselines/2008/03/31/a-new-short-film-from-shifting/

External links

• Official website
• Jason Ensler on IMDb