Director's Bio
Jen McGowan is a feminist director based in Los Angeles. She makes genre, drama and dramedy films and tv aiming for the masses, not the choir.
Her recent feature film, the survival thriller, RUST CREEK, was released in theaters by IFC Midnight and hailed as “the feminist thriller Hollywood needs right now” by Harper’s Bazaar. On Netflix it premiered at #3 of all film & tv in the US and stayed in the top ten for over a week. RUST CREEK made the top ten on Netflix in 40 countries. Certified “fresh”, it holds at 84% on Rotten Tomatoes.
McGowan's first feature, the dramedy KELLY & CAL (Juliette Lewis & Cybill Shepherd) premiered at SXSW where she won the Gamechanger Award. The film was released theatrically by IFC Films to rave reviews (71% on Rotten Tomatoes). She got her start with award-winning short films, CONFESSIONS OF A LATE BLOOMER which premiered at Tribeca and TOUCH, which played at over a hundred festivals worldwide winning the majority and qualifying for the Oscar.
In television she has directed multiple episodes of STAR TREK:DISCOVERY for Secret Hideout/Paramount+ and TITANS for HBOMax as well as episodes of THE TWILIGHT ZONE for Monkeypaw/Paramount+ and THE PURGE for Blumhouse/USA. She is a member of the Academy. With her partner Eliza Lee she co-created and sold the series, Angelica, about the last remaining abortion clinic in a small Midwest town.
She was the creator of Glass Elevator (2015-2021), the free international skill-sharing, networking & jobs resource for professional women in film & television. In that time Glass Elevator had over 5,000 members who benefited from over 300 classes & events & access to over 700 jobs. Glass Elevator was named Best in LA by LA Weekly, part of the Sundance Women’s Initiative Resource and featured in Forbes.
A Film Independent Fellow, finalist for the Clint Eastwood Filmmakers Award, recipient of the AWD Breakout Award for Excellence in Directing and participant in the WeForShe DirectorHer program she was named one of Vulture’s Women Directors Hollywood Should Be Hiring. McGowan was Co-Chair of the DGA Women’s Steering Committee program, The Squad, dedicated to supporting mid-career DGA Women Directors.
McGowan studied Acting at NYU and Directing at USC.
Since 2017 she has trained as an amateur boxer with Golden Gloves champ Jill Morley and competed in the Masters in Las Vegas, NV.
In her free time she hangs with her husband, documentary Director & Producer, Phil Lott, and their dog Beau.
