Elena Jean

Elena Jean is an award-winning documentary filmmaker, director, host, producer and storyteller. Her work centres on reconnecting with the wild and wellness, with a vision to inspire curiousity, hope, playfulness, ingenuity and a shared sense of adventure. 

Elena's home-base is in Tofino, British Columbia, within the traditional territory of the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation, surrounded by the coastal rainforest and mountains of Vancouver Island. She's an avid runner, surfer and diver, with a lively sense of humour, insatiable curiousity and a love for adventure, travel, music and art.

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She is available for freelance film/media production work as a director, cinematographer, host/presenter and editor (specializing in documentary, natural history, fieldwork and adventure), as well as other production support roles. Please email  elena.jean@icloud.com  if you're interested in working together.

Elena is currently in development on her next independent and collaborative projects as a director/producer. And you can follow her work, ideas and life on social media.

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Elena studied engineering at Queen’s University from 2012-2017, while pursuing her passions for entrepreneurship, video production, adventure and the environment. She is a 2015 Cansbridge Fellow and founder of multiple impact-focused companies and organizations. In 2016, Elena launched One Species: A brand dedicated to fighting extinction by making “conservation mainstream” through apparel, community and media. Video work for this company led her to the West Coast of Canada, where she met Gloria Pancrazi and began developing Coextinction.

In 2018, Elena produced behind-the-scenes content for SeaLegacy. And in 2019 worked as a cinematographer, content creator and editor for Milkywire, capturing stories of wildlife conservationists on the front lines throughout Africa.

Her feature documentary film, Coextinction, world premiered at Jackson Wild 2021, winning the “Our Human Planet” category, and has screened at Vancouver International Film Festival, Mill Valley Film Festival and other festivals, globally. The film has received multiple awards, including the “Rob Stewart Eco Warrior Award” and “People’s Choice”, and is currently in impact distribution.

In 2021, Elena co-founded Coexistence Films, an impact production organization dedicated to stories about interconnectedness and intelligent, bold action for systemic change. Elena is also working on independent and contracted projects, including a series on women in cold water freediving.
 

Elena has spoken at numerous events and conferences, and been featured as a filmmaker and activist on news — such as Global News, National Observer, iHeart Radio and CTV among others — and numerous podcasts.

Awards &
Distinctions 

• 2022 Environment Award, International Ocean Film Festival

• 2022 Best Documentary Cinematography Nominee, Canadian Screen Awards

• 2021 Rob Stewart Eco-Warrior Award, Vancouver International Film Festival

• 2021 Best Canadian Documentary Nominee, Vancouver International Film Festival

• 2021 Winner of Our Human Planet Category, Jackson Wild

• 2021 People's Choice Award, Planet In Focus

• 2019 Telus Storyhive Documentary Edition Award

• 2017 QIC Summer Initiative Accelerator Cohort

• 2016 Advancing Canadian Entrepreneurship (ACE) Award 

• 2015 Cansbridge Fellow

• 2013 Chief FREC, Queen's Engineering (iykyk)

  Who I've worked with....