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Jennifer Yuh Nelson

Director & Storyboard Artist; Best Known for "Kung Fu Panda 2"

  Categories:
Art, Arts & Humanities, Asian American Heritage, Authors, Diversity Speakers, Entertainers, Entertainment, Influential Women, Producers and Directors, Speakers by Industry, Television Stars, Visual Arts, Women's Issues
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Jennifer Yuh Nelson Biography

Yuh was born in 1972 in South Korea and immigrated to the United States with her parents and two sisters when she was 4 years old. Yuh spent her childhood in Lakewood, California, where she enjoyed watching martial arts movies, playing with cars, and drawing. "I have been drawing since age 3 and making movies in my head for almost as long. In fact, drawing for me was a way to express those films when I had no other means of doing so," said Yuh. As a young girl, she would sit at the kitchen table for hours and watch her mother draw, copying her every stroke. As a kid, she would fancy stories with her sisters and was learning to draw to get down those stories. Yuh traces the lineage of her career to those formative family experiences.

Interested in art, Yuh followed her sisters to California State University, Long Beach, where she received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Illustration. There she got introduced to animation, "When I was in college years later, a veteran storyboard artist came to talk to my class. He showed us how he drew movies for a living. My mind exploded. And that led to a career in animation." Jennifer then followed her sisters into an animation business - at first as a cleanup artist at Jetlag Productions, where she worked on various direct-to-video features. In 1997, she got hired as a storyboard artist on HBO's Todd McFarlane's Spawn series.

In 1998, Yuh joined DreamWorks Animation as a storyboard artist, while her sister, Catherine Yuh Rader, also a storyboard artist, had joined DWA owned PDI. Jennifer worked then on Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas and Madagascar. As a big fan of martial arts movies, she asked to work on the first Kung Fu Panda film, where she was a head of story, and directed the hand-drawn dream sequence. After the release of Kung Fu Panda, Jeffrey Katzenberg, DWA's CEO, approached Yuh about directing Kung Fu Panda 2. Although she hadn't expressed interest in directing the sequel to the film, Producer Melissa Cobb stated that she should direct the second one due to her excellent work on the first, to which the rest of the crew supported the decision. The film proved a major critical and international box office success with a worldwide gross of $665.6 million, making it the highest-grossing film ever directed by a woman, until director Jennifer Lee's Frozen two years later. She still holds the record for highest-grossing film by a solo female director. She eventually became the first woman to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film (since 2007's Persepolis) and to win the Annie Award for Best Directing in a Feature Production. Jennifer returned for Kung Fu Panda 3, which was released in 2016 and was the first American animated film to ever been co-produced with a Chinese firm. In July 2016, she was also added as one of the board of Governors by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

It was announced in 2016 that Yuh will be making her live action directorial debut for the adaptation of Alexandra Bracken Young Adult Novel, The Darkest Minds.

Contact a speaker booking agent to check availability on Jennifer Yuh Nelson and other top speakers and celebrities.

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  • HOW TO BOOK Jennifer Yuh Nelson?

    Our booking agents have successfully helped clients around the world secure talent like Jennifer Yuh Nelson for both live and virtual events for over 15 years. The team at All American Entertainment represents and listens to the needs of organizations and corporations seeking to hire keynote speakers, celebrities or entertainers for speaking engagements, personal appearances, product endorsements, or corporate entertainment. Fill out a booking request form for Jennifer Yuh Nelson, or call our office at 1.800.698.2536 to discuss your upcoming event. One of our experienced agents will be happy to help you get pricing information and check availability for Jennifer Yuh Nelson or any other celebrity of your choice.

  • HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO BOOK Jennifer Yuh Nelson?

    Booking fees for Jennifer Yuh Nelson, or any other speakers and celebrities, are determined based on a number of factors and may change without notice. Pricing often varies between live and virtual events. Other factors that can affect speaker fees include the talent's schedule, market conditions, length of presentation, and the location of the event. The live and virtual event speaking fees listed on this website are intended to serve as a guideline only. In some cases, the actual quote may be above or below the stated range. For the most current fee to hire Jennifer Yuh Nelson, please fill out the booking request form or call our office at 1.800.698.2536 to speak with an experienced booking agent.

  • WHO IS THE AGENT FOR Jennifer Yuh Nelson?

    All American Entertainment has successfully secured celebrity talent like Jennifer Yuh Nelson for clients worldwide for more than 15 years. As a full-service talent booking agency, we have access to virtually any speaker or celebrity in the world. Our agents are happy and able to submit an offer to the speaker or celebrity of your choice, letting you benefit from our reputation and long-standing relationships in the industry. Fill out the booking request form or call our office at 1.800.698.2536, and one of our agents will assist you to book Jennifer Yuh Nelson for your next private or corporate function.

  • WHAT IS A FULL-SERVICE TALENT BOOKING AGENCY?

    All American Speakers is a "buyers agent" and exclusively represents talent buyers, meeting planners and event professionals, who are looking to secure celebrities and speakers for personal appearances, speaking engagements, corporate entertainment, public relations campaigns, commercials, or endorsements. We do not exclusively represent Jennifer Yuh Nelson or claim ourselves as the exclusive booking agency, business manager, publicist, speakers bureau or management for Jennifer Yuh Nelson or any other speaker or celebrity on this website. For more information on how we work and what makes us unique, please read the AAE Advantage.
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This website is a resource for event professionals and strives to provide the most comprehensive catalog of thought leaders and industry experts to consider for speaking engagements. A listing or profile on this website does not imply an agency affiliation or endorsement by the talent.

All American Entertainment (AAE) exclusively represents the interests of talent buyers, and does not claim to be the agency or management for any speaker or artist on this site. AAE is a talent booking agency for paid events only. We do not handle requests for donation of time or media requests for interviews, and cannot provide celebrity contact information.

If you are the talent, and wish to request removal from this catalog or report an issue with your profile, please click here.

Jennifer Yuh Nelson

Director & Storyboard Artist; Best Known for "Kung Fu Panda 2"

Travels From:
California, USA
Speaking Fee:
Live Event: Please Contact
Virtual Event: Please Contact
More Fee Info
Categories:
Art, Arts & Humanities, Asian American Heritage, Authors, Diversity Speakers, Entertainers, Entertainment, Influential Women, Producers and Directors, Speakers by Industry, Television Stars, Visual Arts, Women's Issues

Jennifer Yuh Nelson Biography

Yuh was born in 1972 in South Korea and immigrated to the United States with her parents and two sisters when she was 4 years old. Yuh spent her childhood in Lakewood, California, where she enjoyed watching martial arts movies, playing with cars, and drawing. "I have been drawing since age 3 and making movies in my head for almost as long. In fact, drawing for me was a way to express those films when I had no other means of doing so," said Yuh. As a young girl, she would sit at the kitchen table for hours and watch her mother draw, copying her every stroke. As a kid, she would fancy stories with her sisters and was learning to draw to get down those stories. Yuh traces the lineage of her career to those formative family experiences.

Interested in art, Yuh followed her sisters to California State University, Long Beach, where she received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Illustration. There she got introduced to animation, "When I was in college years later, a veteran storyboard artist came to talk to my class. He showed us how he drew movies for a living. My mind exploded. And that led to a career in animation." Jennifer then followed her sisters into an animation business - at first as a cleanup artist at Jetlag Productions, where she worked on various direct-to-video features. In 1997, she got hired as a storyboard artist on HBO's Todd McFarlane's Spawn series.

In 1998, Yuh joined DreamWorks Animation as a storyboard artist, while her sister, Catherine Yuh Rader, also a storyboard artist, had joined DWA owned PDI. Jennifer worked then on Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas and Madagascar. As a big fan of martial arts movies, she asked to work on the first Kung Fu Panda film, where she was a head of story, and directed the hand-drawn dream sequence. After the release of Kung Fu Panda, Jeffrey Katzenberg, DWA's CEO, approached Yuh about directing Kung Fu Panda 2. Although she hadn't expressed interest in directing the sequel to the film, Producer Melissa Cobb stated that she should direct the second one due to her excellent work on the first, to which the rest of the crew supported the decision. The film proved a major critical and international box office success with a worldwide gross of $665.6 million, making it the highest-grossing film ever directed by a woman, until director Jennifer Lee's Frozen two years later. She still holds the record for highest-grossing film by a solo female director. She eventually became the first woman to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film (since 2007's Persepolis) and to win the Annie Award for Best Directing in a Feature Production. Jennifer returned for Kung Fu Panda 3, which was released in 2016 and was the first American animated film to ever been co-produced with a Chinese firm. In July 2016, she was also added as one of the board of Governors by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

It was announced in 2016 that Yuh will be making her live action directorial debut for the adaptation of Alexandra Bracken Young Adult Novel, The Darkest Minds.

Contact a speaker booking agent to check availability on Jennifer Yuh Nelson and other top speakers and celebrities.

BOOK Jennifer Yuh Nelson

Jennifer Yuh Nelson Videos

  • Episode 15: Jennifer Yuh Nelson | Nick Animation Podcast - YouTube
    Episode 15: Jennifer Yuh Nelson | Nick Animation Podcast - YouTube
  • Kung Fu Panda 2 director Jennifer Yuh Nelson - YouTube
    Kung Fu Panda 2 director Jennifer Yuh Nelson - YouTube
  • Creative Spark: Jennifer Yuh Nelson - YouTube
    Creative Spark: Jennifer Yuh Nelson - YouTube
See All Videos »

Speaker Lists Featuring Jennifer Yuh Nelson

FAQs on booking Jennifer Yuh Nelson

  • How to book Jennifer Yuh Nelson?

    Our booking agents have successfully helped clients around the world secure talent like Jennifer Yuh Nelson for both live and virtual events for over 15 years. The team at All American Entertainment represents and listens to the needs of organizations and corporations seeking to hire keynote speakers, celebrities or entertainers for speaking engagements, personal appearances, product endorsements, or corporate entertainment. Fill out a booking request form for Jennifer Yuh Nelson, or call our office at 1.800.698.2536 to discuss your upcoming event. One of our experienced agents will be happy to help you get pricing information and check availability for Jennifer Yuh Nelson or any other celebrity of your choice.

  • How much does it cost to book Jennifer Yuh Nelson?

    Booking fees for Jennifer Yuh Nelson, or any other speakers and celebrities, are determined based on a number of factors and may change without notice. Pricing often varies between live and virtual events. Other factors that can affect speaker fees include the talent's schedule, market conditions, length of presentation, and the location of the event. The live and virtual event speaking fees listed on this website are intended to serve as a guideline only. In some cases, the actual quote may be above or below the stated range. For the most current fee to hire Jennifer Yuh Nelson, please fill out the booking request form or call our office at 1.800.698.2536 to speak with an experienced booking agent.

  • Who is the agent for Jennifer Yuh Nelson?

    All American Entertainment has successfully secured celebrity talent like Jennifer Yuh Nelson for clients worldwide for more than 15 years. As a full-service talent booking agency, we have access to virtually any speaker or celebrity in the world. Our agents are happy and able to submit an offer to the speaker or celebrity of your choice, letting you benefit from our reputation and long-standing relationships in the industry. Fill out the booking request form or call our office at 1.800.698.2536, and one of our agents will assist you to book Jennifer Yuh Nelson for your next private or corporate function.

  • What is a full-service talent booking agency?

    All American Speakers is a "buyers agent" and exclusively represents talent buyers, meeting planners and event professionals, who are looking to secure celebrities and speakers for personal appearances, speaking engagements, corporate entertainment, public relations campaigns, commercials, or endorsements. We do not exclusively represent Jennifer Yuh Nelson or claim ourselves as the exclusive booking agency, business manager, publicist, speakers bureau or management for Jennifer Yuh Nelson or any other speaker or celebrity on this website. For more information on how we work and what makes us unique, please read the AAE Advantage.

Jennifer Yuh Nelson is a keynote speaker and industry expert who speaks on a wide range of topics . The estimated speaking fee range to book Jennifer Yuh Nelson for your event is available upon request. Jennifer Yuh Nelson generally travels from CA, USA and can be booked for (private) corporate events, personal appearances, keynote speeches, or other performances. Similar motivational celebrity speakers are Ava DuVernay, Diane Guerrero, Lena Dunham, Rebecca Sugar and Spike Lee. Contact All American Speakers for ratings, reviews, videos and information on scheduling Jennifer Yuh Nelson for an upcoming live or virtual event.

BOOK Jennifer Yuh Nelson

Jennifer Yuh Nelson Speaker Videos

  • Episode 15: Jennifer Yuh Nelson | Nick Animation Podcast - YouTube
    Episode 15: Jennifer Yuh Nelson | Nick Animation Podcast - YouTube
    Kung Fu Panda 2 director Jennifer Yuh Nelson - YouTube
    Kung Fu Panda 2 director Jennifer Yuh Nelson - YouTube
  • Creative Spark: Jennifer Yuh Nelson - YouTube
    Creative Spark: Jennifer Yuh Nelson - YouTube
    DP/30: Kung Fu Panda 2, director Jennifer Yuh Nelson - YouTube
    DP/30: Kung Fu Panda 2, director Jennifer Yuh Nelson - YouTube
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Jennifer Yuh Nelson News

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Speakers Similar to Jennifer Yuh Nelson

This website is a resource for event professionals and strives to provide the most comprehensive catalog of thought leaders and industry experts to consider for speaking engagements. A listing or profile on this website does not imply an agency affiliation or endorsement by the talent.

All American Entertainment (AAE) exclusively represents the interests of talent buyers, and does not claim to be the agency or management for any speaker or artist on this site. AAE is a talent booking agency for paid events only. We do not handle requests for donation of time or media requests for interviews, and cannot provide celebrity contact information.

If you are the talent, and wish to request removal from this catalog or report an issue with your profile, please click here.

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