Biography
Jennifer Loren (Cherokee Nation) is an award-winning TV host, filmmaker and senior director of Cherokee Film. In this role she sets strategy and oversees all operations of Cherokee Film Productions, Cherokee Film Studios, Cherokee Film Commission and the Cherokee Film Institute.
Selected as an inaugural Obama Leader by the Obama Foundation in July of 2023, Jennifer is globally recognized for her work, breaking new ground in the field of Native American representation in film and media. Jennifer passionately leads a team of more than 30 content creators and change-makers, whose mission is to protect and share the authentic Cherokee experience, culture and history and to increase the presence of Native Americans across film and media.
With a background in broadcast television and investigative journalism, Jennifer brings integrity, creativity and community-focused strategies to her work. She co-created, produces and hosts the Emmy-award winning docuseries "Osiyo, Voices of the Cherokee People," which airs on PBS stations nationwide and is now in its 9th season. Season 7 recently won 6 Heartland Regional Emmy Awards, setting a new seasonal record for the show.
In 2019, Jennifer helped the Cherokee Nation create and roll out the first certified tribal film commission to open in the United States, the Cherokee Nation Film Office (CNFO). Under her leadership CNFO created and maintains unique, online talent, crew and consulting directories featuring Native American actors, extras, voice actors, crew, cultural experts and other industry resources. In 2020, Jennifer oversaw the build out of a state-of-the-art 27-thousand square foot virtual production soundstage in the Cherokee Nation, which is used to create Cherokee and other Native content a well as provide much-needed infrastructure for the growing Oklahoma film industry. With the stage's XR technology, the Cherokee Nation became the first tribe to create Native content in the metaverse.
In early 2022, under Jennifer's direction, the CNFO accomplished yet another groundbreaking feat by offering the first-ever tribal film incentive, a $1 million annual cash rebate program for filming in the Cherokee Nation reservation and for hiring Native Americans.
Also in 2022, Jennifer began expanding original content for Cherokee Nation, producing feature-length documentaries and introducing a film and TV development branch to bring more Cherokee stories to mainstream media. In 2023, she added Cherokee language revitalization as major goal and strategy for her teams.
Jennifer has been named the Oklahoma Film ICON award by the state's largest film festival deadCenter Film. She has been named Woman of the Year by Tulsa YWCA and the Tulsa Mayor's Office; Woman of the Year by The Journal Record; as well as a Great Plains Distinguished Lecturer by Tulsa Press Club. In the past ten years, she has earned 23 Heartland Regional Emmy Awards for her work in journalism and documentary film. She serves on many local and regional Boards and commissions including but not limited to the Booker T Washington High School Foundation for Excellence and is the Chairwoman of the Oklahoma Motion Picture Alliance.
