Jenn McLaren

Jenn McLaren (yes, like the fast car) is a production designer in Los Angeles, who has been working in the film industry for over fifteen years. Jenn is known to create visually striking, authentic sets. She is fearless with her design and color choices; she tends to “press the envelope” as long as it fits beautifully within the Director’s vision and feels right for the story being told. Her design mantra: “the weirder, the better.”

Jenn hails from a Motor City adjacent town, where as a teenager she directed lip-synch performances of Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana, was chairman and founder of the Beatles Best Friends Forever fan club, went to punk rock shows in Detroit and ran “The Office”, a skatepark that was a hotspot for the likes of Tony Hawk and Dave Mirra. Then, it was time to grow up and escape the clutches of her small town, she went to art school then moved to Chicago and assisted Tony-winning director Joey Tillinger, and producer Damian Arnold of The British Stage Company with the stage play of “Don’t Dress for Dinner”, in which she helped launch its Broadway run in New York. Jenn was also tapped into the comedy world and assisted Jerry Seinfeld for the “Just for Laughs” tour at the Chicago Theater.

Post theater, Jenn chased her true passion–film. She found her place in the art department fulfilling an array of different roles over the years; decorating or assistant decorating select productions such as “Donnybrook” (Rumble films), “American Pastoral” (dir. Ewan MgGregor), “Office Christmas Party” (dir. Will Speck and Josh Gordon), Peacock’s time travel series, “The Resort” and Kevin Costner’s “Horizon: An American Saga” and select commercials such as Riot Games “World Opening for League of Legends / Arcane” (dir. Christian Breslaur, received Emmy nomination), and the Maya Rudolph M&M commercial, which was nominated for 2024’s ADG Award for best commercial in 2024.

After years of playing around in the art department, Jenn knew it was her time to design. Jenn’s most recent design contributions include: heartfelt indie feature, “She Dances” (in post-production) written by Steve Zahn and Rick Gomez, directed by Rick Gomez and starring Ethan Hawke, indie comedy feature “Drugstore June” (produced by All Things Comedy, Bill Burr) starring Esther Pivotsky and Bobby Lee directed by “Grandma’s Boy” director Nicholas Goosen, Taiwanese coming of age story, “Chopin” (feature, dir. Vincent Lin), the TV Pilot “Timberwood,” and the comedy feature “Chasing the Blues”.

Jenn is represented by the fine folks at Independent Artist Group in Beverly Hills, California. In her free time, she enjoys traveling abroad, experiencing new cultures and fresh eats– Bourdain style. When Jenn’s home– chilling in Venice Beach, nothing beats a bit of people watching while taking a morning stroll down the boardwalk– with a triple shot, hot latte in hand.