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JESSIE KERRY 兰馨

DIRECTOR | WRITER | PRODUCER | EDITOR

Nationality

Born

Residence

Expertise

Budget Experience

German

January 28, 1984 in Berlin

currently Germany  (as of 2021)

Sci-Fi-, Action-, Fantasy Productions

Chinese Wuxia Productions

Motion-Controlled Stunt System Prods

Heavy-loaded VFX Productions

1st - 3rd Tier

High Budget

  • LinkedIn
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MINI-BIO

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Jessie Kerry (J. Kerry) is an award-winning producer, director, writer and founder of the 2010 opened GenFilms Productions in Chengdu, China, which makes her the first and only German female filmmaker and entrepreneur to have successfully set up a theatrically licensed film production business in China. She's been involved in the domestic and international business sector between China and overseas since 2005 and served on various multilingual shorts, features and commercial productions as a screenwriter, director, talent manager and producer. Her cultural, creative and academic experience, and the expertise in the Chinese and international film industry, have brought her high resonance under international clients.

As a former professional actress, model, dancer, black belt martial artist and 2x Gold Medal World Champion in Okinawan Kobudo, Kerry brings unique background features into every motion picture film production. She trained Shaolin Kenpo Karate (Dragon Style), Jiu Jitsu, Tai Chi (Chen Style), Hatha Yoga and meditation since the age of 7, while also helping her parents run a local martial arts school where she was just 13 years old when she started giving classes to kids, teens and adults. In 2005, during her Martial arts studies in Beijing, she also visited and trained with the Shaolin Monks in their legendary monastery in Henan province.

 

Thanks to her martial arts background and her work on Chinese "Wuxia" (Chinese Fantasy Martial Arts) sets, Kerry is well-versed in directing heavy action and stunt scenes by utilizing wires and robotic motion-controlled stunt systems, making her the first and only German female filmmaker able to direct and produce Martial Arts-loaded Wuxia films to date.

Because of her creative work as a director, she also developed professional skills as a graphic designer, post-production editor, VFX connoisseur and photographer, making her an all-rounder in the business


Her multilingual capabilities reach from English, German, French, Chinese, Spanish to Polish. She also holds a "Latinum" and a "Graecum" for her advanced Latin and Old-Greek language, history and philosophy studies, making her the only German female filmmaker to date being able to direct and produce authentic historical movies of that time.

As a certified screenwriter and E-Commerce manager, Kerry combines her creative vein with her over 15-years of entrepreneurial expertise in Marketing, E-Commerce and PR as well. 

Kerry studied Chinese Wushu & Tai-Chi at the Beijing Capital University of Physical Education (CUPES), Chinese Literature and Language at Chengdu University (CU) and the Beijing International Studies University (BISU). She also joined 2 short-term study workshops at the Beijing Film Academy in Directing and Cinematography, as well as four years of the Producer's Workshop and Network during the International Cannes Film Festival.

In 2012, Kerry became one of the patrons of the annual International Teddy Award, the official queer award at the Berlin International Film Festival.

As a writer, she won as the only female, the only German, and the only non-Chinese participant the 2017 'Canada Golden Maple Film Award' for "Best Original Screenplay" with her Sci-Fi blockbuster script "Wang: The Dragon King". She received another 7 group-wins as a co-producer for "Best Film", "Best Director", "Best Script" with the Sino-foreign Co-Production "Kayla" and 3 more with "Frozen Brothers" for "Best Mobile Feature Film", making her company the only Chinese film production house to win such an award internationally. In total, Kerry has won over 25 awards as a director, writer and producer.

In 2019, Kerry made her debut as a German female Sci-Fi novelist with the first book of "The Chronicles of Qi" trilogy, also known as "Wang - The Dragon King" under her German publishing name, and has since then released additional booklets connected to the series. Her 50$ Million theatrical movie, based on the first book, has been in the making since 2017 and will be directed by famous Hollywood stunt-coordinator and director Andy Cheng, co-directed by Jessie Kerry, as the first female German director to direct an international high budget Sci-Fi blockbuster, starring Henry Ian Cusick (Lost, The 100, Mac Gyver, Inhumans, The Passage), Wesley Wong (Pacific Rim: Uprising, L.A. Rush), Tiger Hu Chen (Man of Tai Chi, Kung Fu Traveler, Triple Threat), Francois Goeske (French for Beginners, Treasure Island), Brandon Soo Hoo (Ender's Game, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra) and many other well-known international stars. Since Covid-19 the production was pushed into "Turnaround". The script is announced to be rewritten and will be based on the "Wang" novel series..

 

In 2021, Kerry's 2013-SciFi-Short "Whisper (Between The Shades)" has been conceptually revamped to become the first internationally produced German high-budget "historical" Sci-Fi movie directed by a female German director.

Kerry's autobiography will launch in late 2022 under the German title "Laowai - Die Ausländerin: 1984-2022" (engl.: Laowai - The Foreigner: 1984-2022). It has gained significant traction since its official announcement and is considered to be produced in the near future as an Online TV series.

Experience

ENTERTAINMENT Experience

1990 - 2000

2002-2003

She started out on stage as an actress, dancer and singer since primary school and made her first steps as a writer and composer with school musicals during her high school time at the humanistic academic high school "Steglitzer Gymnasium". She was also the lead-singer of her own school band and plays the guitar, as well as drums. In her adulthood years in China, she taught herself to play the Chinese Hulusi.

After a high school internship at Berlin's renown Maxim Gorki and the Schiller Theater, she starred as the lead in Simona Furlani's dance theater play "The Legend of Paul and Paula" (dt. Die Legende vom Glück ohne Ende) at the People's Theater (Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg Platz). One year later she starred in the play "Amazonen.Mutationen" by Dr. phil. Ulf Otto at the Maxim Gorki Studio of the Maxim Gorki Theatre.

2004-2021

In 2004, she decided against a boring university transfer after senior year and instead dived right into her first job in the Entertainment industry, working for Berlin's renown Casting Agency "Wanted". During that time she learned more about the skills of a casting director, both in office and on set and was mainly engaged with domestic German TV Shows and foreign Hollywood productions at the Babelsberg Studios and on-location in downtown Berlin.

While working as a casting assistant, she also began her screenwriting studies after work, which she successfully finished in 2006 as a certified screenwriter for film and TV.

From Casting, she switched to Radio and became an editor at Berlin's only Black Music Radio Station "JAM FM". There, she made her first serious steps into editing news, teasers, trailers, games, conducting interviews and producing the "Young Culture Show" for one of Berlin's most famous Diskjockeys "DJ Groove".

In 2007, she returned once more to JAM FM but this time as an entrepreneur with her second company "M.S.S. Music-Stage-Shows" and as the talent manager of the formerly well-known R'n'B and Soul band "Souluv" which was hired to create the latest Jam FM radio station jingle.

In 2010, after a life-changing and inspiring time on the set of Roland Emmerich's "Anonymous", she decided to found her 3rd company, "GenFilms Productions" in Chengdu, China. Since then, she has become the first and only female German filmmaker and entrepreneur to own a theatrically licensed film production business in China which specializes among commercial productions and film-financing services also in independent art-house and mainstream feature film productions in the domestic and the sino-foreign co-production sector. 

In 2013, she was shortly back to Germany for producing and directing two of her own no-budget projects. The first was the documentary "Then and Now" (Damals und Heute) for famous German Schlager-Star legend Stefanie Simon, and the second for her Sci-Fi Blockbuster Concept-Short, known as "Whisper (Shades of Time)", starring, among other well-known German actors and actresses, the Rapper "Sero" (Stefan Hergli). The project has been revamped in 2021 and is now in the early stages of development to become her second high budget blockbuster.

In 2014, she was the first foreign female director to specifically being asked by WAV Music and MTV China to direct, edit and also co-produce two "out-of-the-box" Music Videos. One was for Voice of China Star "Wu Jia Li" (also known as Cherie), which broke the 2-Billion views marker, and the other one for Malaysian Pop-Star and actress "Giselle Chia" with 1.5-Billion views. 

In 2015, she stepped back as CEO of her own company group to focus more on the career as a writer and director by preparing her own Original productions for the next 5 years and also dive into the "Wuxia" genre of China, assisting the Chinese lead directors as their creative Co-Director for specific episodes that needed a certain fantasy angle. There, on set of the legendary Hengdian Film Studios, she also made her first experiences to work with the latest state-of-the art robotic motion controlled stunt systems and became more familiar in creatively directing wire scenes.

In 2017, her first Sci-Fi Blockbuster movie script "Qi: Spacetime Warriors" (working title) won at the Canada Golden Maple Film Festival before the $50 Million movie was even commencing with pre-production. She was the only non-Chinese screenwriter to receive the award in the category "Best Original Screenplay" and the only Sci-Fi screenwriter.

In 2018, "Qi: Spacetime Warriors" (working title) was then officially announced with an attached Hollywood Cast in various Sci-Fi and action online-news outlets in China and abroad.

In 2019, her first Sci-Fi novel "The Chronicles of Qi" was released, based on her original novel "Wang - The Dragon King", authored under her German publishing name.

Between 2018 and 2020, principal photography of 7 GenFilms Original productions, produced and directed by Jessie Kerry as the first female German filmmaker in China to do so, started. They premiered in 2020 and 2021 and are currently going through Chinese censorship for an international market release and to look for distribution. The movies are considered 1st - 2nd tier budget movies that range from $1M to 10$M. 

Since 2021, she is back to Germany and currently works as a director, writer and producer on the German and the international Entertainment market to influence the European movie landscape with her overseas expertise and know-how in the Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Action genre.

Resume
Image by Christian Joudrey

RESUMÉ

AND FILMOGRAPHY

BEST FILM
BEST DIRECTOR
BEST SCRIPT
Portfolio

PORTFOLIO

An overview into some hand-picked directing footage from past works in Germany and China.

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JESSIE KERRY'S "DIRECTOR's TRADEMARKS" (2011-2021)

Powerful Heroines, Reflective Leads

Epic Misty Landscapes, Signature Colorama

Framed from behind

Jessie Kerry Originals (Reel 2021)
GenFilms Productions

Jessie Kerry Originals (Reel 2021)

DIRECTOR'S REEL 2021

A short compilation of director Jessie Kerry's creative directing work in Germany and China with focus on the Chinese Wuxia genre.

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DIRECTOR'S TRADEMARKS  REEL 2021

An extended compilation of director Jessie Kerry's director's trademarks with footage from her directed shorts and features.

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DIRECTOR'S REEL 2014

 

An older director's reel of director Jessie Kerry with some more footage and a Chinese interview snippet from her WAV Music MV shooting.

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JESSIE KERRY'S CREATIVE CO-DIRECTED CHINESE TV SHOW EPISODES  (2016-2021)

Chinese Wuxia Genre Shows

Historical Scenes, Wire Scenes, VFX Scenes

Robotic Motion-Control

Chu qiáo chuán (EP1)
03:37

Chu qiáo chuán (EP1)

Selected co-directed scenes by Jessie Kerry from the first episode of the Chinese TV Drama in the Chinese Wuxia genre. As a non-Chinese co-director for creative scenes, she was responsible in using her expertise and creative knowledge to contribute to key-scenes of the episode. The story takes place during the chaotic times of Northern Wei (386–535 CE), where innocent citizens are often kidnapped and turned into slaves. Slave girl, Chu Qiao (Zhao Liying) is thrown into a forest along with other slaves and becomes the next hunting target for the rich lords. She is saved by the Prince of Northern Yan, Yan Xun (Shawn Dou) and Yuwen Yue (Lin Gengxin). Afterwards, she is brought into the Yuwen Manor and witnesses their bloody power struggle. Seeing this, she swears to take her younger sisters and flee from the situation. However, she catches the attention of Yuwen Yue and undergoes strict training while building a sense of companionship with Yan Xun. Along the way, Chu Qiao also encounters the cheerful Prince Yuan Song (Niu Junfeng), the unruly Prince of Liang, Xiao Ce (Deng Lun), and a spy princess named Xiao Yu (Huang Mengying). Unfortunately, the schemes of the nobles in Western Wei cause Yan Xun’s family to be slaughtered and branded as traitors. After that incident, Yan Xun becomes ambitious and cruel as he promises to take revenge for the things and the people he lost. He leaves Princess Yuan Chun (Li Qin) on their wedding day, leading to her downfall and her brother Yuan Song's disability. He later starts to doubt Chu Qiao and takes advantage of her loyalty many times, disregarding their close-knitted friendship as well as the sacrifices he will have to make for power. Disappointed with the man she once trusted, Chu Qiao eventually breaks off her ties with Yan Xun and chooses to fight with Yuwen Yue to destroy Yan Xun’s plans of vengeance.
Liúlí (EP1)
07:04

Liúlí (EP1)

Selected creative directed and co-directed scenes by Jessie Kerry from the first episode of the Chinese TV Drama in the Chinese Wuxia genre. As a non-Chinese co-director for creative scenes, she was responsible in using her expertise and creative knowledge to contribute to key-scenes of the episode. A 1000 years ago, a bitter battle ensues between the Celestials and the Asuras in a struggle for power. The General of the Asura Clan, The Star of Mosha, is defeated by the God of War. He disappears and his soul is sealed in a crystal lamp, which is then sent to the mortal realm to be hidden. However, the God of War too, mysteriously vanishes along with him. A 1000 years later, both of their souls are sent to the mortal realm to undergo tribulation and the demonic realm begins to prepare the revive the Star of Mosha. In the mortal realm, Chu Xuanji (Yuan Bingyan) is born to the Shaoyang Sect Leader without the power of perception through all 6 senses. She meets Yu Sifeng (Cheng Yi), a skilled disciple of the mysterious Lize Palace, during the Flower Banquet being held at Shaoyang. Sifeng falls for her, despite being forbidden to do so. A turn of events leads to Xuanji being injured during the banquet and she leaves to cultivate and train herself for four years. Sifeng returns to Lize Palace, where he is punished for breaking the sect rules with the Lover's Curse. They encounter each other, years later and set off for their own adventures, but their journey is riddled with mysterious encounters and they start to realize that there is more to their past than they thought as a millennium-old conspiracy slowly comes to light.
Cháng gē xíng (EP1)
14:39

Cháng gē xíng (EP1)

Selected creative directed and co-directed scenes by Jessie Kerry from the first episode of the Chinese TV Drama in the Chinese Wuxia genre. As a non-Chinese co-director for creative scenes, she was responsible in using her expertise and creative knowledge to contribute to key-scenes of the episode. In the 9th year of Wude Period of Tang Dynasty, Li Changge, the daughter of the former crown prince, accidentally escaped from the military coup in the palace. During her escape, Changge encountered the secret service agent of a grassland tribe, Ashina Sun, who was under the pseudonym of Qin Zhun. They got to know each other through a fight and their affection grew stronger. Changge smashed a conspiracy in Youzhou. However, at the same time, her identity was revealed, and she went to Shuozhou to escape capture. She hid herself beside Gongsun Heng, the governor of Shuozhou, to help him resist the invasion of the grassland forces, but she did not expect that the enemy general was Qin Zhun. Changge was shocked and distressed to discover Qin’s real identity. However, the situation in Yuzhou is in great danger. In order to gain time for reinforcements, Li Changge negotiated with Sun. For the sake of the overall situation, she was willing to be a prisoner and taken to the grassland. Then she accidentally learned that the Great Khan had an ulterior motive. Changge decided to temporarily put aside her personal vengeance, and risk her life to save the situation. In order to save Changge, Sun disobeyed the order of the Great Khan, but they were far apart from each other after that. After going through the arduous exile, Changge gradually understood the principle of the invincibility of the benevolent, and finally put aside her personal grievances. After discovering that the former forces of Sui Dynasty were the manipulators behind the scenes, Changge and Sun teamed up to protect the peace of Tang Dynasty and the grassland. They finally came to realize their deep affections towards each other and went to confront the crisis ahead.

JESSIE KERRY'S "NO SIR" MV (2014)

Featured on MTV China

Featured on 10 famous Chinese and Malaysian platforms

2Billion views all over the internet

WAV Music MV - Behind The Scenes Interviews - snippet

A short resumé of the music producers about working together with director Jessie Kerry.

MTV China Interview feat. Wu Jia Li 

The former Voice of China star talks about her experience with Jessie Kerry as her director.

WAV Music MV - Behind The Scenes Interviews - full version

The Music producers and the director and producer Jessie Kerry talk more about the story behind the MV (incl. set footage).

JESSIE KERRY'S "QI: SPACETIME WARRIORS" THEATRICAL FEATURE FILM (ANNOUNCED)

$50 Million High Budget Production

Famous Hollywood, German and Russian Cast (attached)

Awarded for Best Original Screenplay

In 2016, director and producer Jessie Kerry began with the development of her first high budget Sci-Fi production between the US and China.

Her original screenplay won at the 2017 Canada Golden Maple Film Awards with Jessie Kerry being the only non-Chinese writer to receive this award and the only female Science Fiction writer.

Pre-Production commenced in 2018 with the announcement of the project, directors and attached cast in Chinese and American Online News.

In 2020, due to the pandemic, Pre-Production was put on hold and is since then in a Turnaround phase.

In 2021, the production changed its title into Wang: The Dragon King and a first official mood reel was released.

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Wang: The Dragon King (Mood Reel)
GenFilms Productions

Wang: The Dragon King (Mood Reel)

JESSIE KERRY'S "WHISPER" THEATRICAL FEATURE FILM (ANNOUNCED)

€20 Million German Production

Well-known German Film and TV Cast (attached)

First German Sci-Fi theatrical feature directed by a woman

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