Jason Ensler

Jason Ensler is an American film director, television director, producer, and screenwriter.

Jason Ensler
Born	(1970-07-21) July 21, 1970 (age 53)
Occupation(s)	Film director, television director and television producer
Years active	2001–present

Early life

Jason Ensler attended Brandeis University where he earned a BA in Politics and Theater.² He graduated USC School of Cinematic Arts with an MFA in Cinema/Television production.  

Career

Ensler began his work in television as part of the creative team at NBC 2000, a division of NBC promo. He designed launch campaigns for The West Wing, Scrubs, Frasier, Third Watch, The Olympics, and The NBA.  He produced and edited the Upfront presentation for NBC's 75th Anniversary, and wrote and directed The Zucker Follies, a musical mockumentary starring Megan Mullally, Martin Sheen, Sean Hayes, and many others.³

In 2002, Ensler directed Behind The Camera: The Unauthorized Story of Three's Company for NBC, which documents the true story of ambition, greed, and betrayal that rocked the set of the hit show Three's Company. He directed Martha, Inc.: The Story of Martha Stewart starring Cybill Shepherd and Tim Matheson, which chronicled Martha Stewart's rise to fame, subsequent incarceration for insider trading, and eventual comeback. Both films were critically acclaimed and were the highest rated TV movies of the decade.⁵

He began his career in episodic television with episodes of Scrubs and The West Wing before directing the feature film Grilled for New Line Cinema.⁶ Written by William Tepper, and starring Ray Romano, Kevin James, Burt Reynolds, Juliette Lewis, SophiaVergara, Kim Coates, and Michael Rapaport. It received mixed reviews but has since gained a loyal fan base.⁷

Ensler has since directed and executive produced the pilots for: Andy Barker, P.I., Franklin & Bash, Hart of Dixie, Cult, The Passage, Monarch, and Wolf Pack, among others. He served as executive producer and series director on Fox’s The Exorcist, and on all three seasons of the critically acclaimed, Love, Victor on Hulu and Disney+.

Documentaries

Ensler is on the executive board of Shifting Baselines, a think tank and production entity founded and run by author and filmmaker Randy Olson, that seeks to find more effective ways of communicating science to the public. He produced, directed and edited IRIS, a documentary for Children's Hospital Los Angeles, about Retinoblastoma, a rare form of children’s eye cancer, which was effective in passing legislation in California for early detection. And he produced, directed, and edited Farewell, My Subaru, a short documentary about author Doug Fine and the hard-won benefits of his carbon neutral lifestyle in rural New Mexico.¹³

Filmography

Films

Year	Title	Credit	Role	Notes
2006	Grilled	Director
2001	Kissing Jessica Stein	Additional Editor and Creative Consultant
2000	Alcatraz Avenue		TR Jones
1999	12 Stops on the Road to Nowhere	Editor
1998	The List	Producer	Roxy Emcee

Television

Year	Title	Credit	Notes/Episodes
2023	Wolf Pack	Director	1 Episode Season 1, episode 1
2022	Monarch	Director	1 Episode Season 1, episode 1
2020-2022	Love, Victor	Director	9 episodes Season 1, episode 2 Season 1, episode 10 Season 2, episode 1 Season 2, episode 4 Season 2, episode 10 Season 3, episode 1 Season 3, episode 4 Season 3, episode 6 Season 3, episode 8
2019	The Passage	Director	4 episodes Season 1, episode 1 Season 1, episode 2 Season 1, episode 3 Season 1, episode 9
2017	2 Broke Girls	Director	1 Episode Season 6, episode 12
	The Exorcist	Director Executive Producer	3 episodes Season 2, episode 201 Season 2, episode 206 Season 2, episode 210
2016	Lethal Weapon	Director	2 episodes Season 1, episode 104 Season 1, episode 108
	Grace and Frankie	Director	1 Episode Season 2, episode 9
	The Exorcist	Director	2 episodes Season 1, episode 105 Season 1, episode 110
2014	Red Band Society	Director Executive Producer	3 episodes 1 season
	Sirens	Director	2 episodes
2013	Hostages		Season 1, episode 2
	Brooklyn Nine-Nine		Season 1, episode 5
	The Goldbergs		Season 1, episode 4
	The Newsroom	Director	Season 2, episode 8
	Cult	Director Executive Producer	Season 1, episode 1 12 episodes
2011-2012	Franklin & Bash	Director Executive Producer	7 episodes 19 episodes
2011	Hart of Dixie		Season 1, episode 1 Season 1, episode 2
2009	Gossip Girl	Director	Season 3, episode 12
	The Eastmans	Director and Co-Executive Producer	TV movie
2008-2009	Kath & Kim		6 episodes
2008	Man of Your Dreams	Director	TV movie
	Psych	Director	Season 2, episode 12
2007-2008	Chuck		Season 1, episode 3 Season 1, episode 9 Season 2, episode 1
2007	My Name Is Earl		Season 3, episode 12
	Andy Barker, P.I.	Director and Producer	6 episodes
	The World According to Barnes	Director	TV movie
2006	South Beach		2 episodes
	Help Me Help You		2 episodes
2005	The West Wing		Season 6, episode 18
2004	Scrubs		Season 3, episode 18
	Ed		Season 4, episode 13
2003	Martha, Inc.: The Story of Martha Stewart		TV movie
	Behind the Camera: The Unauthorized Story of 'Three's Company'		TV special

References

² http://www.mocavo.com/The-Justice-Brandeis-University-Aug-1991-May-1992-Volume-Roll-12-Volume-45-Number-1-Volume-45-Number-25/297790/100

and http://2degreesofalie.tumblr.com/post/36148487895/directorproducer-jason-ensler-shares-stories-of

³ http://www.firstpost.com/topic/person/eric-mccormack-nbc-mockumentary-2002-video-shNJIXU7G9Q-218-12.html

and http://gogoartqueen.tumblr.com/post/15462587273/pitypie-the-zucker-follies-an-nbc-promo-from

⁴ http://www.sitcomsonline.com/jacksbistro/nbcmovie.html

⁵ https://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/12/arts/television-review-those-sweet-days-when-a-sitcom-had-clout.html

⁶ https://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/07/movies/moviesspecial/the-class-of-200405.html?_r=0

and https://variety.com/2004/film/columns/eatery-immortalized-in-grilled-pic-1117908102/

⁷ https://www.cinemablend.com/dvds/Grilled-1663.html

and https://filmfiend.livejournal.com/40871.html

¹⁰ https://cinema.usc.edu/alumni/hotsheet/2014april.cfm

¹¹ https://www.wsj.com/articles/tv-review-foxs-red-band-society-1410491741

¹² http://thisisjasonensler.com/blog/?p=444

¹³ http://scienceblogs.com/shiftingbaselines/2008/03/31/a-new-short-film-from-shifting/

¹⁴ https://www.tvfanatic.com/2016/10/the-exorcist-season-1-episode-5-review-through-my-most-grievous/

External links

• Official website
• Jason Ensler at IMDb