Jen Appel is an artist, educator, filmmaker, and founder based in Locust Valley, New York, with professional roots across all five boroughs of New York, including Long Island, New York City, Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx. She was born in Old Brookville, NY, to parents whose lives reflected the city, with her father growing up in the Bronx and her mother coming from Brooklyn. These early ties to place and community helped shape a lasting interest in culture, education, and civic life.
For more than 30 years, she has built a career spanning film, education, branding, and civic media. Her work has included theater, film, fine art, and music, while also remaining deeply connected to teaching advanced humanities subjects such as A.P. U.S. History, U.S. Government, Business, and Entrepreneurship. Appel has consistently approached education as a space where creativity and academic rigor support one another.
Alongside classroom work, she has founded initiatives rooted in service, storytelling, and public responsibility. She is the founder of Somewhere I Read, a national initiative dedicated to renewing America’s civic imagination, and the creator of 16 Paws, a pet lifestyle brand and children’s book centered on kindness and animal-assisted service.
Jen Appel of New York began her artistic development early after discovering theater during high school, an experience that proved formative. This path led her to New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, where she earned a full acting scholarship and trained in the Experimental Theatre Wing and at Circle in the Square, establishing a strong foundation in performance and collaboration.
During and after her formal education, she worked across acting, directing, music, writing, and fine art. She performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company, appeared in film projects, and served as lead singer for multiple alternative rock bands and creative collaborations. Appel also developed an acceptable art practice that has been exhibited in galleries in both the Hamptons and New York City.
These early professional years reflected a willingness to move between disciplines while remaining focused on thoughtful and socially engaged content. Through performance, visual art, and music, she explored themes related to identity, community, and responsibility without separating creative work from lived experience.
Jen Appel founded Risk Productions in 1997, establishing a film, television, theater, and music company dedicated to projects that directly address social and cultural issues. Through this work, she wrote, directed, and produced Yes! Damn It, which played to sold-out audiences at The Producer’s Club in New York City and marked an essential step in her creative leadership.
