Bio

Karen Wilkens is a two-time Emmy Nominated Multi-Camera Television Director in Los Angeles who has made the jump to directing in the single camera format. In the Summer of 2010, Karen directed Season Two of Venice The Series, a hit online drama created, written and starring Crystal Chappell. Also, in the last year, Karen has gone back to her roots a bit, stage managing on The NFL Network's Total Access Live, as well as The Wanda Sykes Show, and First ADing on independent films. She also continues to freelance direct on other Soap Operas, including The Young and The Restless.

A little background: For nine years Karen was a Contract Director on NBC's Passions. While at Passions, she had the opportunity to work on one of the most unconventional soap operas on the air, directing comedy and satire filled scenes in addition to traditional drama. The show incorporated a supernatural storyline, so her experience includes many special effects, musical numbers, stunts and fights. She also excelled in working with children and animals (orangutans, cows, turkeys, owls, snakes—even a lion), in addition to plain old boring adults. Before that Karen had worked her way up the television ladder from production secretary to director, first at NBC's Another World, and then at CBS's Guiding Light, both daytime dramas in New York.

Since the cancellation of Passions, Karen has directed and produced an independent short film, FOUR STEPS, a lighthearted comedy starring Erin Cardillo, Eric Martsolf and Concetta Tomei that has been screened at multiple film festivals. Karen also produced and directed another mini-short film regarding Prop 8 in California for Project Pushback, as well as two PSAs on the same topic. These two PSAs, starring Lucy Lawless and Eva Tamargo garnered major attention when they were released on YouTube and MySpace video. Karen also produced and directed an online talk/cooking show hosted by comedian Erin Foley called "Dishin' It Up!". She is also currently shopping a reality series called "Room To Be Different", which is a home redesign show for children diagnosed with Autism and Special Needs.

Karen has donated her time to PowerUp, a non-profit film organization, directing an anti-piracy ad for the DVD version of their feature film, Itty Bitty Titty Commitee, in addition to consulting on their new feature film, Girltrash, All Night Long. She has also second-unit directed for the online talk show "Cherry Bomb".

Karen has a Black Belt in Hapkido, Karate, which has helped her enormously in her staging of fight scenes. She’s also an avid hiker in the mountains of Los Angeles, in addition to being a homegrown Yankee fan.