Jon Sen


Jon Sen is a British television and film director, writer and producer. He lives in South London. He is currently executive producer of the long-running BBC One soap opera EastEnders.

Early Life and education

Born in Bradford, Sen attended Bradford Grammar School between 1984 and 1992. He read Political Philosophy at Trinity College, Cambridge and graduated in 1995. After training at ARTTS International in Bubwith, East Riding of Yorkshire, he became an accomplished documentary editor between 1996 and 2000, editing landmark British documentary series including Secret History, Witness and The Real.

Career

In 2000, Sen was awarded his first BBC drama commission to write and direct The Love Doctor. His second low budget television film, a short called Reignited was made for Channel 4's Coming Up strand and met with critical success. In 2003, BAFTA award-winning producer Catherine Wearing employed Sen to direct Channel 4's £2 million flagship drama Second Generation starring Parminder Nagra. Despite being a ratings flop, the drama was critically acclaimed. Nagra won an EMMA for her lead performance and the programme was named in the Observer's top ten television of 2003.
Sen continued to direct other big-budget dramas including Frances Tuesday starring Tamzin Outhwaite. Frances Tuesday was a huge and much needed success for ITV. It was the highest rated single drama of 2004 and went on to sell in over 43 countries worldwide, cementing Outhwaite’s place as one of the most popular faces on British TV. In 2010 it featured in the BFI's retrospective of the best British TV of the 21st century alongside The Street and Red Riding.
In May 2006, Sen completed Stan for BBC 4 about the final meeting between Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, starring Father Ted star Jim Norton.
As a writer, his work includes 4.4.68, a radio play about the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., an adaptation of the Thomas Hardy novel Two on a Tower,Vanunu: A Time To Be Heard a drama about nuclear whistle-blower Mordechai Vanunu and The Man Who Wore Sanitary Pads about the Indian social entrepreneur, Arunachalam Muruganantham. The play was nominated for a BBC Audio Drama Award in the Best Scripted Comedy Drama category.On 10 December 2018, Sen was announced as the new Executive Producer of EastEnders. He has also written for both TV and film. Sen's first credited episode as executive producer on EastEnders is episode 5954, originally broadcast on 15 July 2019.
Sen is an occasional contributor to newspapers and magazines, including The Independent and The Times of India.