Jackie van Beek

Jackie van Beek (born 10 May 1976)^[1] is a New Zealand film and television director, writer and actress.^[2]^[3]

Jackie van Beek
van Beek in 2018
Born	Jacqueline (1976-05-10)10 May 1976 (age 49) Twizel, New Zealand
Education	Onslow College, Victoria University
Occupation(s)	director, writer, actress, producer
Years active	1998–present
Known for	Performing Arts
Notable work	What We Do in the Shadows The Breaker Upperers Nude Tuesday Time Bandits The Office
Spouse	Jesse Griffin
Children	3

Early life

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Van Beek was born and raised inWellington and attendedOnslow College. She studied contemporary dance at the Wellington Performing Arts Centre, then completed a linguistics degree atVictoria University of Wellington, graduating in 1998. Throughout her studies she wrote and produced plays in Wellington theatres and schools.^[3]

Career

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In 1999 van Beek moved to Auckland and worked on theatre productions, and she spent a year atOhio Northern University as the writer-in-residence.^[3] In 2006 van Beek moved to Australia and began making short films.^[3] Her first feature film wasThe Inland Road, which was screened at theBerlin International Film Festival and theSeattle International Film Festival, followed by her second feature film,The Breaker Upperers.^[4]

Van Beek has won a number of filmmaking awards, including SPADA New Filmmaker of the Year in 2013, as well as acting awards.^[5] In 2014 she won Best Supporting Actress at theNew Zealand Film Awards for her performance inWhat We Do in the Shadows.^[6]

She is co-creator, with Jesse Griffin andJonny Brugh, of the award-winning 2019 TV sitcom about teachers in a secondary school, calledEducators. She also stars in the show.^[7] In 2024, she co-created theAustralian adaptation ofThe Office with Julie De Fina.^[8]

Personal life

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Van Beek is married to comedian Jesse Griffin. They got engaged a month after they met in 2006. They have three children.^[9]

She is a cousin of writerKathryn van Beek.^[10]

Filmography

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Plays

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Year	Title	Role	Notes
	The Swimming Lessons	Writer	^[3]
	The Mayfly	Writer	^[3]
	Space Migrant	Writer	^[3]
2005	My Brother and I are Porn Stars	Co-writer, lead actress	^[3]

Films

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Year	Title	Role	Notes
2007	Eagle vs Shark	Burger Staff	Actress^[11]
2008	One Shoe Short		^[5]
2009	Just Like The Others		Co-producer^[12]
2011	Little Red Riding Hood		Producer^[12]
	Go the Dogs		Director, producer, writer^[12]
	In Safe Hands		Director, writer, lead actress^[13]
2014	Uphill		Director, writer, actress^[14]
2014	What We Do in the Shadows	Jackie	^[15]
2017	The Inland Road		Director, writer^[16]
2018	The Breaker Upperers	Jen	Writer, co-director, actress^[17]
2022	Nude Tuesday	Laura	Writer, actress
2024	Audrey	Ronnie Lipsick	Actress

Television

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Year	Title	Role	Notes
2001	Love Mussel	Actress	^[18]
2007	Rude Awakenings	Actress	^[19]
2013-2015	Best Bits	Panellist	^[20]
2014	Coverband	Stacey	Actress^[12]^[21]
2014	Short Poppies	Elisa	Actress^[20]
2015-2018	Funny Girls	Actress	^[12]^[21]
2016-2017	800 Words	Gloria	^[21]
2018	Wellington Paranormal	Director	^[12]
2019	What We Do in the Shadows	Director
2019	Educators	Robyn	Also co-creator of theTVNZ+ (formerly TVNZ OnDemand) series, which is largely improvised^[22]
2024	The Office	Co-creator, director, writer and executive producer	Based on the Britishseries of the same name