Janet Chen (Ma), M.F.A. (she/her/hers) is an award-winning film and multimedia director, producer, and educator. Her work often explores stories of representation, resistance, and resilience through a multigenerational lens. 

Janet has produced and managed Emmy and Webby-nominated film and multimedia projects. Her latest short film Asian Bitches Speak was honored with a Special Jury Award from the 40th Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, a Best Director Award from the 31st QFilm LGBTQ+ Film Festival, and an Audience Choice Award for Experimental Documentary at the 10th Feminist Border Arts Film Festival, among other awards. The film toured the United States as part of “Resistance & Joy,” a program of the Color Congress Elev8Docs Distribution Initiative, and has also screened in over 30 film festivals and community spaces nationally and internationally in Asia, Australia, Canada, Europe, and New Zealand. 

Janet holds a B.A. in Film from UC Irvine and an M.F.A. in Social Documentation - Film & Digital Media from UC Santa Cruz. Currently, she is the Producer for the Dean's films at UCLA School of Theater, Film & Television, and is a guest filmmaker at UCLA Center for EthnoCommunications and the Asian American Nonfiction Film course at UCI. Janet was an Adjunct Professor in Film and Media Studies at UC Irvine, and the Assistant Director and Instructor at UCLA Center for EthnoCommunications. She was honored at UCLA Extension with an Exceptional Service Award for her work with students.

Janet served as the founding manager and steering committee member of the Asian American Documentary Network (A-Doc), and the Operations Director, Digital Histories Instructor, and programmer at Visual Communications. She is a member of Video Consortium and Brown Girls Doc Mafia.