Jenniffer Wardell Portfolio

 This was published in the Vail Daily on September 12, 2021.)  It’s not easy to capture lightning in a bottle. Colorado directors Peter Mortimer and Nick Rosen had to do just that while making their newest documentary, “The Alpinist.” The duo followed climber Marc-André Leclerc for two years, trying to chronicle his astounding free solo alpine climbs while overcoming his need to roam and aversion to publicity. “One of the characteristics of Marc that drew us to him in the first place was how elusive and off the radar he was, and how no one knew about these incredible ascents that he was doing,” said Mortimer. “Our goal as filmmakers was (to figure out) how would we capture that.” Read the complete story on the Vail Daily website.

(This was published in the Davis Clipper on January 18, 2018) 

(This was written for the City Journals on July 3, 2019) Before the parade, there’s a party. As a preview to the annual Salt Lake Parade of Homes, the Salt Lake Home Builders Association is holding their annual Chefs on Parade event July 31 from 5-9 p.m. This ticketed event opens up five Parade homes to the public before the event, with professional chefs staffing the kitchens. Guests get the opportunity to linger in each home, sampling the food and interacting with the builders.  “ It's unique, ”  said Alicia Ackerman, coordinator for the Salt Lake Parade of Homes.  “ There's nothing like it around here. ” Now in its third year, the event only releases the addresses of the participating homes to those who buy tickets. Builders host the participants in each home, coordinating with the chef and often providing entertainment such as musicians.  Read the complete article on the City Journals website . 

 (This was written for the City Journals on May 5, 2020) We can’t go to the aquarium right now, so the aquarium is doing its best to come to us.  Loveland Living Planet Aquarium has spent the last several weeks offering free educational videos through their social media accounts that highlight different aspects of the aquarium. The videos started with the Scarlet’s Adventure series, which took a macaw to visit some of the aquarium’s other residents. They’ve since expanded to several different types of videos, ranging from crafts and science projects to behind-the-scenes explanations of various aspects of the aquarium.  “ People are still learning and are looking for resources, ”  said Brent Beardsley, public programs manager at the aquarium.  “ People are looking for things to watch especially for their children to help them learn. We want to help give people those resources so that they will have something wonderful and fun to see and experience right from home...

(This was written for the Vail Daily on April 16, 2020.)  Since we can’t go out to the movies, Lionsgate wants to bring the movies to us. Starting this Friday and continuing every Friday until May 8, the studio is live-streaming its most popular films on YouTube at 7 p.m. Mountain Time. “The Hunger Games” will kick off the series, followed by “Dirty Dancing” on April 24 and “La La Land” on May 1. The series will wrap up with both a literal and figurative bang by airing “John Wick” on May 8. All movies will be completely free, though Wick will require audience members to register. Yes, it’s entirely possible you already have access to movies through on-demand, a streaming service, or a DVD or Blu-Ray collection (yes, some of us still do that). But Lionsgate wants to make this feel like an event, which means they’ve tapped Jamie Lee Curtis to host all four movies. She’ll be sharing memories from her own filming experiences, and make small talk with various other celebrity ...

(This was written for the City Journals on Aug. 22, 2019) City officials have a few ideas about what to do with the Fairmont Park tennis courts. The chance for any of those ideas to become reality, however, is still a long way off. The Salt Lake City Department of Community and Neighborhoods completed a survey this past July asking residents what they would like to see happen to the dilapidated tennis courts. The survey offered four possibilities for the site—a community garden, medium-density housing, recreational courts or redevelopment for the Boys & Girls Club. The results were then sent to the mayor's office to be analyzed. Unfortunately, that's as far as they'll get for the immediate future. "There is no timeline (for the project) because there is no determined project yet," said Matthew Rojas, director of communications for Salt Lake. "This is a preliminary step to help guide what the best use of the space is." Read the complete ...

(This was written Feb. 10, 2020 for the Sugar House Journal.)  It’s a big job, but he’s excited to get started. Jason Cryan, currently deputy director and chief of research at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, will start work as the executive director of the Natural History Museum of Utah this March. He’s taking over the role from Sarah George, who is taking a position with the University of Utah’s advancement team. “I’m super excited by the opportunity to join this family at the University of Utah,” Cryan said. “The museum is a part of the university. I entered the selection process kind of late, so I’m still kind of working through the shock. But I can’t tell you how honored I am. It’s thrilling.” Cryan, who completed his post-doctoral work at Brigham Young University, is a biodiversity scientist and systematist. Systematics is a branch of biology that deals with the classification and taxonomy of species. His research focuses mostly on evolutionary inv...