Lauren Jeu (’17)
Lauren Jeu entered CBU with the intention of becoming a pediatrician and graduated cum laude with an Honors Diploma in Natural Science. But she minored in Visual Art — in fact, she is the only non-Art major ever honored with the Outstanding Visual Arts Student Award at graduation — and has now dedicated her professional life to the creative arts, specifically the film and television industry.
As a student, Lauren was highly involved with the CBU Honors Program and Tri-Beta Biological Honor Society. She says that both not only helped her develop leadership skills, but also allowed her to experience several pillars of the Lasallian core principles such as service, inclusive community, and respect for all persons. “Everything from BBB lasagna dinners, Bowling for Uganda, Auto-Scavenger hunts around Midtown, study abroad in Italy, and Dinner with the Brothers really helped to shape my college experience, especially as a commuter,” she says. “Looking back, all my favorite and fondest memories and people from CBU can be traced back or connected to either the Honors Program or Tri-Beta.” For these and other volunteer involvements, Lauren was chosen to be a member of the CBU Lasallian Fellows Class of 2017.
Lauren was also a longtime volunteer with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, planning and hosting themed activity days for patients and families, and a teacher as Bellevue Baptist Church, leading 1st-grade students in Vacation Bible School lessons and activities, and — until the pandemic — as a 2nd-grade teacher helping kids learn Bible verses and make crafts in the same classroom and with the same teachers she had when she was in the 2nd grade.
Lauren began her new career in film and television as a set production assistant on Brian Banks, a biographical drama film which was filmed here in Memphis. She was then offered a job as the Assistant to the Director on the pilot episode of the NBC television series Bluff City Law, which was based in Memphis, and has since worked consistently in the entertainment industry on series, movies, and commercials in various cities — most recently as the Assistant to the Executive Producer on an HBOMax limited series in Atlanta and the Production Secretary on the ABC limited series Women of the Movement, which was filmed in Greenwood, MS.
On the side, she uses her art platform Jeubilant Productions to advocate for equality for women and people of color. She created the APAHM Project, where she shares her thoughts and interviews on films/shows that are created by Asian American/Pacific Islanders (AAPI) or focus on AAPI stories. She used this project to raise money for various victims of AAPI hate that increased during the pandemic. Her dream is to one day be a film director and create stories that highlight these underrepresented groups.
The expression ‘Enter to Learn, Leave to Serve’ has been ingrained into every member of the CBU community’s brain. Those six little words printed on every door on campus always carried so much weight to me. In the film and television industry, I am still relatively low on the totem pole as far as experience and job title. My goal is to not only have more representation in front of the camera, whether through stories or actors, but also behind the scenes as well. I entered the industry hungry for skills and knowledge, and I hope to leave it as a more inclusive and diverse industry.