Superwoman About Town Stephanie Daniels
A close friend of Darden’s for over a decade, Paulus Hook’s Stephanie Daniels is the Creative Director of Jersey City Television (JCTV) and heads up Film JC, the City’s film commission. Prior to joining JCTV, Stephanie enjoyed a long, storied career in broadcast television, winning an Emmy for her production work at Channel 9. In addition to gigs at USA Network and the Syfy Channel, Stephanie was also Creative Director for the now-defunct arts channel TRIO, and has produced three award-winning documentaries. Whew!
Hi Stephanie! Tell us please about JCTV.
We not only live to communicate the initiatives of the City, but to highlight and promote local businesses. We have also started a series of mini documentaries about people in Jersey City. That might be the most rewarding part of this job and the biggest privilege. How many incredible people in Jersey City that I get to encounter. It’s also so rewarding to be part of the JCTV team. Television is a truly collaborative medium, and I work with the best group of people.
Is a career in TV as exciting as it sounds to lay people?
For me, I love what I do because I get the opportunity to find about people and things I’d never know about. I am curious about things other people tend to find mundane because they are, except that nothing really is
Besides all of the creative people who live in Jersey City, it’s now a hub to young families, which was certainly not the case when you moved here in 1990.
That’s right. When my husband Mark and I were raising our daughter Zoe, there were 7 kids in Paulus Hook. That’s it.
I think that’s so hard to imagine for families who live here now. It’s amazing how much you have been involved in changing the local education landscape for families. How you had the time to do this we cannot imagine, but you were heavily involved in founding the Garden Preschool Cooperative, were a parent founder of the Learning Community Charter School, and were the founder of the Kaplan Cooperative Preschool in Hoboken.
You must take a lot of pride in that.
I worked with great people. It was a very DIY time in Jersey City, and we all shared a passion for creating things and getting things done.
What are you most passionate about these days in Jersey City?
I am a proud Board member of Nimbus Dance Works. I am a former dancer, so I take great pleasure in what technically brilliant and beautiful dancers they are. They are vibrant and exquisite to watch. It’s such a gift to watch them perform important, groundbreaking work from the choreographers that work with Nimbus. But even beyond that, what excites me most is how invested Nimbus is in our entire Jersey City community. We hold a fundraising gala each year and every single cent of profit goes towards scholarships for children in the community who otherwise would not be able to study dance.
Lovely. Final question as we know you are busy! Where do you enjoy your downtime in town?
I love the Vogue Café. I am addicted to their croissants, espresso and the Edith Piaf music playing. My new night stop is Buddy Who’s. How can you beat the $10 Beer and Burger special on Monday night? And if it’s during the day and I need an earring fix, I wander over to Kanibal Home, across from City Hall.
Thanks, Stephanie!