Teja VanWicklen

Teja VanWicklen

(She/Her)
Author | Self-Defense Consultant & Educator
Get Offensive

Tèja is a consultant/choreographer specializing in realistic violence depiction for writers and filmmakers. NYWIFT Members with low-budget films receive a free 30-minute consult.

Full Bio
Tèja is a consultant/choreographer specializing in realistic violence depiction for writers and filmmakers. She has spent much of her life studying multiple martial arts, edged-weapons, firearms, wilderness survival, biomechanics, and health. Teja has won grand championships, been featured in magazines and on TV. Her new book, Reimagining Women’s Self-Defense (YMAA), will be in stores January 2026.
Teja has trained with elite military personnel and was a founding member of Conflict Research Group, an information site run by renown safety professionals. As manager of Art of War, Teja oversaw international stunt performances for major events, film festivals, and movie premieres worldwide including the Star Wars: Attack of the Clones and Matrix: Reloaded premiers in NYC and LA. She assisted the choreographers on films like The Hunted (Tommy Lee Jones), and Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Sam Rockwell.Teja speaks fluent Italian and understands French and Spanish.
NYWIFT Members w

Industry Awards
Reimagining Women's Self-Defense: How Self-Defense Fails Women and How We Can Fix It, Non-Fiction Book, Published by YMAA Publication Center; There I Was When Nothing Happened, Non-Fiction Book, Contributor, 2022;

Honey Writes, Semi-Finalist 2024; New York Script Awards, Honorable Mention, 2024; CinemaStreet Women's Short Screenplay Competition, Quarter Finalist 2023; Wiki World's Fastest Screenplay Competition, Quarter Finalist 2022; CinemaStreet Women's Short Screenplay Competition, 2021 & 2022 Finalist;

BurningWord Literary Journal 104, 2022; Everyday Fiction, 2022 (Published as Teja BenAmor)
Writer's Group works
Toothbrushes & Cowbells
Screenplay (Romance)
Log Line:
A modern, old-fashioned love story
Synopsis:
10 Minute Short Script
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