Jeannie Novak was born in San Diego, California. At the early age of 5, she began playing piano and taught herself how to read music. At age 8, she began taking piano lessons. In addition to composing, she loved sight-reading her teacher's popular sheet music and performing jazz variations on classical pieces at all her recitals. By age 12, she was a professional piano accompanist, studio musician, musical director, choreographer, and performer.
     Jeannie continued to study music at UCSD and UCLA while supporting herself by working as a professional backup singer, piano instructor, and runway model. Wanting to learn more about the entertainment business behind-the-scenes, she also worked at a major record label, film studio, and television production company--in addition to participating in the UCLA Certificate Program in Film Scoring.