ABOUT JESSIE

Jessie Barr is a writer-director, Sundance fellow, Half Initiative directing fellow, and fall risk with a background in acting, independent film, and theater. Born in DC, raised by NYC, and currently in LA, her naturalistic approach to storytelling is intimate and deeply humanistic.

Jessie’s critically acclaimed, award-winning feature debut, "Sophie Jones" premiered in competition at the 2020 Deauville Film Festival and was released by Oscilloscope Laboratories in 2021. The film holds a 100% rating on RottenTomatoes and is streaming on Showtime. Jessie won Best Director at the 2022 Lost Weekend Film Festival (Alamo Drafthouse, Winchester). The film won Best Feature Film (NEXT) at the Americana Film Festival 2022 (Barcelona, Spain).

Variety hailed the film as a “fully realized portrait of grief that’s universal in its texture.” “Superb,” says Roger Ebert. The Playlist called it, “Coming-of-age at its best. A quiet, brilliant film.”

She is a 2024 Half Initiative directing fellow and has shadowed numerous TV directors including Chad Lowe, Leslye Headland, Stuart McDonald, and her first mentor, the late Lynn Shelton. Jessie was a 2021 Sundance Episodic Lab fellow. The series she co-created went on to be developed with Warner Brothers Television and Tall Baby Productions.

Jessie’s short, "Too Long at the Fair" (2018), premiered on Short of the Week and won NoBudge’s Short Film of the Year. Her original series, "Om City" (2015), premiered at Tribeca, was a New York Times TV Critic’s pick, Vimeo Staff Pick, voted Best Web Series by Decider, and “Web to Watch” by USA Today. She is a PEN America Writer's Grant Recipient (2020), an Oregon Made Film Grant Recipient (2019), and has been featured by the National Board of Review. Jessie holds a BFA from NYU Tisch where she double majored in Drama and English and American lit.

Jessie is currently attached to direct IRIS written by Academy-award nominee Zach Baylin. She is developing several new projects as a writer-director for both film and TV. Her music video debut garnered over 40k views in 7 days and features rising star and genre-bending afro-futurist, King Isis. Watch ‘NVR RLLY” here.