Today we’d like to introduce you to Jessica
Hi Jessica , thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was born and raised in Gainesville. My parents were both educators originating from Mississippi. My father was a professor at the University of Florida while my mother taught at a local high school. As a young child, I was strongly influenced by films. Often wanting to be the profession of the characters in my most recent favorite movie. My favorite day of the week was payday Fridays because that meant we were going to Hollywood Video to rent movies. It wasn’t until my senior year that I realized I wanted to be behind the camera. Like many who are ignorant to the dozens of positions on set, I set out saying I wanted to be a director. After graduating high school I attended what at the time was Santa Fe Community College, they’ve dropped the “community” since. After 2 years and some research, I decided I was either moving to either LA or New York City. I was split between a 2 year program in LA or finishing my 4-year degree in New York. Well, my parents, who both have a higher level of education, had a strong opinion on that so NYC it was. I moved to New York City, Brooklyn in 2009 without ever having visited New York City ever. I was set to attend Brooklyn College and study film production. While some will say film school is useless, I throughly enjoyed my time with my classmates and working on projects together. I graduated in 2012 and I truly believe the hardest time in a young person life is after college. You have an idea of what you want to do but how do you get here? Especially when it comes to non-typical jobs that aren’t the 9-5 type. After graduation I was working in two different restaurants as a server. It was around early spring of 2015 and I was waiting on this table of a husband and wife. They were very kind and a fun table, big foodies and I appreciate people who love good food. I ended up hitting it off with the wife, and out of curiosity she asked me “what do I want to do” (something along those lines) I replied well I studied film production so I want to work on set. And she responded “oh well thats prefect I am Executive Producer and I’ve worked in reality tv for the past 20 years”. Then she said the best thing “I’m going to get you a job”. Cut to two weeks later she actually landed me an interview for a new reality show as an “Associate Producer”. Now I had no idea what an Associate Producer was and no idea what they even do! She insured me “it was easy” and explained some of the broad strokes, which I still had no idea what she was even talking about. I interviewed on a Wednesday, and they called me on Thursday to let me know I got the job! The caveat was they wanted me to start on Monday. Then I was at a cross road, this job is for 2 months, what do I do with my job at the restaurants? Restaurants are flexible but only to an extent. I was speaking the the EP and she told me I needed to quite the 2 jobs, I was shook, but what do I do after the 2 months and this job is over? I won’t have a job? What she told me has stayed with me till this day, “you keep working”.
Now the word “freelance” to many sound either terrify or like unemployment. For me at 1st it was terrifying but then I thought of the similarities of the unpredictable income and working as server. I had interviewed on a Wednesday, landed the job on a Thursday, quit my 2 jobs on Friday and started working in my field on Monday. Wild ride! And I did what she told me, I kept working. I had some college friends who were PA’ing and I ended up landing in the commercial world, as a production assistant, which was entry level. From the start of my career as PA to my current position of 1st Assistant Director I have and still wear a name tag on set. My initial thoughts was I want people to remember me. On set you meet so many people and are constantly meeting new people. Freelancing is a hustle and most of this business is literally “who you know”. In this business your own reputation is on the line if you recommend someone. I love what I do, its refreshing and different yet similar enough where it is consistent to balance my anxiety. I’ve had the pleasure of working with legends in front and behind the camera. This job has taken me place I would never see otherwise. I have met some of the best people from all around the world.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
When people think of a 1st Assistant Director they typically think of an “angry man who yells”. The saying goes the AD is “the most hated person on set.” The norm of this position is historically exclusively for men. I like to believe I am apart of the changing of the guards. A shift in the industry that is more inclusive and diverse. The difficulty with being the wave and not the beach is often not receiving respect or trust that would typically unconsciously be given to a man. Many women experience this throughout many industries often the routes they take are either overcompensation or micromanagement, to prove they know what they’re doing. I would definitely say when I was younger I would overcompensate. I would try to prove that I “know my stuff” by saying the correct name for the gear on set or drop names of people you’ve worked with. Though the more and more people I connect with and build my network of constituents the smoother it becomes. Ever so often I land on set where that feeling of not belonging still linger in the air; but then I breathe and remember that this is a commercial and within a couple of days you won’t ever have to see these people again.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I am a 1st Assistant Director who mainly works in the commercial world. I work on set with advertisers to shoot tv or internet ad’s. There are different bubbles of production, mainly: film, tv, or reality. All do the same job but just different “worlds”. I handle the daily flow on a set. I create the “run of show” or “schedule”, to keep the job on time. Time is money. I work directly with the director and producer. I assure the director is getting all their shots needed or wanted and within the budget of the producer. I take all the pieces the producer has collected and place them into the puzzle.
Do you any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
Being raised in central Florida was interesting because people often associate Florida with Miami or the beach. Well being directly in the middle of the state, 2 hours east or west to the closest beach had its struggles but benefits. The neighborhood I was raised in had a the famous Hogtown Creek running through it. My older brothers and I loved to ride our bikes through the neighborhood, sneak through a neighbor’s side yard (who we didn’t know) and explore the creek. The creek was filled with shark teeth and old petrified aquatic animal bones. We have jars and jars of them still to this day at my parents home in Gainesville. We would collect tadpoles and raise them to frogs. When the creek’s water would rise we would swim in it. It was our beach in our own backyard.
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