Jessica sanders is an Academy Award-nominated filmmaker & award-winning commercial director
Jessica Sanders is an Academy Award – nominated, Sundance and Cannes Award – winning director and producer of narrative and documentary films and commercials. Jessica’s commercial career was launched when Steve Jobs handpicked her to direct Apple’s iPad launch campaign. Jessica won the coveted Cannes Young Director’s Award for her “Sony Make.Believe” film which also won an AICP award.
Jessica is currently directing “Picking Cotton” a feature film based on the New York Times best-selling book by Jennifer Thompson, Ronald Cotton and Erin Torneo. She was awarded the Sloan Science Foundation Award at the Tribeca Film Festival and the Discovery Award at Los Cabos Film Festival to develop the film. The movie is based on a story in her Sundance-winning film “After Innocence” about the vicious rape of Jennifer Thompson, a white college student by a black man, who she identified as Ronald Cotton. Ronald spent 11 years in prison before he was declared innocent after DNA testing and released from prison. The inspiring story is about forgiveness as Jennifer and Ronald forge a deep friendship and together are activists for criminal justice reform.
Jessica’s first feature documentary film “After Innocence” which she directed, wrote and produced tells the moving story of innocent men wrongfully imprisoned for decades and exonerated after DNA testing proved their innocence. The film won the Sundance Special Jury Prize and numerous festival awards before being released theatrically by New Yorker Films and premiering on Showtime. It was shortlisted for the Academy Awards and became a game changer in criminal justice reform, bringing awareness and change for the wrongfully convicted.
Jessica directed “Bunion” a short romantic comedy starring Alia Shawkat (Arrested Development), Michaela Watkins (SNL, Casual) and Avi Rothman. The film had a successful festival run and film critic Elvis Mitchel curated it for LACMA’s Young Director Series. She is currently in production on “I Want to Feel Fun” an improvised feature comedy with Little Esther, Simon Rex, Avi Rothman and others. Jessica is also directing “End of the Line” for Refinery29’s Anthology SmashBox film series, based on a short story by acclaimed writer Aimee Bender.
Jessica was nominated for an Academy Award for “Sing!” a documentary short that tells the universal story of how squeaky-voiced 8 year olds learn to sing and become amazing choristers with the LA Opera, LA Phil, Placido Domingo and other maestros. Jessica also directed “March of the Living,” a feature documentary which she wrote and directed. The film, a Brazilian Production filmed in five languages, features Jewish teenagers from around the world accompanying the last generation of survivors to the sites of the Holocaust in Poland, in an act of remembrance. Theatrically released by FilmLand & Conspiracao Films in Latin America and the US, the film resonates with global genocides today and the need to “Never Forget” as the last generation of Holocaust survivors pass. Jessica is also in pre-production on “After Innocence: 10 Years Later,” a feature documentary about the 7 characters who were exonerated and the impact of wrongful incarceration on their new lives.
Experimenting with the short film form influences Jessica’s approach to directing feature length films. These include “George & Brad In Bed” and “George & Brad Live Long & Prosper” about actor, Trekker George Takei and his husband Brad Altman; “SONY Make.Believe,” which received the Cannes Young Director Award and led to Steve Jobs selecting her to direct Apple’s iPad launch campaign; “Sing Opera” a documentary short about the world renowned Los Angeles Children’s Chorus mounting the new opera Keepers of the Night, based on Midsummer’s Night Dream ; ”Elizabeth,” about Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes.
As an award-winning commercial director, Jessica has directed campaigns for Apple, Amazon, Samsung, Honda, Toyota, Procter & Gamble and many others.
Jessica studied film at Wesleyan University under Professor Jeanine Basinger and graduated cum laude in English and Film Studies. She is an alumna of the Film Independent Producers & Screenwriters Lab and the Tribeca All Access Program. In 2015 she was selected as a director fellow for 21 Century Fox and Fox Audience Strategy Program, which showcases the talents of women directors. She is a member of the DGA and WGA and is represented by United Talent Agency and Principato Young.
Awards
ACADEMY AWARD NOMINATION
Sing!
Best Documentary Short Film
EMMY AWARD NOMINATION
Sing!
Best Documentary Short Film
COMMERCIAL AWARDS
SONY make.believe
Cannes Young Director Award
AICP Award
FESTIVAL WINS
George & Brad in Bed
Honolulu Rainbow Film Festival Best Short Film
Sing Opera!
LA Shorts Fest
International Family Film Festival Best Short Documentary
After Innocence
Sundance Film Festival - Special Jury Prize
Seattle Film Festival - Women in Cinema Lena Sharpe Award
Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, Content + Intent = Change Award
Independent Film Festival of Boston, Audience Award
Newport Beach Film Festival, Special Jury Prize
Nantucket Film Festival, Best Storytelling in a Documentary
Los Angels
Best Short Student Film
Chicago International Film Festival
Best Short Film, New Orleans Film Festival
Best Cinematography, Hi Mom Film Festival