Jessie Nelson (filmmaker)


Jessie Nelson is an American film producer, director, and writer.

Career

Nelson began her career acting with the theater group Mabou Mines at the Public Theater in New York and she went on to perform in Shakespeare In The Park.
Nelson began her directing career with the award-winning short film To The Moon, Alice, which she also wrote. The film starred Chris Cooper. The film was part of a television program for Showtime titled The Showtime 30-Minute Movie.
Her first feature film was Corrina, Corrina which she wrote, directed, and produced. It starred Whoopi Goldberg and Ray Liotta. The film was suggested by her life. She went on to write, direct, and produce I Am Sam starring Sean Penn.
She received the first Stanley Kramer Award from the Producers Guild for I Am Sam in 2002.
Her most recent film is Love the Coopers, starring a large ensemble cast, including Diane Keaton, John Goodman, and Alan Arkin.
She co-wrote Stepmom and The Story of Us, and co-wrote and produced Because I Said So and produced Fred Claus based on a bedtime story she would tell her daughter. In 2014 she produced Danny Collins which starred Al Pacino and Annette Bening.
She wrote the Broadway musical adaptation of the movie Waitress with music and lyrics by Sara Bareilles, directed by Diane Paulus, which premiered on Broadway in April 2016. She co-wrote and directs the musical Alice by Heart with Steven Sater and music by Duncan Sheik, which opened Off-Broadway in February 2019.
Nelson co-authored the 2011 children's book Labracadabra with Karen Leigh Hopkins.

Personal life

She is married to director Bryan Gordon. They have a daughter, actress Molly Gordon.
She is Jewish.

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRole
1988Woman on Steps
1993So I Married an Axe MurdererRalph
1999The Story of UsRealtor

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
1993The SwitchElizabeth GarlandTelevision film
1994Hoggs' HeavenPoetTelevision short film
1997ERBite Victim's MotherEpisode: Ambush