Meet Jessica Redish

 

We recently connected with Jessica Redish and have shared our conversation below.

Jessica, so great to have you with us and we want to jump right into a really important question. In recent years, it’s become so clear that we’re living through a time where so many folks are lacking self-confidence and self-esteem. So, we’d love to hear about your journey and how you developed your self-confidence and self-esteem.

I developed my confidence by doing. If I continually create or act on a vision I have, I know I can achieve my goals. Completion is a part of the artistic act; when I finish a project there is a great sense of accomplishment and satisfaction I wish for everyone reading this article!

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

I’m an award-winning filmmaker focused on comedy, and my stories always have an absurdist bent to them. My work is both visual and actor-driven, and working with talent is a strength of mine. I love telling stories about bizarre women, who, to be honest, don’t seem that bizarre to me. I’m also a choreographer and am highly collaborative – I especially enjoy working with strong directors with clear vision. My award-winning short films “cat.” and “Exit, Pursued by a Bear” have received distribution worldwide, and “Exit…,” a movie musical, can be heard on iTunes, Spotify and YouTube Music. I’m also finishing a feature, FREE BRITNEY, with my co-writer Shoshana Bush. Stay tuned!

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

I think my resilience, focus and energy have been guiding lights for me. I am an enthusiast, and if there’s a project I want to get behind, I champion it from start to finish. I know there will always be a next project and that my creativity (and creativity in general) is boundless, so I try not to put too much pressure on the outcomes of one project or another, if possible. I do the work the best I can and complete it to the best of my abilities, and if it lands, so much the better. I know there will be another one. I’ve also been fortunate to receive a lot of attention and accolades for my work, which is not the measure of success, but can be encouraging. I believe momentum is a guidepost for the place to put one’s focus. For me that has been in my writing and directing – I initially started writing as a way to express some ideas and to have something to direct, and the response to what I had to say has been overwhelming, so I am now writing full-length projects: two pilots and a feature, FREE BRITNEY, with my co-writer Shoshana Bush. My short films have also landed me work in television, which has been a very exciting result of my efforts.

My advice would be to believe in yourself and revisit the young or earlier parts of yourself that believed before the world weighed in. A friend advised me, back when I was in theatre, to write down what I think of the show before the reviews come out. It’s sort of like that – remember what you thought of you before everyone else told you what you thought of you. Let your original vision of yourself and your projects be your guiding light, and lean into it for as long as you possibly can.

Alright so to wrap up, who deserves credit for helping you overcome challenges or build some of the essential skills you’ve needed?

I was fortunate to attend USC’s School of Cinematic Arts’ Film & Television Production Program, and my many mentors and professors there helped guide me in terms of how to approach my work in film, and how to navigate the business. I was so blessed to meet so many writers and directors of seminal television shows (“Cheers,” “Frasier,” “Murphy Brown”) who, quite literally, taught me how they did it. It was an amazing playground – challenging, for sure, but in useful ways, and I’m so grateful to all the mentors I have and have had. My advice would be to reach out to people whom you admire; observe them, shadow if you can. Ask questions, stay curious, humble yourself to be a beginner, even if you think you know a great deal. There’s always something else to learn.

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Image Credits
Ashly Covington and Sean Longstreet

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