“I'm obsessed with characters who are unruly, deviant, and desirous — also, weirdos.
I love weirdos.”

Jessie Barr is a writer/director, actor, Sundance fellow, and Half Initiative directing fellow with roots in independent film, theater, and comedy.

She is a 2025 Djerassi Artist in Residence, 2024 Half Initiative directing fellow (Ryan Murphy Program), and 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 work has screened globally at festivals including Deauville, Berlinale, Tribeca, Mar Del Plata and has been featured by The National Board of Review, The New York Times, Short of the Week, Vimeo Staff Pick, and USA Today.

Jessie is developing her feature film Pussy Riot with Blair Breard (The Savant, Scenes from a Marriage), a Shakespeare adaptation with Oscar-winning prod co Caviar (Sound of Metal) and is in post on her latest short Sylvia starring Jena Malone.

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. Variety hailed the film as a “fully realized portrait of grief that’s universal.”

Jessie’s darkly funny, deeply personal cancer chronicle, Serving Cunt debuted at SADE Gallery in Los, Angeles (2024) combining original films, installations, and photography.

Jessie is an alum of NYU Tisch School of the Arts. She’s worked with Lincoln Center, Williamstown Theater Festival, Naked Angels, Joe’s Pub (The Public Theater), and NY Stage & Film, among others. Grant recognitions include: MOS Film Grant Recipient (2025), PEN America Writer's Grant Recipient (2020), and Oregon Made Film Grant Recipient (2019).