Jessica Sharzer facts for kids

Jessica Sharzer (born October 26, 1972) is an American writer, director, producer, and editor. She creates stories for both movies and television shows.

You might know her work from the TV drama series The L Word or the horror series American Horror Story. She also wrote the screenplays for popular films like Nerve (2016), Dirty Dancing (2017), and A Simple Favor (2018).

Jessica Sharzer's Early Life and Education

Jessica Sharzer was born in Iowa City, Iowa, on October 26, 1972. She grew up in New York City. For her education, she attended the Horace Mann School and then Wesleyan University. Later, she decided to study film at New York University.

From Academia to Film Career

Jessica Sharzer originally planned to work in universities. However, she took a summer film course at the New York Film Academy. This experience made her realize that she loved filmmaking more than studying in academia. So, she left Berkeley and joined the NYU Film School. In 2002, she won the school's Wasserman Award for her graduate film, The Wormhole.

Before becoming a director and writer, she worked behind the scenes. She was a crew member on the film Happiness. She also worked as an assistant director on the short film Billy Twist. Throughout the late 1990s, she gained experience working on several short films.

Key Works and Achievements

In 2003, Jessica Sharzer met Paul Gutrecht. They later married in 2005. A big step in her career was in 2004. She helped produce, direct, and write the screenplay for the independent film Speak. This movie was based on a popular novel.

Awards and Recognition for Speak

The film Speak brought Jessica Sharzer a lot of recognition. She was nominated for a Writers Guild of America Award. This nomination was for writing a children's television script. She also received a nomination for the Directors Guild of America Award. This was for her excellent directing in children's programs. Most notably, Speak won the Audience Award for best narrative feature at the Woodstock Film Festival.

Television and Film Projects

In 2007, Jessica Sharzer directed an episode for the Showtime TV drama, The L Word. She also wrote the screenplay for the 2010 television movie, Turn the Beat Around. This movie was produced by Paramount Pictures and MTV.

Working on American Horror Story

In 2011, she joined the team for the popular horror-drama TV series American Horror Story. She became an episode writer and a supervising producer for the show. This series was created by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk. It airs on the FX cable channel. For her work on the episode "Afterbirth", she won a special award. The Horror Writers Association gave her the 2011 Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a Screenplay.

Writing for Feature Films

Jessica Sharzer continued to write for major films. In 2016, she wrote the screenplay for the movie Nerve. This film was based on a novel with the same name. She also wrote the musical Dirty Dancing in 2017. This was a television remake of the famous 1987 movie. In 2018, she adapted Darcey Bell's novel A Simple Favor into a screenplay. This became the movie A Simple Favor.