Jessie Maple facts for kids

Jessie Maple (born 1947 – died May 30, 2023) was an American filmmaker. She was a cinematographer and a director. Jessie was known for being a pioneer. She fought for equal rights for African-Americans and women in the movie business. Her film Will (made in 1981) was very important. It was one of the first long movies made by an African-American woman.

Early Life and Learning About Film

Jessie Maple was born in Louisiana in 1947. She grew up with four brothers and seven sisters. In the 1960s and 1970s, Jessie worked in science. She led a lab in Philadelphia and New York. This lab studied bacteria and blood.

Later, she started writing for the New York Courier newspaper. Jessie then decided to learn about making movies. She trained at Ossie Davis's Third World Cinema. She also attended the National Education Television Training School. This program was run by WNET public television.

The program helped African Americans learn camera jobs. This would help them join the film union. But the program did not last long. Jessie said, "It was so successful that after one year they shut it down."

Jessie started her film career as an apprentice editor. She worked on movies like Shaft's Big Score! and The Super Cops. After joining the Film Editor's Union, she studied more. She then passed the test to join the Cinematographer's Union.

A Trailblazer in Film: Jessie Maple's Career

In 1973, Jessie Maple made history. After a long fight in court, she became the first African-American woman. She was the first to join the New York camera operators union. She wrote a book about her struggles. It was called How to Become a Union Camerawoman (1976).

In an interview from 2020, she shared her experience. "After I passed the test and got into the cameraman’s union," she said. "Then they told the studios not to hire me and blacklisted me." This meant companies would not hire her. "I decided, well, I’m going to fight this," she added. "I sued them all at once, ABC, CBS, NBC, and I won."

Jessie worked for many years as a news camerawoman. She found a special way to film stories. She could "edit the story in the camera." This stopped editors from changing a positive story into a negative one. This was especially true for stories about race. Black people were often left out of news reports.

Jessie explained her method. "I would shoot [the story] in a way where they couldn't cut the black person out of [it]." She made sure viewers "had to see both sides of what happened." In 1974, Jessie and her husband, Leroy Patton, started LJ Films Productions. They made short documentaries together.

In 1981, Jessie Maple released her independent film Will. With this film, she became known. She was the first African-American woman to direct a full-length independent film. This happened after the Civil Rights era.

To show her own films and others, Jessie and Leroy opened a theater. It was called the 20 West Theater, Home of Black Cinema. They opened it in their Harlem home in 1982. Her second independent film was Twice as Nice. It was released in 1989. The film tells the story of twin sisters who play basketball.

The Black Film Center/Archive at Indiana University keeps Jessie Maple's work. This includes her papers and films from 1971 to 1992.

Death

Jessie Maple passed away on May 30, 2023. She was 76 years old.