Originally hailing from Orange County, California, Jessica has also lived in Los Angeles and New York City. In junior high, she began locking herself in her room to write for hours and completed her first screenplay at 13 years old. She continued to passionately crank out scripts in high school while also performing in her school's theater group. During summer jobs, she found herself writing character ideas and dialogue snippets on blank receipt paper to help pass the time working as a cashier at The Home Depot and Blockbuster (remember those??).

In 2005, she was accepted into USC'S world-renowned School of Cinematic Arts Program, where she graduated Magna Cum Laude with a BFA in Writing for Screen and Television. Two weeks after graduation, armed with a teen sci-fi thriller script, she hit the ground running, landing representation at Creative Artists Agency. During her first few years in the industry, she pitched on numerous projects and sold an original coming-of-age feature concept about parallel universes in the room during a general meeting. But it wasn't until she entered the world of television as an Executive Assistant to the Showrunner of 20th Century Fox's Bones that she really hit her stride and crystallized her creative intentions. While learning from some of TV's most talented writers and producers, she wrote her original TV drama pilot Immersion, which examines the intricate and heart-wrenching world of sex trafficking. In 2015, she was awarded the prestigious Humanitas New Voices Fellowship for the project and given a $25,000 grant to write another drama pilot under the stewardship of NCIS: New Orleans creator Gary Glasberg.

In 2016, while working as the Writer's Assistant for FX's Tyrant, she was hired by Legendary Entertainment to adapt for the screen Kelly Thompson’s The Girl Who Would Be King, a fierce young adult novel about dueling female superheroes. She also began writing for the continually expanding podcast company Parcast, researching for and writing upwards of 30 episodes in True Crime, Historical, and Fiction genres -- including a 3-part special on Jack the Ripper.

In 2017, after a life-changing trip to Tibet, Jessica took a one-year break from the industry to work as a Behavioral Therapist for children with Autism Spectrum Disorders and Down Syndrome. While that experience was very rewarding, the call of the entertainment industry summoned her back with an opportunity to become a Producer of Unscripted Content for The Discovery Channel, now WarnerBros. Discovery, where she currently works on several different series including: Bering Sea Gold, Homestead Rescue, and Gold Rush.

Jessica is currently working on revisions of The Maverick Hummingbird, her debut women's fiction novel inspired by a road trip she took up the Pacific Northwest with her Chihuahua Sage after a particularly magical encounter with a wounded hummingbird. Her latest feature script Suture explores a global human rights crisis through a diverse cast of characters and multi-narrative structure.

Jessica is also a prolific poet and has performed her spoken word poetry for The New York Poetry Festival, open mics throughout New York City, and The Wolf's Den variety shows. She is currently working on a new television pilot.

AWARDS & RECOGNITION

2006: WINNER Best Writing - Ed Wood Film Festival (Medusa)

2015: WINNER New Voices Writing Award - Humanitas (Immersion)

2023: FINALIST Lando Grant - DeGroot Foundation (Suture)

2023: FINALIST Tangerine Entertainment Fellowship - Stowe Story Labs (Suture)

2023: QUARTER FINALIST - Big Break Screenwriting Contest (Suture)

QUARTER FINALIST - Austin Film Festival (Suture)

QUARTER FINALIST - Page Screenwriting Awards (Suture)