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Jessie Nelson is an American film producer, director, actress and writer.

Career

Nelson began her career acting with the theater group Mabou Mines at the Public Theater in New York and she went on to perform in Shakespeare In The Park.

Nelson began her directing career with the award-winning short film To the Moon, Alice (1990), which she also wrote. The film starred Chris Cooper and was part of a television program for Showtime titled The Showtime 30-Minute Movie.

Her first feature film was Corrina, Corrina (1994) which she wrote, directed, and produced. It starred Whoopi Goldberg and Ray Liotta. The film was suggested by her life. She went on to write, direct, and produce I Am Sam (2001) starring Sean Penn.

She received the first Stanley Kramer Award from the Producers Guild for I Am Sam in 2002.

Her most recent film is Love the Coopers (2015), starring a large ensemble cast, including Diane Keaton, John Goodman, and Alan Arkin.

She co-wrote Stepmom (1998) and The Story of Us (1999), and co-wrote and produced Because I Said So and Fred Claus, the latter of which is based on a bedtime story she would tell her daughter. In 2014 she produced Danny Collins which starred Al Pacino and Annette Bening.

She wrote the Broadway musical adaptation of the movie Waitress with music and lyrics by Sara Bareilles, directed by Diane Paulus, which premiered on Broadway in April 2016. She also co-directed and co-produced the live film recording of the musical's 2021 remounting, which will premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in June 2023. She co-wrote and directed the musical Alice by Heart with Steven Sater and music by Duncan Sheik, which opened Off-Broadway in February 2019.

Nelson co-authored the 2011 children's book Labracadabra (Penguin, 2011, ISBN 9780670012510) with Karen Leigh Hopkins.

Personal life

She is married to director Bryan Gordon. They have a daughter, actress Molly Gordon (b. 1995).

She is Jewish.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

1. To the Moon Alice tcm.com, retrieved May 20, 2019
2. James, Caryn (October 2, 1991). "Review/Film; 2 Views of the Homeless, One Aggressive, One Gentle". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331.
3. Tucker, Ken. The Showtime 30-Minute Movie ew.com, August 17, 1990
4. Dutka, Elaine. "The Making of 'Corrina' a Real Labor of Love : Movies: It took Jessie Nelson nine years to get the film made. Its story is taken from her life." Los Angeles Times, September 10, 1994
5. Corrina, Corrina tcm.com, retrieved May 20, 2019
6. I Am Sam tcm.com, retrieved May 20, 2019
7. Goodridge, Sam. " 'I Am Sam' producers win Stanley Kramer PGA prize" screendaily.com, January 31, 2002
8. Waitress Playbill (vault), retrieved May 20, 2019
9. "Waitress Live Stage Film Starring Sara Bareilles Will Play 2023 Tribeca Film Festival | Playbill".
10. Rizzo, Frank. "Off Broadway Review: 'Alice by Heart'" Variety, February 26, 2019
11. Nelson, Jessie; Hopkins, Karen Leigh (2011). Labracadabra. illustrated by Deborah Melmon. New York: Viking. ISBN 9780670012510.
12. Cormier, Ryan (October 30, 2009). "'Curb Your Enthusiasm,' Delaware-style". DelawareOnline.com. Retrieved May 28, 2019.
13. Nordstrom, Leigh (March 21, 2019). "Molly Gordon, Hollywood's New Comedic Darling". WWD. Retrieved May 28, 2019.
14. Handler, Rachel (March 26, 2021). "Molly Gordon Didn't Mean to Steal That Scene". Vulture. Retrieved April 7, 2021.

External links

• Jessie Nelson at IMDb 
• Jessie Nelson at the Internet Off-Broadway Database

• Film directors from Los Angeles
• American film producers
• 20th-century American screenwriters
• University of California, Santa Cruz alumni
• American women film directors
• American women screenwriters
• Living people
• American children's writers
• American women children's writers
• American women film producers
• 20th-century American women writers
• 21st-century American screenwriters
• 21st-century American women writers
• American musical theatre librettists
• Women librettists