Jessica Sharzer (born October 26, 1972) is an American screenwriter, director, producer, and editor. She is known for her work on the

Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...

drama series ''

The L Word ''The L Word'' is a television drama that aired on Showtime from January 18, 2004 to March 8, 2009. The series follows the lives of a group of lesbian and bisexual women who live in West Hollywood, California. The premise originated with Ilene Ch ...

'' and the FX horror series ''

American Horror Story ''American Horror Story'' is an American anthology horror television series created by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk for the cable network FX. The first installment in the '' American Story'' media franchise, each season is conceived as a ...

''. She wrote the screenplays for the films ''

Nerve A nerve is an enclosed, cable-like bundle of nerve fibers (called axons) in the peripheral nervous system. A nerve transmits electrical impulses. It is the basic unit of the peripheral nervous system. A nerve provides a common pathway for the e ...

'' (2016), ''

Dirty Dancing ''Dirty Dancing'' is a 1987 American romantic drama dance film written by Eleanor Bergstein, produced by Linda Gottlieb, and directed by Emile Ardolino. Starring Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey, it tells the story of Frances "Baby" Houseman ...

'' (2017), and '' A Simple Favor'' (2018).

Life and career

She was born in

Iowa City, Iowa Iowa City, offically the City of Iowa City is a city in Johnson County, Iowa, United States. It is the home of the University of Iowa and county seat of Johnson County, at the center of the Iowa City Metropolitan Statistical Area. At the time ...

to a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family. She grew up in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, graduated from the

Horace Mann School , motto_translation = Great is the truth and it prevails , address = 231 West 246th Street , city = The Bronx , state = New York , zipcode = 10471 , count ...

, Wesleyan University, and studied film at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

. Sharzer was all set for a career in academia, until she took a summer film course at

New York Film Academy New York Film Academy – School of Film and Acting (NYFA) is a private for-profit film school and acting school based in New York City, Los Angeles, and Miami. The New York Film Academy was founded in 1992 by Jerry Sherlock, a former film, t ...

. Realizing then that she was "not meant for academia," Sharzer left

Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California * George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer ...

and enrolled in NYU Film School. In 2002, she won the school’s

Wasserman Award The Wasserman Award is NYU Film School’s top honor in recognition for outstanding achievement in film. The award honors the late Lew Wasserman and his wife Edie, major benefactors of the Tisch School of the Arts. Past winners include Spike Lee, A ...

for her graduate thesis film, ''The Wormhole''. She was a crew member on the film ''

Happiness Happiness, in the context of Mental health, mental or emotional states, is positive or Pleasure, pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy. Other forms include life satisfaction, well-being, subjective well-being, flourishin ...

'', then went on to be an assistant director on the short film ''Billy Twist''. She finished out the 1990s as a crew member on several short films. In 2003, Sharzer met

Paul Gutrecht Paul Gutrecht (born September 5, 1967) is an American psychotherapist who draws on his training, his life experience as a spouse & father, and his prior work in entertainment for use as appropriate in his clinical work. Personal life Gutrecht ...

at a luncheon for the

Los Angeles Film Festival The LA Film Festival was an annual film festival that was held in Los Angeles, California, and usually took place in June. It showcased independent, international, feature, documentary and short films, as well as web series, music videos, episod ...

. They married in 2005. She co-produced, directed, and co-wrote the screenplay for the 2004

independent film An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is produced outside the major film studio system, in addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies (or, i ...

'' Speak'', based on the novel of the same name. The film garnered her a nomination for a

Writers Guild of America Award The Writers Guild of America Awards is an award for film, television, and radio writing including both fiction and non-fiction categories given by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America West since 1949. Eligibility Th ...

in children's television scriptwriting, a nomination for the

Directors Guild of America The Directors Guild of America (DGA) is an entertainment guild that represents the interests of film and television directors in the United States motion picture industry and abroad. Founded as the Screen Directors Guild in 1936, the group merge ...

Award for outstanding directorial achievement in children's programs, and won her the

Woodstock Film Festival The Woodstock Film Festival is an American film festival that was launched in 2000 by filmmakers Meira Blaustein and Laurent Rejto with the goal to bring high quality independent film to the Hudson Valley region. The festival takes place each fa ...

's Audience Award for best narrative feature. In 2007, she directed an episode for the

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

, ''

''. She also wrote the 2010 television movie, ''Turn the Beat Around'', which was produced by

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

and

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

. In 2011, she became an episode writer and supervising producer for the serial horror-

television series ''

'', created by Ryan Murphy and

Brad Falchuk Bradley Douglas Falchuk (born March 1, 1971) is an American television writer, director, and producer, best known for co-creating with Ryan Murphy the comedy-drama television series ''Glee'', the drama series ''Pose'', the horror comedy '' Screa ...

. The series airs on the cable television channel FX. The

Horror Writers Association The Horror Writers Association (HWA) is a worldwide non-profit organization of professional writers and publishing professionals dedicated to promoting the interests of Horror and Dark fantasy writers. Overview HWA was formed in 1985 with t ...

awarded her the 2011 Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a Screenplay for her episode " Afterbirth". In 2016, she wrote the screenplay of the feature film ''

'', based on the novel of the same name, as well as the musical ''

'', a television remake of the 1987 hit film. She adapted Darcey Bell's novel '' A Simple Favor'' into a screenplay for a 2018 film of the same name.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sharzer, Jessica 1972 births Screenwriters from New York (state) Jewish American writers American film producers American women film directors New York Film Academy alumni Film directors from New York City Tisch School of the Arts alumni Living people Writers from Iowa City, Iowa American women screenwriters Film directors from Iowa American women film producers