Jodi Wille is an American film director, curator, and book publisher known for her work exploring American subcultures.

Filmmaking and Photography

Wille directed and produced ''

The Source Family ''The Source Family'' is a 2012 feature documentary film directed by Jodi Wille and Maria Demopoulos which recounts the story of Father Yod, Ya Ho Wa 13 and the Source Family. Much material was gleaned from Isis Aquarian's archives of photos, diar ...

'' (2013), her first feature-length documentary, with Maria Demopoulos. The film, which unearths the story of the eponymous Los Angeles utopian commune and its charismatic leader,

Father Yod Father Yod (pronounced ''Yōde''), or YaHoWha, born James Edward Baker (July 4, 1922 – August 25, 1975), was the American owner of one of the country's first health food restaurants, on the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles. He founded a spiritu ...

, premiered in competition at

South by Southwest South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in m ...

Film Festival in March 2012, sold out multiple major film festivals, and was released theatrically in 60 cities in May 2013. Wille is currently directing a feature documentary on The

Unarius Academy of Science Unarius is a non-profit organization founded in 1954 in Los Angeles, California, and headquartered in El Cajon, California.Tumminia, Diana (2005) p5 The organization purports to advance a new "interdimensional science of life" based upon "fourt ...

. In 1994,

R.E.M. R.E.M. was an American rock band from Athens, Georgia, formed in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe, who were students at the University of Georgia. One of the first alternative ...

gave Wille her first paid directing gig for their "

Find the River "Find the River" is a song by American rock band R.E.M., released on November 29, 1993 as the sixth and final single from their eighth album, ''Automatic for the People'' (1992). Background Regarding the song's backing vocals, Mike Mills expla ...

" music video. Signed to DNA (David Naylor & Associates), she directed a number of music videos in the mid-90s. Wille worked prior to that as assistant to music video and commercial director

Samuel Bayer Samuel David Bayer (born February 17, 1962) is an American Visual arts, visual artist, cinematographer, and commercial, music video and film director. Bayer was born in Syracuse, New York. He graduated from New York City's School of Visual Arts ...

and later as assistant and development consultant to feature film director

Roland Joffé Roland Joffé (born 17 November 1945) is a British director and producer of film and television, known for the Academy Award-winning films ''The Killing Fields'' and '' The Mission''. He began his career in television, his early credits includ ...

. Throughout the 90s, Wille also worked as a commercial and documentary photographer, shooting billboard campaigns, rock bands and personalities including

Sparks (band) Sparks is an American pop and rock duo formed by brothers Ron (keyboards) and Russell Mael (vocals) in Los Angeles. The duo is noted for their quirky approach to songwriting; their music is often accompanied by sophisticated and acerbic lyrics� ...

Melissa Etheridge Melissa Lou Etheridge (born May 29, 1961) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and guitarist. Her eponymous debut album was released in 1988 and became an underground success. It peaked at No. 22 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and its lead ...

, and

Vincent Gallo Vincent Gallo (born 1961) is an American actor and director. He has had supporting roles in films such as ''Arizona Dream'' (1993), ''The House of the Spirits'' (1993), ''Palookaville'' (1995), and '' The Funeral'' (1996). His lead roles include ...

, while also documenting visionary artists and alternative spiritual communities.

Book Publishing

In 1998, Wille co-founded

Dilettante Press Dilettante Press is a now defunct independent book publisher, co-founded by Jodi Wille, Nick Rubenstein, and Steven Nalepa in 1998, joined soon after by partner Hedi El Kholti. Dilettante was a publishing house dedicated to "challeng ngtradition ...

with Steve Nalepa, Nick Rubenstein, and

Hedi El Kholti Hedi El Kholti (born February 24, 1967, in Rabat, Morocco) is a writer and editor based in Los Angeles. He is co-editor of Semiotext(e) alongside Chris Kraus and Sylvère Lotringer. He was partner at the now defunct Dilettante Press and currently e ...

, a publishing house with a focus on self-taught, visionary, and vernacular art and photography. Dilettante published only three titles, but "their impact was considerable." Dilettante produced exhibitions, symposiums, and parties related to their books in galleries and museums in multiple cities in the U.S. and in Europe. In 2005, Wille founded

Process Media Process Media is an independent publishing house started in 2005 in Los Angeles by Adam Parfrey of Feral House and Jodi Wille of Dilettante Press, and headquartered in Port Townsend. Awards Independent Publisher Book Awards * 2006 Best Hist ...

with her then-partner (later, husband)

Adam Parfrey Adam Parfrey (April 12, 1957 – May 10, 2018) was an American journalist, editor, and the publisher of Feral House books, whose work in all three capacities frequently centered on unusual, extreme, or "forbidden" areas of knowledge. A 2010 ''Se ...

Feral House Feral House is an American book publisher founded in 1989 by Adam Parfrey and based in Port Townsend, Washington. Early history The company's first book was '' The Satanic Witch'' (1989; originally published in 1971 by Dodd, Mead & Company) by A ...

. The imprint focuses on non-fiction, literary memoirs, and illustrated books exploring subcultures and groundbreaking artists such as

Andy Kaufman Andrew Geoffrey Kaufman ( ; January 17, 1949 – May 16, 1984) was an American entertainer and performance artist. While often called a "comedian", Kaufman preferred to describe himself instead as a "song and dance man". He has sometimes b ...

Roky Erickson Roger Kynard "Roky" Erickson (July 15, 1947 – May 31, 2019) was an American musician and singer-songwriter. He was a founding member and the leader of the 13th Floor Elevators and a pioneer of the psychedelic rock genre. Biography Erickso ...

and the

13th Floor Elevators The 13th Floor Elevators was an American rock band from Austin, Texas, United States, formed by guitarist and vocalist Roky Erickson, electric jug player Tommy Hall, and guitarist Stacy Sutherland. The band was together from 1965 to 1969, a ...

, John Sinclair and

MC5 MC5, also commonly called The MC5, is an American rock band formed in Lincoln Park, Michigan, in 1963. The original line-up consisted of Rob Tyner (vocals) Wayne Kramer (guitar), Fred "Sonic" Smith (guitar), Michael Davis (bass), and Dennis ...

and

Ya Ho Wha 13 Founded in 1973 in the Los Angeles area, Ya Ho Wha 13, otherwise known as Ya Ho Wa 13 or Yahowha 13, is a psychedelic rock band fronted by Father Yod (pronounced ''Yōde''), spiritual leader of a religious cult/commune called the Source Family. Ya ...

, and

Moondog Louis Thomas Hardin (May 26, 1916 – September 8, 1999), known professionally as Moondog, was an American composer, musician, performer, music theoretician, poet and inventor of musical instruments. Largely self-taught as a composer, his ...

. Process has also created a "Self-Reliance Series" of illustrated guide books that promote sustainable and self-sufficient living.

Curating

In 2000, Wille,

, and

Cheryl Dunn Cheryl Dunn is an American documentary filmmaker and photographer. She has made two feature films, ''Everybody Street'' (2013) and ''Moments Like This Never Last'' (2020). She has had three books of photographs published: ''Bicycle Gangs of New Y ...

co-curated the first exhibition of the work of amateur photographer Gary Lee Boas, "Starstruck: Photographs from Fan", at

Deitch Projects Jeffrey Deitch (pronounced ''DIE-tch'';Mike Boehm (January 12, 2010)L.A.'s MOCA picks art dealer Jeffrey Deitch as director''Los Angeles Times''. born 1952) is an American art dealer and curator. He is best known for his gallery Deitch Projects ( ...

. This led to exhibitions at galleries and museums in the U.S. and throughout Europe including

Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA) is a multi-disciplinary contemporary arts center in San Francisco, California, United States. Located in Yerba Buena Gardens, YBCA features visual art, performance, and film/video that celebrates local, natio ...

in San Francisco,

The Photographers' Gallery The Photographers' Gallery was founded in London by Sue Davies opening on 14 January 1971, as the first public gallery in the United Kingdom devoted solely to photography. It is also home to the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize, established in ...

in London, and

Galerie Kamel Mennour Galerie Kamel Mennour is a contemporary art gallery in Paris, France, owned and directed by Kamel Mennour. History The first space, 50sqm, was inaugurated on Rue Mazarine in 1999. Dedicated to contemporary photography, the gallery showed works o ...

in Paris. In 2013, Wille was named as co-curator with

Rebecca Alban Hoffberger Rebecca Alban Hoffberger (born September 25, 1952, Baltimore, Maryland) is the Founder, Primary Curator, and Director Emeritus of the American Visionary Art Museum, America's official national museum for visionary art, located in Baltimore, Mary ...

of the

American Visionary Art Museum The American Visionary Art Museum (AVAM) is an art museum located in Baltimore, Maryland's Federal Hill neighborhood at 800 Key Highway Maryland Route 2 (MD 2) is the longest state highway in the U.S. state of Maryland. The route runs fro ...

exhibition ''The Visionary Experience: St. Francis to Finster,'' a 44-artist, 244-works exhibition which ran 2014-2015. Since 2014, Wille has curated several exhibitions of photographs, art, costumes, and ephemera produced by the extraterrestrial-channeling spiritual school

, including a 2016 exhibition at the London arts venue The

Horse Hospital The Horse Hospital is a listed building, Grade II listed Nonprofit organization, not for profit, independent arts venue at Colonnade, Bloomsbury, central London. It has a curatorial focus on counter-cultural histories, sub-cultures and outsider ...

, works in ''The Visionary Experience'' exhibition at

, a 2016 exhibition at The Standard Hotel Hollywood, and at the 2017 ''Basilisk'' exhibition at Nicodim Gallery in Los Angeles.

Film Programming and Cultural Events

Over the years, Wille has programmed films and curated cultural events in several cities. From 2007-2017, Wille served as a regular guest programmer at The

Cinefamily The Cinefamily was a non-profit cinematheque located in West Hollywood, California, at the historic Silent Movie Theatre. The Cinefamily's mission statement was to "reinvigorate the movie-going experience by fostering a spirit of community and a ...

cinematheque in Los Angeles, hosting the popular "Occult LA" series and other programs including an eclectic range of guests from

Kris Kristofferson Kristoffer Kristofferson (born June 22, 1936) is a retired American singer, songwriter and actor. Among his songwriting credits are "Me and Bobby McGee", " For the Good Times", "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", and "Help Me Make It Through the Nig ...

Tony Clifton Tony Clifton is a character created by comedian and performance artist Andy Kaufman in the late 1970s. An absurdly foul-mouthed and domineering lounge singer claiming to hail from Las Vegas, the tuxedo-clad Clifton often led unsuspecting audie ...

, Rocky Erickson, and

Tom Laughlin Thomas Robert Laughlin Jr. (August 10, 1931 – December 12, 2013) was an American actor, director, screenwriter, author, educator, and activist. Laughlin was best known for his series of ''Billy Jack'' films. He was married to actress De ...

to white witches, Hare Krishnas, and Bigfoot researchers, as well as live music, ritual performance, panels, and art exhibitions. In 2015, Wille presented a retrospective of the films of the

at Cinefamily, which included a Unariun art and artifact exhibition and Unariun workshops. This led to invitations to present Unarius films at the 2015

San Francisco International Film Festival The San Francisco International Film Festival (abbreviated as SFIFF), organized by the San Francisco Film Society, is held each spring for two weeks, presenting around 200 films from over 50 countries. The festival highlights current trends in in ...

and the

arts center in London.

Selected works

Documentary Film

(2012, 98 mins.), directed with Maria Demopoulos
We Are Not Alone
(2016, 11 mins.)

Music videos (Selected Works)

- "

" (1994) *The Meices - "Daddy's Gone to California" (4/14/94) *

Wool Wool is the textile fibre obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have properties similar to animal wool. As ...

- "Kill the Crow" (5/10/94) also producer *

Local H Local H is an American rock band originally formed by guitarist and vocalist Scott Lucas, bassist Matt Garcia, drummer Joe Daniels, and lead guitarist John Sparkman in Zion, Illinois in 1990. The members all met in high school in 1987 and founde ...

- "Cynic" (2/3/95) also editor * Jennifer Trynin - "Happier" (1995)
Hot Damn
"My Panties Are Too Tight" (7/30/96)DP: Chris Meyer, editor: Chad Misner.

Publishing and Editing (Selected Works)

*''Starstruck: Photographs from a Fan'' by Gary Lee Boas. Foreword by

Michael Musto Michael Musto (born December 3, 1955) is an American journalist who has long been a prevalent presence in entertainment-related publications, as well as on websites and television shows. Musto is best known as a columnist for ''The Village Voice ...

. Afterword by

Carlo McCormick Carlo McCormick is an American culture critic and curator living in New York City. He is the author of numerous books, monographs and catalogues on contemporary art and artists. Pedagogic and art writing activities McCormick was Senior Edito ...

. Edited by Jodi Wille, Photo Editor: Hedi El Kholti (

, 2000). *''Gary Lee Boas: New York Sex 1979–1985.'' Essay by Bruce Hainley, edited by Hedi El Kholti and Jodi Wille (text editor). (Editions Kamel Mennour, 2003). *''Go Ask Ogre: Letters from a Deathrock Cutter'' by Jolene Siana, edited by Jodi Wille (

, 2005). *''Sex Machines: Photographs and Interviews'' by Timothy Archibald, edited by Jodi Wille (Process Media, 2005). *''The Source: The Untold Story of Father Yod, Ya Ho Wa 13, and The Source Family'' by Isis Aquarian and Electricity Aquarian. Introduction by

Erik Davis Erik Davis (born June 12, 1967) is an American writer, scholar, journalist and public speaker whose writings have ranged from rock criticism to cultural analysis to creative explorations of esoteric mysticism. He is perhaps best known for his b ...

. Edited by Jodi Wille (Process Media, 2007). *''Pure Country: The Leon Kagarise Archives 1961–1971'' by Leon Kagarise. Essays by Eddie Dean and Robert Gordon, edited by Jodi Wille (Process Media, 2008). *''Master of the Mysteries: The Life of Manly Palmer Hall'' by Louis Sahagun, edited by Jodi Wille (Process Media, 2008). *''Dear Andy Kaufman, I Hate Your Guts!'' by Lynne Margullies, edited by Jodi Wille and Lissi Erwin (Process Media, 2009).

Awards

*''Dear Andy Kaufman, I Hate Your Guts!'' (Process Media) Gold Medal, Best Popular Culture Book, 2010 Independent Book Awards *''The Source: The Untold Story of Father Yod, Ya Ho Wa 13, and the Source Family'', (Process Media) Bronze: Best Popular Culture Book, 2008 Independent Book Awards *''Sex Machines: Photographs and Interviews'', (Process Media) Winner: Best Book on Sexuality/Relationships, 2006 Independent Publisher Awards *''Starstruck: Photographs from a Fan'' (Dilettante Press) included in

Artforum ''Artforum'' is an international monthly magazine specializing in contemporary art. The magazine is distinguished from other magazines by its unique 10½ x 10½ inch square format, with each cover often devoted to the work of an artist. Notabl ...

's "Best of 2000" issue (Boas image on cover). *''Go Ask Ogre: Letters from a Deathrock Cutter'', (Process Media) Finalist: Best Juvenile/Teen Young Adult Non-fiction, 2006 Independent Publisher Awards *''The End is Near: Visions of Apocalypse, Millennium and Utopia'', (Dilettante Press) Winner: Benjamin Franklin Award for Best First Book, 1998

References

External links

jodiwille.comTHE SOURCE FAMILY documentary websiteFilmmaker Magazine interview with Jodi Wille and Maria DemopoulosLA Times: THE SOURCE FAMILY Comes Home to Hollywood, On Its Own Terms"Bring Your Own Doc" video interview with Ondi Timoner, Jodi Wille, and Maria DemopoulosProcess Media
{{DEFAULTSORT:Willie, Jodi Year of birth missing (living people) American book editors American photographers Living people Writers from Port Townsend, Washington American women photographers 21st-century American women American women curators American curators