Jessica Bendinger (born November 10, 1966) is an American screenwriter and novelist.

Education

Bendinger graduated from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in 1988. She is a classmate of screenwriter Andrew W. Marlowe. While at Columbia, Bendinger interned for the music magazine '' SPIN''. After graduation, she worked for MTV News.

Career

In 1991, Bendinger directed a music video for

Queen Latifah Dana Elaine Owens (born March 18, 1970), known professionally as Queen Latifah, is an American rapper, actress, and singer. Born in Newark, New Jersey, she signed with Tommy Boy Records in 1989 and released her debut album '' All Hail the Qu ...

and her song "Fly Girl." The video was nominated for a

Billboard Music Award The ''Billboard'' Music Awards are honors given out annually by ''Billboard'', a publication covering the music business and a music popularity chart. The ''Billboard'' Music Awards show has been held annually since 1990, with the exception of t ...

. Bendinger has written several films, including 2000's ''

Bring It On Bring It On may refer to: Books * ''Bring It On'' (book), by Pat Robertson * ''Bring It On!'' (manhwa), a romance manhwa by Baek Hye-Kyung Film and stage * ''Bring It On'' (film series), an American series of teen comedy cheerleading films capit ...

'', 2004's '' First Daughter'' and 2006's '' Aquamarine''. She was also a writer and creative consultant for ''

Sex and the City ''Sex and the City'' is an American romantic comedy-drama television series created by Darren Star for HBO. An adaptation of Candace Bushnell's newspaper column and 1996 book anthology of the same name, the series premiered in the United Stat ...

'', as well as a producer of the 2005 film ''

The Wedding Date ''The Wedding Date'' is a 2005 American romantic comedy film directed by Clare Kilner and starring Debra Messing, Dermot Mulroney, and Amy Adams. Based on the 2002 novel ''Asking for Trouble'' by Elizabeth Young, the film is about a single wo ...

'', starring

Debra Messing Debra Lynn Messing (born August 15, 1968) is an American actress. After graduating from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, Messing received short-lived roles on television series such as '' Ned and Stacey'' on Fox (1995–1997) and ...

. She wrote and directed ''

Stick It Stick or the stick may refer to: Thin elongated objects * Twig * The weapon used in stick fighting * Walking stick, a device to facilitate balancing while walking * Shepherd's crook * Swagger stick * Digging stick * Swizzle stick, used to stir ...

'', released in April 2006 as her directorial debut. Bendinger is a former

model A model is an informative representation of an object, person or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin ''modulus'', a measure. Models c ...

who worked for designer

Stephen Sprouse Stephen Sprouse (September 12, 1953 – March 4, 2004) was an American fashion designer and artist credited with pioneering the 1980s mix of "uptown sophistication in clothing with a downtown punk and pop sensibility". Career Stephen Sprouse's in ...

and appeared on the runway in the film ''Slaves of New York''. Bendinger's first novel, ''The Seven Rays'', was published in 2009 by

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest pu ...

. The story follows 17-year-old, Beth Michaels, who uncovers elements of the supernatural on her journey of self-discovery. In 2011, the

Writers Guild of America The Writers Guild of America is the joint efforts of two different US labor unions representing TV and film writers: * The Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE), headquartered in New York City and affiliated with the AFL–CIO * The Writers Gu ...

filed an injunction against the creators of '' Bring It On: The Musical'', arguing that Jessica had rights in the licensing of the theater production. "In a complaint..., the Writers Guild of America accused the producers of the movie of exploiting the screenwriter’s rights by producing a new musical based on the story." They said they would allow the ''Bring It On'' musical to proceed if Jessica is properly credited and compensated. In 2011, Bendinger co-wrote the song "Hurts to Think" on

Miranda Lambert Miranda Leigh Lambert (born November 10, 1983) is an American country singer and guitarist. Born in Longview, Texas, she started out in early 2001 when she released her self-titled debut album independently. In 2003, she finished in third place o ...

's album ''

Four the Record ''Four the Record'' is the fourth studio album by American country music singer and songwriter Miranda Lambert. It was released on November 1, 2011, by RCA Records Nashville. This was her first studio album to be released from that label after a ...

'', and "Mostly Grey", co-written with

Emerson Hart Emerson Hart (born July 21, 1969) is a songwriter, vocalist, guitarist and producer. He is the lead singer and songwriter of the alternative rock band Tonic. Biography Emerson Hart was born in Washington, Pennsylvania. He grew up in Atlantic ...

, which appears on his 2014 album ''Beauty in Disrepair''. In 2019 Bendinger, alongside her friend Michael Seligman, a writer on ''

RuPaul's Drag Race ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' is an American reality competition television series, the first in the ''Drag Race'' franchise, produced by World of Wonder for Logo TV (season 1–8), WOW Presents Plus, VH1 (season 9–14) and, beginning with the f ...

'', hosted the podcast ''Mob Queens'' uncovering the forgotten history of Anna Genovese, wife of mobster

Vito Genovese Vito Genovese (; November 21, 1897 – February 14, 1969) was an Italian-born American mobster who mainly operated in the United States. Genovese rose to power during Prohibition as an enforcer in the American Mafia. A long-time associate and chi ...

, who testified against him in court and ran drag clubs in

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...

Awards and acknowledgments

She was named by

Glamour Magazine ''Glamour'' is today an online women's magazine published by Condé Nast Publications. For many years a traditional hard-copy magazine, it was founded in 1939 and first published in April 1939 in the United States. It was originally called '' ...

as one of Hollywood's “Most Powerful Women Under 40” in 2005. Bendinger was inducted into the

Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motion ...

(AMPAS) in July 2014.

Filmography

References

External links

Official websiteJessica Bendinger's blogThe Seven Rays
Promotional website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bendinger, Jessica American women screenwriters American women film directors 1966 births Living people American film directors 21st-century American novelists American women novelists 21st-century American women writers Place of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American screenwriters Columbia College (New York) alumni Screenwriters from Illinois