Jessica L. Folk is an Associate Professor at Western Kentucky University. Originally from New York, she holds an M.F.A. in Screenwriting from Chapman University. She was the screenwriter for the short film "Five" (dir. Kali Baker-Johnson), which was featured in the African American Short Films Series from Badami Productions in 2016. She primarily writes stories about queer women, identity, loss, and untold stories from history. Her screenplays have received various honors and awards at both national and international screenplay festivals and conferences, including the LGBTQ+ Los Angeles Film Festival, the Austin Film Festival, the California Women’s Film Festival, multiple ScreenCraft competitions, the Richmond International Film Festival, the Nashville Film Festival, the University Film & Video Association juried screenplay competition, and others.