Jessica Renslow is an Indiana based filmmaker. With twenty years of production experience, she has 700+ credits, as she cut her teeth in episodic TV. A 2003 graduate of Ball State University, she received a BA in Japanese language/culture and Telecommunications. She was a 2002 David Letterman Award Winner for her feature-length screenplay, “Stained Glass Graffiti” and helped produce/direct segments for the Emmy Award-winning entertainment news program “Connections Live!” (WIPB-TV). After graduating, she worked as a teacher and translator for the Japanese Ministry of Education in rural Hokkaido for three years appearing on a variety of NHK shows and radio programs for her community development work. She spent a decade working in Los Angeles for major studios and producing passion projects. 2007 marked her directorial debut with her feature film premiering at the LA Women in Film Festival. She received her master’s in education from California State University in 2012 with a focus on instructional design, new media production and leadership. She translated and adapted the 2013 Sundance International Filmmaker Award-winning script “Spectacled Tiger.” In 2015 she returned to the Hoosier State and has spent the past eight years helping educational institutions, nonprofits and governmental entities adopt new technology. From 2015-2020 she had several short documentaries premiere in film festivals across the US and freelance articles accepted by a variety of publications. From 2018-2020 she co-hosted Issues and Answers Wednesdays on WLTH covering a range of local/national/international stories. In 2020 she received an Individual Advancement Program grant from the Indiana Arts Commission for her writing. 2022 marked her return to scripted filmmaking with the award-winning premiere of “Method: A Voice Actor Prepares.” She is one of three Hoosier filmmakers awarded a 2023-2024 Unearthed Film Project Grant from Indiana Humanities. Her work has aired on networks such as The Disney Channel, Cartoon Network, and PBS. Some of her works are available on the following streaming services: Netflix, Amazon and Hulu. Ms. Renslow is an advocate for independence within the disability community. She feels that bridging the digital divide is a mode for positive change and equity.
Education
College
Ball State University
BA in Japanese Language and Culture/ Telecommunications Production
2000 – 2003
College
California State University (LA)
M.Ed in Computer Education, New Media Design/Technology and Leadership
2011 – 2012
Personal Details
Current City
Gary, Indiana
Hometown
Gary, Indiana
Quotes
"The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”-Teddy Roosevelt