REEL WOMEN

REEL WOMEN Celebrates: Jessica Redish, Writer/Director

By Jessica Redish
March 7, 2025

Editor’s Note: Supporting women should not be limited to a month. So, at Reel Chicago, we have decided to amplify and promote dynamic women’s voices all year long. Beginning today on International Women’s Day, let us introduce you to a very talented writer/director who travels between Chicago and Los Angeles: Jessica Redish.

Jessica Redish is an award-winning director, writer & choreographer and a recent graduate of USC’s School of Cinematic Arts’ MFA Film & Television Production Program. She has been referred to as a “rising star” by Medium.com because of her accomplishments with her award-winning short films and music videos.

Her body of work ranges from contributing choreography to The Smashing Pumpkins’ International Tour to her short films The Last Croissant, AIRWAY and Cat. winning Best Director and Best Comedy awards. Jessica also worked as a comedy writer for Emmy & Golden Globe Winner Joey Soloway, as well as Michael Bay & Adam Goodman’s Invisible Narratives.

Her most recent success, Exit, Pursued by a Bear, a short movie musical which she wrote, directed, choreographed, and co-wrote lyrics with composer Michael Mahler received placement in the Oscar-qualifying HollyShorts and Raindance Film Festivals as one of six winners in the 2022 Stage 32 Short Film Contest. The musical film also received distribution worldwide and can be heard on iTunes. She is currently penning a feature film, FREE BRITNEY, with co-writer Shoshana Bush.

Jessica served as the Founding Artistic Director of The Music Theatre Company, an Equity Theatre based in Highland Park, IL for seven years. Recently, The Chicago Tribune named her production of Merrily We Roll Along as one of the ten most memorable Sondheim productions in and around Chicago over the last 25 years, putting her on a shortlist with Hal Prince.

She was the only female director named. Jessica is also the winner of the Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Choreography for her work on Silence! The Musical. She is a graduate of Northwestern University’s theatre and musical theatre programs.

Let’s meet Jessica!

What’s your Chicago story?

Born and raised.

How did you break into your film and theatre?

I broke into theatre by creating a company in Highland Park, IL. I broke into film because I had worked with Billy Corgan at my theatre, creating dances for works he wrote. When I moved to LA, I choreographed the video wall for The Smashing Pumpkins tour, which led me to work more in film, directing, and writing, which is what I do now.

How has Chicago influenced your creative journey?

Chicago is everything to me. It’s in my bones – I frequently say “yes, and,” my collaborative spirit was born here; the notion that when we work together, we have each other’s backs. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. I took a class or two at Second City, but these notions really seeped their way into the Chicago theatre, which shaped my being.

Chicago is known for its grind and resilience. How has that shaped your journey?

I grew up in the Chicago theatre. If you got a flat tire you found a way to get to the show. You show up, on time and ready to work. You don’t “call out” of shows; to work is a privilege. This Chicago ethos shaped my attitude toward the creative process.

I work hard, and when people discover this they say “I didn’t realize you work that hard.” I’ll draft, redraft, and do it again until it feels like it’s ready. A professor at USC told me, in my filmmaking, I exhibited “sprezzatura” – the art of performing a difficult task so gracefully, that it looks effortless. That’s fine, but in reality, I work, I study, I execute, over and over again. And do it again the next time, hopefully better. I take nothing for granted.

What’s a creative risk you took that paid off?

I adapted The 9/11 Report into a musical – The 9/11 Report: a Bipartisan Musical Fantasia with composer/lyricist Michael Mahler, which launched my theatre company. The company put me on the map as an artist in musicals, which ultimately led to me receiving a grant to study music videos.

I’d say the greatest risk thereafter was going to graduate school. I attended USC’s MFA program in Film & Television Production and graduated in May 2024. I ultimately changed careers; while theatre translates to film in terms of storytelling and working with actors, the other aspects of the craft are very different in their function and execution. The program and the skills I acquired had me working in television before I graduated.