Yu, Jessica 1966-

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Yu, Jessica 1966-

PERSONAL

Full name, Jessica Lingman Yu; born 1966; married Mark Salzman (a writer and actor); children: Ava. Education: Yale University, B.A., English (summa cum laude).

Addresses:

Manager—Adam Shulman, The Firm, 9465 Wilshire Blvd., Sixth Floor, Beverly Hills, CA 90212.

Career:

Documentary filmmaker, director, writer, producer, and editor. Diorama Films, principal; participant in the John Wells Director Diversity Program; director of commercials; Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston, MA, artist in residence, 2000; lecturer at educational institutions and other venues, including the Sun Valley Writers Conference. Competed as a fencer at various events, including the World Championships and U.S. Olympic Festivals.

Member:

International Documentary Association (member of the board of directors), Directors Guild of America, Writers Guild of America, West, Phi Beta Kappa.

Awards, Honors:

Named a member of the all-decade women's fencing team, National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), 1991; Santa Barbara Film Festival Award, best live-action short film, c. 1993, for Sour Death Balls; Edward R. Murrow Award for journalism, Skeptics Society, 1995; International Documentary Association Award (with others), short documentaries category, 1995, for 89 mm od Europy; Academy Award, best documentary, short subject, 1996, International Documentary Association Award, short documentaries category, 1996, Annual CableACE Award, best directing of a documentary special, National Cable Television Association, 1997, and Best Short Film Award, documentary category, Shorts International Film Festival, 1997, all for Breathing Lessons: The Life and Work of Mark O'Brien; Asian Media Award, Asian American International Film Festival, 1997; nomination for Grand Jury Prize, documentary category, Sundance Film Festival, 1999, and First Prize for Short Drama, New York Festival, all for The Living Museum; Gotham Award nomination, best documentary, Independent Feature Project, Ojai Film Festival Award, best documentary feature, and nomination for Grand Jury Prize, documentary category, Sundance Film Festival, all 2004, nomination for Documentary Screenplay Award, Writers Guild of America, 2005, and Emmy Award nomination (with others), exceptional merit in nonfiction filmmaking, 2006, all for In the Realms of the Unreal; nomination for Grand Jury Prize, documentary category, Sundance Film Festival, 2007, for Protagonist; Emmy Award for directing commercials; Dream Media Award, Western Law Center for Disability Rights; received other awards and recognition from film festivals; MacDowell Colony fellow and Yaddo fellow.

CREDITS

Film Director:

Home Base: A Chinatown Called Heinlenville (short documentary), American Film Foundation/Carousel Films, c. 1991.

The Conductor (short musical), Inscrutable Films, 1994.

Breathing Lessons: The Life and Work of Mark O'Brien (short documentary), Inscrutable Films/Pacific News Service, 1996.

Better Late (short film), 1998.

In the Realms of the Unreal (documentary; also known as In the Realms of the Unreal: The Mystery of Henry Darger), Wellspring Media, 2004.

Ping Pong Playa, Cherry Sky Films, 2007.

Protagonist (documentary), IFC Films, 2007.

Film Producer:

Associate producer, Rose Kennedy: A Life to Remember (short documentary), 1990.

The Conductor (short musical), Inscrutable Films, 1994.

Associate producer, Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision (documentary; also known as Maya Lin's Monument), Ocean Releasing, 1995.

Breathing Lessons: The Life and Work of Mark O'Brien (short documentary), Inscrutable Films/Pacific News Service, 1996.

In the Realms of the Unreal (documentary; also known as In the Realms of the Unreal: The Mystery of Henry Darger), Wellspring Media, 2004.

Protagonist (documentary), IFC Films, 2007.

Film Editor:

Breathing Lessons: The Life and Work of Mark O'Brien (short documentary), Inscrutable Films/Pacific News Service, 1996.

In the Realms of the Unreal (documentary; also known as In the Realms of the Unreal: The Mystery of Henry Darger), Wellspring Media, 2004.

Protagonist (documentary), IFC Films, 2007.

Film Work; Other:

Production assistant, Iron & Silk (also known as Ferro & seta, Im Reich des Drachen, Iron & Silk—O regresso da aguia, and Svaerd och siden), Prestige Films, 1990.

Script advisor, Picture Bride (also known as A mulher prometida, Alesul din fotografie, Bijo photo, Brud per fotografi, Das Geheimnis der Braut, La foto del compromiso, Ocean hozott, Postorderbruden, and Synoikesio), Miramax, 1994.

Worked on other films, including 89 mm od Europy (short documentary; also known as 89mm from Europe), c. 1993.

Television Director; Specials:

Sour Death Balls, PBS, 1993.

Men of Reenaction, Independent Television Service, c. 1994.

The Living Museum, HBO, 1998.

Television Editor; Specials:

Sour Death Balls, PBS, 1993.

The Living Museum, HBO, 1998.

Television Director; Episodic:

"Somebody's Going to Emergency, Somebody's Going to Jail," The West Wing (also known as West Wing and El ala oeste de la Casablanca), NBC, 2001.

"Bygones," ER (also known as Emergency Room), NBC, 2002.

"Angel Maintenance," The West Wing (also known as West Wing and El ala oeste de la Casablanca), NBC, 2003.

"Real-to-Reel," American Dreams (also known as Bandstand, Miss American Pie, and Our Generation), NBC, 2004.

"The Supremes," The West Wing (also known as West Wing and El ala oeste de la Casablanca), NBC, 2004.

"Begin the Begin," Grey's Anatomy (also known as Complications, Procedure, Surgeons, Under the Knife, and Grey's Anatomy—Die jungen Aerzte), ABC, 2006.

"Let the Angels Commit," Grey's Anatomy (also known as Complications, Procedure, Surgeons, Under the Knife, and Grey's Anatomy—Die jungen Aerzte), ABC, 2006.

"Getting an Addict into Treatment: The CRAFT Approach" segment, Addiction (also known as Addiction: The Supplementary Series), HBO, c. 2007.

Also directed other programs, including The Guardian (also known as El guardia, The Guardian—Retter mit Herz, Le protecteur, O allos mou eaftos, Ochita bengoshi Nick Fallin, Ochita bengoshi Nick Fallin 2, and Oikeuden puolesta), CBS. Directed "Sins of the Father," an unaired episode of Mister Sterling, NBC.