Jessica Bendinger

Jessica Bendinger
Born (1966-11-10) November 10, 1966 (age 58)
EducationColumbia University (BA)
Occupation(s)Screenwriter, novelist

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

Education

Bendinger graduated from Columbia University in 1988.[1] She is a classmate of screenwriter Andrew W. Marlowe.[2] While at Columbia, Bendinger interned for the music magazine SPIN.[3] After graduation, she worked for MTV News.[4]

Career

In 1991, Bendinger directed a music video for Queen Latifah's song "Fly Girl."[4] The video was nominated for a Billboard Music Award.[4]

Bendinger has written several films, including 2000's Bring It On, 2004's First Daughter and 2006's Aquamarine. She was also a writer and creative consultant for Sex and the City, as well as a producer of the 2005 film The Wedding Date, starring Debra Messing. She wrote and directed Stick It, released in April 2006 as her directorial debut.

Bendinger is a former model who worked for designer Stephen Sprouse, and appeared on the runway in the film Slaves of New York.[5]

Bendinger's first novel, The Seven Rays, was published in 2009 by Simon & Schuster.[6] 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 filed an injunction against the creators of Bring It On: The Musical, arguing that Bendinger 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 musical to proceed if Bendinger were properly credited and compensated.[7]

In 2011, Bendinger co-wrote "Hurts to Think", a track on Miranda Lambert's album Four the Record; and "Mostly Grey", co-written with Emerson Hart, which appears on his 2014 album Beauty in Disrepair.

In 2019 Bendinger, alongside her friend Michael Seligman, a writer for RuPaul's Drag Race, hosted the podcast Mob Queens, uncovering the forgotten history of Anna Genovese, wife of mobster Vito Genovese, who testified against him in court and ran drag clubs in Greenwich Village.[8]

Awards and acknowledgments

She was named by Glamour Magazine as one of Hollywood's "Most Powerful Women Under 40" in 2005.[9]

Bendinger was inducted into the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in July 2014.[10]

Filmography

Year Title Writer Director Producer
2000 Bring It On Yes — —
2001 Sex and the City Yes — —
2002 The Truth About Charlie Yes — —
2004 First Daughter Yes — —
2005 The Wedding Date — — Yes
2006 Aquamarine Yes — —
2006 Stick It Yes Yes —

References

  1. ^ "Entertainment Center". Columbia College Today. February 2007. Retrieved August 10, 2020.
  2. ^ "Columbia College Today". Internet Archive. December 2000. p. 126. Retrieved 2020-08-11.
  3. ^ Myers, Scott (November 24, 2020). "Go Into The Story interview: Jessica Bendinger". The Black List blog. Retrieved July 2, 2022.
  4. ^ a b c Dretzka, Gary (September 1, 2000). "WHAT'S ALL THE CHEERING ABOUT? JUST ASK JESSICA". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on July 2, 2022. Retrieved July 1, 2022.
  5. ^ Holleran, Scott (April 30, 2006). "Close-Up: 'Stick It's Jessica Bendinger". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on May 4, 2006. Retrieved November 10, 2009.
  6. ^ Bendinger, Jessica (2009). The Seven Rays. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-1-4169-3839-2.
  7. ^ "'Bring It On: The Musical' is in a spirited legal tussle". Los Angeles Times. September 16, 2011. Retrieved July 2, 2022.
  8. ^ "Why a mafia wife's story unearthed in 'Mob Queens' podcast is part of queer history too". Los Angeles Times. 2019-09-16. Retrieved 2019-10-15.
  9. ^ "Screenwriter Jessica Bendinger on Bad First Drafts, Writing For An Audience, and Using Sound As A Writing Tool". Writing Routines. December 21, 2017. Retrieved July 2, 2022.
  10. ^ "Jessica Bendinger". The Writers Lab. Retrieved July 2, 2022.