Jesse Harris (film director)

Jesse Harris (born December 8, 1985) is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. He is the founder of the National Film Festival for Talented Youth, and Abcde Pictures, a production company based in Los Angeles. Harris is regarded for being the youngest American to direct a theatrically distributed feature film - “Living Life”.
Harris has over a decade of experience as a filmmaker including directing the short film “Wind In The Night” and the upcoming feature film “Borrego”. He has also worked for several prolific brands such as Volvo, Microsoft, Coca-Cola, Disney, ESPN, Virgin America, and Samsung creating television commercials and promotional material.
Harris is considered a pioneer in the entertainment industry and is listed amongst the 25 talents who transformed youth entertainment by Variety. He has also been named a Global Shaper, an initiative of the World Economic Forum, working with other young people around the world to better their communities. 
==Early life and education==
Harris was born on 8 December 1985 in Seattle, Washington. At the young age of eight years old, Harris began making home movies upon discovering his inclination in the field. During his high school education, Harris, instead of attending a film school, decided to start his career right away and began working on his debut feature film at age 17 while still in high school. 
==Career==
Harris’ first project - “Living Life” was written, directed, and produced by himself which he completed in 2003. In 2005, Living Life hit the theatres and earned public recognition. He even got featured in The Seattle Times Review for this project that said Harris showed great promise and had talent to burn.
In 2007, Harris established NFFTY (National Film Festival for Talented Youth). A film festival that aims to support up-and-coming young filmmakers. Under Harris’ leadership, the festival became one of the largest and most prestigious youth film festivals in the world.
A year after that, Harris ventured into the advertising industry and began directing TV commercials. He also participated in the Heinz Ketchup commercial contest apart from directing commercials for leading brands like Volvo, Microsoft, Coca-Cola, Disney, and Samsung to name a few. 
In 2018 Harris began working on a short film titled “Wind In The Night”, which was then selected for the 2019 Prix SNCF du Polar in France and was picked up for distribution in France, Asia, the UK, and the USA. In 2020 Harris directed and produced his second feature film titled “Borrego” and also wrote its screenplay. The movie was made under his production company, Abcde Pictures, and is set to be released in 2022 by Saban Films. Borrego stars several renowned artists including Lucy Hale, Nicholas Gonzalez, Leynar Gomez, Jorge A. Jiménez, and Olivia Trujillo.
==Filmography==
S.No.	Title 	Year	Type 	Role
1 	Living Life 	2005	Feature Film	Director, Writer, Producer
2 	Wind in the Night	2018	Short Film 	Director, Writer
3 	Borrego 	2022	Feature Film	Director, Writer, Producer
==References==
==External links==
* Official Website
* Personal Website
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Category:1985 births
Category:American film directors
Category:American screenwriters
Category:American producers
Category:People from Seattle, Washington