Jessica Bendinger
Jessica Bendinger (born November 10, 1966) is an American screenwriter and novelist. Education. Bendinger graduated from Columbia University in 1988. She is a classmate of screenwriter Andrew W. Marlowe. Career. She 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 also 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". Bendinger's first novel, "The Seven Rays" was published in 2009 by Simon & Schuster. 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 Jessica 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 "Bring It On" musical to proceed if Jessica is properly credited and compensated. In 2011, Bendinger co-wrote the song "Hurts To Think" on Miranda Lambert's 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 on 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. Awards and acknowledgments. She was named by Glamour Magazine as one of Hollywood's “Most Powerful Women Under 40” in 2005. Bendinger was inducted into the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences** (AMPAS) in July 2014.