Jessica Plumb

• Filmmaker and Video Artist
• Current Projects
• Demo Reel
• More Films
• My Story
• Resume
• Reviews
• Contact

• Filmmaker and Video Artist

  Filmmaker and Video Artist

  • Jessica Plumb brings vision and dynamic leadership to video production projects, ranging from documentary and promotional films to video art.  She has directed and co-produced numerous educational and promotional videos for clients in the arts and environmental non-profits. As a filmmaker, Jessica has worked on short documentary and narrative films screened at festivals, in the role of editor and behind the camera.

    Jessica holds a B.A. from Yale University and an interdisciplinary MFA from Goddard College. She has pursued continuing education in documentary film, digital storytelling and photography at the New School University of New York, Anderson Ranch, 911 Media in Seattle and the Maine Photographic workshops. 

    Jessica has extensive experience as an instructor, creating innovative programs in settings from Boston to Beijing. She developed weeklong workshops in digital media, visual art, dance, theater and creative writing as Director of Education Programs at Centrum, a statewide arts organization, and created a multi-disciplinary arts program for the American School of Guadalajara. She is a published writer and photographer, and a versatile digital story teller. 

    
    

    
    

    "Jessica creates hauntingly beautiful videos…" Nichole DeMent, Gallery Director, Artswest

• Current Projects

  Current Projects
  • Return of the River

    A documentary film in production

    
    

    In September 2011, the largest dam removal project in the history of the United States began. Bulldozers started to dismantle two hydro-electric dams on the Elwha River, on Washington's Olympic Peninsula.

     

    Return of the River is a film about one of the most ambitious restoration projects in America. It is the story of a river unleashed after a century of impoundment, and the extraordinary community effort to set it free. In a world of grim news about the environment, Elwha River restoration is an accomplishment to celebrate.

     

    It is also a story of struggle. The film captures the tenacity of people and salmon that would not give up on a river. The Elwha was the ancestral home of the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, who witnessed firsthand the impact of dams on migrating fish. The tribe led the campaign to take the dams down; a century later, with help from numerous environmental groups and Olympic National Park, they are watching their dream come true.

     

    This documentary film takes viewers soaring over mountain headwaters of the Elwha, under the river into schools of salmon, and inside the power plant on its final day of operation as turbines ground to a halt. It introduces people and perspectives from all sides of the Elwha project.

     

    As jackhammers and explosives take the dams down in a cloud of dust, the recovery of an ecosystem is just starting to unfold. The Elwha River is unique, but it encapsulates the recent history of the Pacific Northwest: a century of resource extraction and shifting values around water and land.Return of the River is a film about the power of water, and the power of people who love a place.

    
    

    www.elwhafilm.com

    
    

    Upcoming screenings: 

    
    

    Climate Change: An Intimate Portrait

    screening in San Francisco, 2/3/2012

    @ Artists Television Access
• Posts

  Posts

  Feed
  • Demo Reel

    Jan 10, 12

    Demo reel for filmmaker Jessica Plumb

    Cast: Jessica Plumb

    Tags: video poetry, video art, director, dance, women, nature, outdoor adventure, story, inspiration, Jessica Plumb and Plumb Productions

• Videos

  Videos

  Profile
• My Story

  My Story

  • I believe in the power of story, and in the human instinct to communicate experience. My favorite tools? Words, rhythm, movement, and light.
    
    My story is an unlikely one. I make award winning films and video installations on the Olympic Peninsula, a beautiful, rural corner of the continent. 

    I came to filmmaking from twin loves of writing and photography, after a career that took me to cities throughout East Asia. The intersection of place and human experience is a theme that runs through my work and my life.
    
    I grew up on the coast of Maine, without a television. To this day, when people ask me directions on the coast, I visualize the route by water: the rocks and reefs hidden by high tide, rather than highways. Many of my films explore the idea of inner cartography, the ridges and valleys carved inside us by experience, and by the places we've called home.

    
    I am passionate about the relationship between human beings and the planet. I am curious about the many roles women play. I am drawn to the narrative of journeys. I am an artist, a writer, an adventurous hiker, a keen observer, and a passionate filmmaker. What's your story? 

• Resume

  Resume

  • Education:

    Goddard College, MFA in inter-disciplinary art, 2010.

    Yale University, B.A. in East Asian Studies, 1993.

    
    

    Continuing Education:

    911 Media, Seattle, Video Production & Film School workshops. 

    New School University of New York, documentary film intensive. 

    Harvard Extension School, Nonfiction Writing.

    
    

    Video Exhibitions and Installations:

    • Last Chance Travel, group exhibit, artists respond to climate change, Seattle WA 2011. 

    • Into the Woods, juried group exhibition, Northwind Art Center, Port Townsend, WA 2011. 

    • Tenuous Truths, AMP featured artist, Arts West, Seattle 2010. 

    • Shape of Water, group exhibition, Northwest Maritime Center, Port Townsend. WA 2010. 

    • Inner Cartography, solo installation at Goddard College, Port Townsend. WA 2010.

    • Envision Cascadia, group show, Port Angeles Fine Arts Center, Port Angeles, WA, 2009. 

    • Light & Shadows, group exhibition, Portland Yoga Shala, Portland, Oregon 2009.

    
    

    Selected Film Credits and Awards:

    Documentary & Narrative Films

    • Return of the River, feature documentary (in post-production) Producer and lead Editor, 2011. www.elwhafilm.com

    • Lucky Dog, short narrative, Editor, 2010. Selected for Port Townsend Film Festival. 

    • Women Without Men, feature length documentation of theater & dance production (based on the novel by Shahrnush Parsipur) Producer / Director of Photography, Editor, 2009. 

    •Talking Heads, short documentary, Second Camera, 2009. Selected for Port Townsend Film Festival. 

    • Katrina Stories, a series of profiles from Bay St. Louis and Waveland, MI, filmed after Hurricane Katrina, Co-producer / Editor, 2006.

    Experimental Short Films

    • Herogeny, Director, Camera, Editor, 2010. 

    • Sweet Grief, Director, Camera, Editor, 2008.

     • New Day, Director, Camera, Editor, 2006.

    Awards:

    Herogeny, First prize, 'Big Joy' video poetry contest, 2010. 

    
    

    Related Work Experience:

    • Director, Plumb Productions, produces promotional and educational videos. Clients include Goddard College, Ling-Hui Dance, Port Townsend Marine Science Center, UGN, PT Artscape, numerous non-profits and individual artists. (2005 – present)

    • Director of Education Programs, Centrum, produced workshops in multi-media, visual and performing arts for youth and educators at a statewide center for the arts. (2000-2004)

    • Editor, Yale-China Review, a magazine devoted to East Asian affairs, published by the Yale-China Association. (1999-2000)

• Reviews

  Reviews
  • "Jessica creates hauntingly beautiful videos…" 

    
    

    - Nichole DeMent, Gallery Director, Artswest

    
    

    "Jessica Plumb is someone who has the capacity to develop a vision, and make it so." 

    
    - DJ Hamilton, playwright, director and teacher

    
    

    I wrote and directed a short film called Lucky Dog. Jessica and I developed an immediate rapport and I looked forward to each editing session. She creatively and gently shaped my / our film into a wonderful little story.  

    
    

    - David Cascadden

    
    

    Jessica Plumb is resourceful, highly organized, and very professional. I highly recommend Jessica for her intelligence, organizational ability, dynamism, and good humor-self assurance. She is a rarity: a genuine leader, not a self-promoter. 
    

    
    

    - Molly Paul, former project manager, Boston Natural Areas Fund