We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jessica Siletzky a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Jessica, appreciate you joining us today. Before we talk about all of your success, let’s start with a story of failure. Can you open up about a time when you’ve failed?

I want to address this question from a slightly different angle. People experience failures in lots of different ways. Not all failure is professional, but it always causes pain and doubt. The failure that sent me on a path towards the film and television industry was a romantic relationship. I got involved with someone who was a writer and a filmmaker. He taught me how to use his cameras, and we made a movie together. A part of me came to life through that experience. When the relationship ended, I missed the cameras and I missed the thrill of storytelling, so I enrolled in film school. My heart was broken, but it steered me in a different direction. Sometimes the things you want aren’t for you, but they lead you to things you never dared to dream were possible.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My background is actually in music. I’m a professional flutist. I have a bachelors and a masters in music and I played my flute in the Marine Corps for four years. Because the government offers tuition assistance for school, I decided to get a second bachelors in film, photography and acting. I attended Columbia College Chicago, and met amazing people there, which set me up to to get my first job on a movie set with one of my professors. He asked me to work with him because he liked my energy, so he told me I could do whatever job I wanted. At the time, all I wanted to do was direct, but because he was the Director, I had to choose something else, so I asked to be the Script Supervisor. I didn’t know how to do the job and I had no training, but I gave myself a crash course and went for it. I’m a multi-hyphenated artist, and I challenge myself to learn new things often. It’s a value that I have for myself and my collaborators. I can learn quickly, and I like others who can do the same. I admire a spirit of curiosity and adaptability in others as it is something I also bring to my work. It is important to be comfortable in ambiguity and quickly problem-solve while making movies.

That experience caused me to fall in love with the job of Script Supervising. It’s a detail-oriented position involving continuity, note-taking, and strong communication skills. I get to wear a lot of hats as I work with other department heads as well as the actors and the Director. It’s a very special job, and I am a perfect fit for it.

Have you ever had to pivot?

When I went to film school, I discovered how much I love directing. I believed it was my calling. While filmmaking is truly one of the most amazing art forms, it is also one of the most expensive art forms. When the pandemic hit, I had to make decisions about how to make money while also staying at home with my son for his schooling. Funding my own films became insurmountable. Instead, I became a college professor which delayed my journey into the film industry. In that time, I realized that I wanted to spend more time learning from other directors and I wanted to find a way to work on sets where I could shadow directors and collaborate with them. When I figured out what a Script Supervisor was, I knew that was the perfect path forward for me.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

Because I work full-time in the film industry now, I use my downtime to listen to interviews with writers, actors, and directors, and I also spend time finding books about cinematography, script, supervising, and directing. If you’re interested in script supervising, I recommend “Beyond Continuity” by Mary Cybulski. I wish I had read that book before I did my first movie because it is an extremely thorough explanation of what to expect and how to do the job well.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.loveandlegscyfilms.com
• Instagram: @jessica_siletzky
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/luvajess?mibextid=LQQJ4d