Jessie Beers-Altman

Director

Jessie Beers-Altman is an independent documentary filmmaker and editor. Jessie grew up in Central Pennsylvania and Paris, and has spent her adulthood in Washington DC, San Francisco and Boston. She currently works as a filmmaker and educator in the Boston area. Jessie has been working in film and video production since 2004. As a storyteller, she focuses on human-interest stories about people who are marginalized, march to a different beat, or simply seek to exist outside of their prescribed roles. Her latest film, Going the Distance (2016), profiles a trio of competitive sprinters competing at the prestigious Penn Relays in Philadelphia. The twist? The competitors are all in their 80s and 90s, competing in the Masters Men’s 75-and-older 100m dash. The film placed 2nd in NBC Sports’ inaugural Cptr’d Filmmaking Competition, and won the Grand Jury Award for documentary shorts at the Independent Film Festival of Boston. It is currently playing on the festival circuit. Jessie’s first running-related documentary, The Spirit of a Runner (2009), followed ultrarunner Suprabha Beckjord as she trained for and competed in the 2008 Sri Chinmoy Self-Transcendence 3,100-Mile Race. The film portrayed the grueling reality of running 50 to 80 miles per day around a single city block in the world’s longest-certified race. As a freelance editor, Jessie has worked on numerous independent documentaries – both theatrical and broadcast – including East of Salinas (2015), The Mystery of Matter (2015), A Seat at the Table (2012), The Last Mountain (2011), Love and Other Anxieties (2011), and many more.In addition to her busy schedule as a freelancer, Jessie is an adjunct member of the faculty at Boston University and Emerson College, where she teaches courses in film production. She is also a member of the Non-Fiction Cartel, a working collaborative that supports short form documentary media-making in New England. Jessie holds degrees in English and Women’s Studies from Georgetown University, and has a Master of Fine Arts in Film Production from Boston University. As the daughter of an artist father and musician mother, Jessie picked a career in film to uphold the family tradition of avoiding a 9 to 5 desk job. She lives in Somerville, MA with her husband and son, their two cats Wagner and Dixie, and a rambunctious boxer pup named Zoey.