When she graduated from UCLA with a B.A. from the School of Theater, Film and Television, but decided not to pursue an acting career, it went something like this:

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DAD: So… what do you want to do with this degree I just paid for?

(ever grateful for this Dad!!)

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JESS: I want to be surrounded by people I think are talented.

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DAD: It sounds like you need to start a company.

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Given some seed money, and a few months of making up company names, Cinterra Pictures, LLC was created. Under this banner, and with the same entrepreneurial spirit instilled by her parents, Jess has in fact worked to surround herself with talented artists. This began by producing two feature-length documentary films: Namaste Nepal (Amazon) and Big in Bollywood (Netflix). In 2013 Jess partnered with Stephen Cox to produce parody video Placeba which appeared on FunnyOrDie’s most viewed in the week of its release. In association with Upstart Crow Productions, Jess, under the Cinterra banner, served as associate producer for acclaimed festival shorts Out With A Bang and The God Chair.

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In 2015 she re-branded as Cinterra Entertainment, creating an integrated production development and management company with the goal of running it like a "theater company for film." Cinterra now boasts a roster of talented member-artists with careers in Emmy-winning and nominated television, award-winning feature films and commercials, as well as podcasts and theatre.

 

In 2019 Jess expanded the company, bringing on additional managers and their clients, including Alise Ninivaggi who spearheaded Cinterra's NYC presence in late 2020. In 2022 Cinterra's literary department was launched, now headed up by producer and executive Mark Sonoda, and she supported producers Jane Park-Dolan and Joanna Shaw with the launch of sister production company So Happy Entertainment. 

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Prior to founding Cinterra, Jess held a number of positions at the original "new-media" company (yes! pre YouTube, iTunes, Netflix and Amazon) - CinemaNow, Inc. As Director of Acquisitions she gained in-depth knowledge of the digital distribution of movies, television, and music videos under the wings of founders Curt Marvis, Bruce Eisen, and Mark Amin. Jess got a crash-course in entertainment law and managed distribution contracts with all major movie studios, music labels, and negotiated a number of distribution deals including with Lionsgate, Vivendi Entertainment, EMI, and Image Entertainment. 

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Jess' first job in entertainment was as an assistant to producer Joseph Singer (Courage Under Fire, Dr. Dolittle) where she learned valuable first-hand knowledge of the feature film development process.