Jessy Lauren Smith is a writer from a lot of places who now mostly lives in LA. She specializes in grounded-but-fantastical screenplays, TV, site-based theatre, and interactive branching narratives. She's been a finalist or semifinalist for a whole slew of things, and her screenplay Meet Me in a Dark Alley was in the top 10% of Nicholl Fellowship entries. Read more »
An interactive branching audio narrative: A scientist and her partner look for light on the shortest day of the year, in one of the most remote places on Earth.
Co-written with Chad Eschman. Performed by Chad Eschman and Jennifer Rumberger. Visual design and engineering by Austin Heller. Sound design and music by Purple Urchins.
Part audio tour, part live theatre, Artifacts was a one-of-a-kind, site-inspired event conceived and created by Jessy, which led audiences deep into a labyrinthine urban artifacts store in Chicago and even deeper into the lives of two different narrators.
Jessy was a contributing writer for two seasons of The Host podcast, a supernatural call-in show created by Amy Carver. Points of View is one of her favorite calls she wrote for that show.
A multi-choice adventure filled with dragons, sea witches, dark jokes, and a longing for home.
Animated by Mason Sklar. Developed and produced by Austin Heller. Performed by Adrienne Matzen, Nathaniel Andrew, Erin Austin, and Katie Markovich.
A holiday family newsletter goes seriously awry, much like the year did. Written and performed by Jessy for The Advent Project. Produced by Austin Heller.
A toy theater puppet show, handmade and performed by Jessy for The Advent Project. Character illustration by Amalia Dapkiewicz and music by Smallhounds.
"The Weather" was written by Jessy for Trap Street's Radiograph project, an audio series about strange things in real places. Starring Jonathan Baude and Jessy. Editing by Amy Carver. Music by Josh Hambrock.
Living Room Playmakers was a group of artists who came together to create site-inspired, playwright-driven theatre in Chicago from 2012 to 2019. Jessy co-founded the group, and wrote and produced sold-out plays for bedrooms, bars, art installations, beaches, and furniture stores.
Jessy co-created The Advent Project in 2019 to make December feel a little bit warmer. It gathers 24 pieces of brand-new, bite-sized, multimedia art by different artists and releases them to donors throughout December. The project has raised over $16,000 for worthy causes thus far.