Jody Nelson

WORK HISTORY

EDUCATION

SKILLS

ABOUT JODY NELSON

As a filmmaker, I use digital media to tell stories that reflect and uplift the people who encounter them. These stories are drawn from everyday life to illuminate the tenacity of the human spirit and it’s triumph over adversity. I appreciate the opportunity to give people a voice and have their stories told through film. In particular, so few films are about children and their accomplishments, goals, ideas and feelings. These films won awards and traveled to numerous film festivals. Three of my films screened to hundreds of children in the Santa Barbara area through a program called “Community of Respect.” The films were used as a medium to help children learn about risk taking, equality and non-discrimination. In my film Iron Boy, I reveal the story of a 9-year-old boy who, remarkably at his age has participated and competed in 45 triathlons. He shares the challenges he faces as one of the youngest and most successful triathletes in the world. In First and Ten, the main character, a 10-year-old girl, spent two years in court fighting for the right to play football-A true pioneer for girls and women’s sports. I explore these same themes on a larger scale in Roadside Santa by using a 20 ft oversized tall figure of Santa as a vehicle for exploring issues of community identity in the culturally and economically disparate communities of Carpinteria and Nyeland Acres. Beginning with Santa’s roots as a roadside attraction in postwar Carpinteria to its present incarnation as a symbol of community identity for the Hispanic neighborhood of Nyeland Acres.