Brooklyn Jo Branson

My name is Brooklyn Jo Branson, but friends call me Jo.

When I was in elementary school, I spent most of my days entertaining the fantasies of my imagination; from writing grammatically incorrect fanfictions to directing elaborate livingroom performances, I lived for the satisfaction of storytelling. And as I grew beneath a strong influence of John Hughes and Steven Spielberg, my gravitation towards filmmaking was unavoidable and my indulgence in the art became inevitable.

I started making short films in middle school, small silly projects that would technically fall along the lines of Guerrilla Filmmaking. This passion, naturally, followed me into high school and narrowed my college career focus every day. I loved dabbling in surrealism and drama with my shorts, utilizing aspects my public school theatre background to elevate my works. Many days and nights were spent being a cast and crew of one--I lived in a very STEM-oriented town. But nevertheless, no matter how tiring and elaborate the project was, I haven't make a film that I wouldn’t go to bat for today.

Finishing each project made me fall deeper in love with the medium and my emotional investment in myself as a filmmaker only grew. To this day, nothing brings me more joy and fulfillment than directing and producing the things I write, and it is this joy that has fueled me to pursue filmmaking as a career and push me into USC’s School of Cinematic Arts’ BFA Film and TV Production program.