ABOUT JO ROCHELLE
There is no answer. But writing is the answer.
Jo Rochelle is a Jamaican-American writer and filmmaker based in California. Her short film, Sirens, screened at several festivals, including the Pan African Film Festival, where it was nominated for Best Narrative Short. Her feature film debut, Jasmine Is A Star, screened at Urbanworld, Atlanta Film Festival, and BlackStar, receiving an honorable mention at the 2022 Dances with Films Festival, and winning the Audience Award at Sidewalk Film Festival. Jasmine is a Star is now streaming on FUSE+. Her latest short, Welcome Home, screened at the 2024 Micheaux Film Festival and at the Writers Guild of America West Committee of Black Writers Short Film Screening in 2025. Jo was a writer on multiple seasons of the TV series “Good Trouble” on Freeform.
Jo Rochelle grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota before moving to NYC to pursue a career in film. She attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, where she studied at the Lee Strasberg Institute and Stonestreet Studios, earning a Bachelor's of Arts in Drama/Theater. Jo is an alumnus of Teach for America where she taught 6th grade English and Social Studies in the Mississippi Delta. Her latest feature, Dead Deer High, recently completed post-production and will be on the festival circuit in 2026.
