Jessica Charlton

Jessica Charlton is a New Zealand cinematographer and scriptwriter who has worked since 2009 on over 30 short films, television productions, and feature-length films as well as music videos, web series, and documentaries.

Life and career Charlton was born in London but raised in Invercargill and Queenstown. She graduated from The New Zealand Film & Television School in around 2009.

In 2012 she shared with Juliet Bergh the New Zealand Writers Guild awards for Best Feature Film Script and New Writer Award for Existence, a feature-length drama starring Loren Horsley (co-star of Eagle vs Shark) and Matt Sunderland. It premiered in the 2012 New Zealand International Film Festival, and was also accepted that year as part of the Industry-only Breakthru Screenings at the Melbourne International Film Festival. The New Zealand International Film Festival said in a press release that it ties into an older, more established tradition of New Zealand storytelling, the "man alone" story set in scenic natural environments, often found in New Zealand 1980's films such as The Navigator, The Quiet Earth, and Vigil. on Wellington's south coast, as part of a 24-day shoot. Additionally, the Existence team were among the last filmmakers to have the benefit of working with leading New Zealand filmmaker Graeme Tetley on developing their script. calling it "a great stepping-stone into feature film production." Like Existence, the film deals with an isolated mother trying to save her family in a "post-apocalyptic" environment. In 2022 she was the executive producer of short film Buzzkill.