EMBRACE - TV PILOT

SXSW WINNER - Episodic Grand Jury Prize
SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL - Premiere

Jessica Directed and Executive Produced the TV pilot “Embrace.” Produced by Refinery29. Oscar-winner Mahershala Ali, Amatus Ali, Mimi Valdes Executive Producers. Written by Kathreen Khavari and Chuck Neal.

EMBRACE is a dramedy bred out of a yearning to see what we haven’t yet seen in media: the struggle of the American dream in a tightly bonded Iranian immigrant family, the unique culture of Oakland (Kathreen’s hometown) and how it should serve as an ideal example of what America’s race relations could be, and the commodification of human interaction in an increasingly disconnected and anxious world. We follow the lead, Kat, in her efforts to save her parents’ life in America as financial instability threatens to ruin them, leading her to a unique way of generating income on the side while finishing her last year of medical school: cuddling strangers for money.