Jessica Ekinde (Rowlands) is an award-winning Screenwriter and Director based between London, Los Angeles, and Zimbabwe.

She writes both feature films and television drama, best known for her high-octane female led action scripts with a strong heart and emotional core.

Most recently, Jess wrote & directed an ambitious coming-of-age boxing film in Zimbabwe due to premiere in 2024.

After completing two Law Degrees, first in the UK and then at the university of Chicago law school, Jess moved to Los Angeles to pursue Screenwriting on the UCLA Professional Program.

In 2019, she won the UCLA Screenwriting Competition and in June 2020, Jess became the Program's only two-time award winner, claiming the top prize in the UCLA Writing for Television Drama Competition. she remains the only alumni to win two years in a row, for both feature and television writing. Since then, Jess’s work has garnered attention across hollywood and been recognised by major competitions and film festivals around the world, including the Austin film festival and The Academy Nicholl Fellowship, among others.

most recently, Jess won Best Original Screenplay at the London Independent Film Awards, the gold prize at The PAGE international screenwriting Awards, and the drama feature category in the prestigious final draft screenwriting competition.

Jess is currently working towards her feature directorial debut, and hopes to spend her career writing and directing feature films with a human rights angle for a global audience. in 2023, jess founded her production company, pluvio pictures ltd.

Outside of filmmaking, jess is an avid sportsperson and portrait artist. She was the youngest person in history to complete the Polar Circle Marathon in the arctic, and can fly solo. Her current interests are woodworking and triathlons.

She is on the board of an orphanage in zimbabwe and supports a number of causes related to preventing violence against women.