Jess Parker

Jess Parker’s one of those producers who just never seems to sleep, you know? She runs No Labels, that indie film company quietly cranking out some of the most interesting stuff in Australia right now. Their first full-length movie, HE AIN’T HEAVY, written and directed by David Vincent Smith and starring Leila George, Sam Corlett, plus the legend Greta Scacchi, made its big entrance at Sydney Film Festival in 2024. Not too shabby. But Jess wasn’t just sitting around waiting for that — back in 2019, No Labels already had two shorts, I’M NOT HURTING YOU and FEATHERWEIGHT, showing at the Sydney Film Festival’s Dendy Awards. That first one, I’M NOT HURTING YOU, was actually a kind of test run for HE AIN’T HEAVY and ended up screening all over: Austin, Flickerfest, you name it. FEATHERWEIGHT? That thing toured festivals like it was on a rock band schedule—Melbourne, Cambridge, Manchester, Vegas—picking up awards and getting director Sam Lara into Accelerator Lab, which is pretty killer. Jess also got a taste of the big league as Producer’s Assistant on YOU WON’T BE ALONE, working with some serious heavy-hitters like Kristina Ceyton and Sam Jennings; those names are basically horror royalty if you know the scene. And don’t even get started on Jess’s side gigs: a stack of music videos for major Aussie labels like Universal, Warner, EMI, plus a bunch of commercials thrown in for good measure. Basically, if it’s creative and happening in Australia, Jess Parker’s probably got a hand in it somewhere.