Jessica Yu (Chinese: 虞琳敏; pinyin: Yú Línmǐn) is an American film director, writer, producer, and editor. She has directed documentary films, dramatic films, and television shows. Yu won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Subject in 1996 for Breathing Lessons: The Life and Work of Mark O'Brien (1996). Yu's film Last Call at the Oasis (2012) is based on Alex Prud'homme's Ripple Effect. Her more recent films have been Misconception (2014), ForEveryone.Net (2016), a documentary film about the inventor of the World Wide Web, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, and a Netflix comedy Maria Bamford: Old Baby (2017). In 2019, Yu was nominated for an Emmy Award for "Outstanding Direction for a Limited Series, Movie, or Dramatic Special" for the Fosse/Verdon episode "Glory". Description above from the Wikipedia article Jessica Yu, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
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Biography from TMDB.
- February 14, 1966 (60)
- New York City, New York, USA
- Director and writer, also editor and producer
- 32 on MovieCove · 48 credits in all
What are Jessica Yu's films like?
Across their 9 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Self and Survival.
Genres
Their MovieCove films by primary genre. The badge is the typical Midcredits score of the genre's films, the median percentile; an up arrow marks a genre at or above their average across these genres.
Themes
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 0 · Wry 2 · Earnest 6
Light 7 · Serious 0 · Dark 1
Grounded 5 · Stylized 3 · Heightened 0
Gentle 7 · Charged 1 · Intense 0
Steady 5 · Shifting 3 · Whiplash 0
A split, not a type: Straight-faced 3 · Some laughs 1 · Funny 4
Slow burn 3 · Even-paced 5 · Relentless 0
Casual 5 · Engaged 3 · Full focus 0
Easy watch 6 · Affecting 2 · Heavy 0
Resolved 6 · Open-ended 1 · Ambiguous 1
Moods and endings
- Happy3
- Bittersweet2
- Ambiguous2
- Cyclical1
- Other1
AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.
Where can I watch Jessica Yu's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 29 of their 32 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on Hulu (9).
Subscription and free streaming for Jessica Yu's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.
Filmography
48 credits, 32 with a MovieCove page; 2 appearances as themselves are hidden until asked for.
56 Days(2026)
Midcredits score: 38th percentile of all shows
Midcredits score: 39th percentile of all films
Long Bright River (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2025)
Quiz Lady(2023)
Midcredits score: 71st percentile of all films
Citadel(2023)
Midcredits score: 18th percentile of all shows
The Recruit(2022)
Midcredits score: 73rd percentile of all shows
Midcredits score: 94th percentile of all shows
Walker(2021)
Midcredits score: 34th percentile of all shows
Ratched(2020)
Midcredits score: 66th percentile of all shows
Hollywood(2020)
Midcredits score: 72nd percentile of all shows
The Morning Show(2019)
Midcredits score: 83rd percentile of all shows
Stumptown(2019)
Midcredits score: 75th percentile of all shows
Bluff City Law (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2019)
Fosse/Verdon(2019)
Midcredits score: 83rd percentile of all shows
The Rookie(2018)
Midcredits score: 89th percentile of all shows
Sorry for Your Loss(2018)
Midcredits score: 62nd percentile of all shows
Ten Days in the Valley (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2017)
Maria Bamford: Old Baby(2017)
Midcredits score: 50th percentile of all films
13 Reasons Why(2017)
Midcredits score: 65th percentile of all shows
Pure Genius(2016)
Midcredits score: 56th percentile of all shows
This Is Us(2016)
Midcredits score: 98th percentile of all shows
Billions(2016)
Midcredits score: 95th percentile of all shows
Foreveryone.net (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2016)
American Crime(2015)
Midcredits score: 74th percentile of all shows
The Affair(2014)
Midcredits score: 81st percentile of all shows
Misconception(2014)
Midcredits score: 62nd percentile of all films (provisional, few ratings)
Midcredits score: 19th percentile of all films
Focus Forward: Short Films, Big Ideas (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2012)
Meet Mr Toilet (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2012)
American Horror Story(2011)
Midcredits score: 87th percentile of all shows
Last Call at the Oasis(2011)
Midcredits score: 88th percentile of all films
Castle(2009)
Midcredits score: 93rd percentile of all shows
Ping Pong Playa(2007)
Midcredits score: 50th percentile of all films
In Treatment(2008)
Midcredits score: 92nd percentile of all shows
Protagonist (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2007)
Grey's Anatomy(2005)
Midcredits score: 77th percentile of all shows
Midcredits score: 85th percentile of all films
The Lyon's Den (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2003)
Mister Sterling (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2003)
American Dreams (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2002)
The West Wing(1999)
Midcredits score: 98th percentile of all shows
The Living Museum (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1998)
Men of Reenaction (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1996)
Breathing Lessons: The Life and Work of Mark O'Brien (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1996)
Better Late (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1996)
ER(1994)
Midcredits score: 88th percentile of all showsSour Death Balls (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1993)
The Conductor (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
Career shape
A full career of 47 titles, 46 of them dated from 1993 to 2026.
Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on MovieCove, shown from 5 scored.
Awards
an Oscar from 8 major nominations, 1997–2020.
- Directors Guild Award, nominated · Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Movies for Television and Limited Series
- Primetime Emmy, nominated · Outstanding Directing for a Limited Series, Movie or a Dramatic Special
- Sundance award, nominated · Documentary
- Primetime Emmy, nominated · Exceptional Merit in Nonfiction Filmmaking
- Writers Guild Award, nominated
- Sundance award, nominated · Documentary
- Sundance award, nominated · Documentary
- Oscar, won · Best Documentary, Short Subjects
Major bodies only: the Oscars, Primetime Emmys, Golden Globes, BAFTAs and Screen Actors Guild Awards are named; Cannes, Venice, the Berlinale, Sundance, the directors', writers' and producers' guilds, the Grammys, Critics Choice and the Independent Spirit Awards count as other major bodies. Festival and regional prizes are not counted. Source: IMDb.
How do Jessica Yu's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 56th percentile, the median of all 8; across their 8 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 62nd percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up16
- 50th to 74th11
- 25th to 49th3
- Below 25th2
Shape of the crowd
15 of their 32 titles are Crowd Pleasers.
- Universally Loved8
- Divisive2
- Cult Classic1
- Crowd Pleaser15
- Mixed6
Reviewers score the atmosphere 63/100 and the pacing 55/100 in their films, across 6 reviewed titles. The element that speaks to their work as a director.
Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.
Is Jessica Yu's work okay for kids?
Across a limited sample of up to 3 MovieCove titles with content scores.
Severity 0–100 from the Content Guide. Categories with under 10 votes on a title are not counted.
Who does Jessica Yu work with?
People who share at least 2 of Jessica Yu's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Nick Urata shares the most, 3.
Composers and cinematographers
- Nick UrataShared titles: Quiz Lady (2023), Maria Bamford: Old Baby (2017), Misconception (2014)See all 3 shared titles with Nick Urata
- Jeff BealShared titles: Last Call at the Oasis (2011), Ping Pong Playa (2007), In the Realms of the Unreal (2004)See all 3 shared titles with Jeff Beal
- Shana HaganShared titles: Maria Bamford: Old Baby (2017), Misconception (2014)See all 2 shared titles with Shana Hagan
Producers
- Diane WeyermannShared titles: Misconception (2014), Last Call at the Oasis (2011)See all 2 shared titles with Diane Weyermann
- Elise PearlsteinShared titles: Misconception (2014), Last Call at the Oasis (2011)See all 2 shared titles with Elise Pearlstein
- Jeff SkollShared titles: Misconception (2014), Last Call at the Oasis (2011)See all 2 shared titles with Jeff Skoll
- Sandra KeatsShared titles: Misconception (2014), Last Call at the Oasis (2011)See all 2 shared titles with Sandra Keats