Jacqueline Xerri is a New York-based writer, director, and editor telling female-driven narratives that explore identity through a surreal, often darkly comedic lens, while interrogating the larger societal forces that shape girlhood. Raised in Long Island’s suburbs, her adolescence was defined by restlessness, rebellion, and longing — a foundation for the stories she tells today. As a professional editor with a subversive visual style, she crafts films that blend gritty realism with whimsical surrealism, exploring the uncomfortable truths of growing up and the romantic inner worlds we create to survive them.

 

A graduate of Florida State University’s highly selective College of Motion Picture Arts, Jacqueline wrote, directed, and co-edited Monkey Bars (2021), executive produced by Ethan Lazar (The Witch) and featuring Millie Shapiro (Hereditary). The film was nominated for Best Narrative Short at NFFTY 2022 and won Critics' Choice at Cinema Femme 2021.

 

Her Screenplay, The Year the World Ended, was a semifinalist at CineStory 2023, the Screencraft Screenwriting Fellowship 2025, and a quarterfinalist at the 2025 Atlanta Film Festival. The script received two 8s on the Black List, placing it in the top 1% of projects on blcklst.com.

 

Jacqueline is a commercial editor at Yacht Club Films, where she made her directing debut with a national spot for Vagisil. Clients include Etsy, Dunkin’, and Denny’s. She also directs and edits music videos, collaborating with artists like Ivri (SoundOn) and Laila on the viral single Not My Problem. When she’s not filmmaking, her not-so-secret dream is to headline an Amy Winehouse cover band.