Jodi Wille is an American film director, curator, and book publisher known for her work exploring American subcultures.

Filmmaking and photography

Wille directed and produced ''

The Source Family ''The Source Family'' is a 2012 feature documentary film directed by Jodi Wille and Maria Demopoulos which recounts the story of Father Yod, Ya Ho Wa 13 and the Source Family. Much material was gleaned from the group's official documentarian an ...

'' (2012), her first feature-length documentary, with Maria Demopoulos. The film explores the story of the eponymous Los Angeles utopian commune and its charismatic leader,

Father Yod Father Yod ( ), or YaHoWha, born James Edward Baker (July 4, 1922 – August 25, 1975), was an American new religious movement founder and owner of one of the country's first health food restaurants, on Sunset Strip in Los Angeles. He foun ...

. ''The Source Family'' premiered in competition at

South by Southwest South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

Film Festival and screened in competition at several major film festivals. The film was released theatrically to 60 cities in May 2013. Wille's second film, ''Welcome Space Brothers'' (2023), is a feature documentary about the Unarius Academy of Science, an extraterrestrial-channeling spiritual school and self-healing community in Southern California that in the late 70s became a prolific filmmaking collective under the direction of outlandish spiritual leader

Ruth Norman Ruth E. Norman (born Ruth Nields; August 18, 1900 – July 12, 1993), also known as Uriel, was an American religious leader who co-founded the Unarius Academy of Science, based in Southern California. Raised in California, Norm ...

, AKA Archangel Uriel. The film's executive producers include

Elijah Wood Elijah Jordan Wood (born January 28, 1981) is an American actor and producer. Wood made his film debut with a minor part in ''Back to the Future Part II'' (1989) at the age of eight and achieved recognition in the early 1990s as a child acto ...

and

Phil Lord and Christopher Miller Philip Anderson Lord (born July 12, 1975) and Christopher Robert Miller (born September 23, 1975) are an American filmmaking and acting duo. Their films are known for subversion of genre and detailed visual sensation, spanning various styles of ...

. ''Welcome Space Brothers'' premiered in November 2023 at

Beyond Fest Beyond Fest is the largest genre film festival in the United States, held annually in Los Angeles, California. Established in partnership with the American Cinematheque, Beyond Fest focuses on showcasing horror, science fiction, fantasy, and othe ...

, the largest genre film festival in the United States. The film was the first feature documentary ever to world premiere at the festival. The film premiered internationally at Melbourne International Film Festival in August of 2024. In 1994,

R.E.M. R.E.M. was an American alternative rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe, who were students at the University of Georgia. One of the fir ...

gave Wille her first paid directing gig for their "

Find the River "Find the River" is a song by American rock band R.E.M., released on November 29, 1993, by Warner Bros., as the sixth and final single from the band's eighth album, '' Automatic for the People'' (1992). The song reached number 54 on the UK Singl ...

" music video. Signed to DNA (David Naylor & Associates), she directed a number of music videos in the mid-90s. Wille worked prior to that as assistant to music video and commercial director

Samuel Bayer Samuel David Bayer (born February 17, 1962) is an American visual artist, cinematographer, and commercial, music video and film director. Bayer was born in Syracuse, New York. He graduated from New York City's School of Visual Arts in 1987 with ...

and later as assistant and development consultant to feature film director

Roland Joffé Roland Joffé (; born 17 November 1945) is an English film and television film director, director, Film producer, producer and screenwriter. He is known for directing the critically-acclaimed films ''The Killing Fields (film), The Killing Field ...

. Throughout the 90s, Wille also worked as a commercial and documentary photographer, shooting billboard campaigns, rock bands and personalities including

Sparks (band) Sparks is an American pop music, pop and rock music, rock duo formed by brothers Ron Mael, Ron (keyboards) and Russell Mael (vocals) in Los Angeles. The duo is noted for their quirky approach to songwriting; their music is often accompanied by s ...

Melissa Etheridge Melissa Lou Etheridge (born May 29, 1961) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and guitarist. Her Melissa Etheridge (album), eponymous debut album was released in 1988 and became an underground success. It peaked at No. 22 on the Billbo ...

, and

Vincent Gallo Vincent Gallo (born April 11, 1961) is an American actor, filmmaker, and musician. He has won several accolades, including a Volpi Cup for Best Actor, and has been nominated for the Palme d'Or, the Golden Lion, and the Bronze Horse. Gallo was ...

, while also documenting visionary artists and alternative spiritual communities.

Book publishing

In 1998, Wille co-founded Dilettante Press with Steve Nalepa, Nick Rubenstein, and

Hedi El Kholti Hedi El Kholti (born February 24, 1967, in Rabat, Morocco) is a Moroccan-born American writer and editor, based in Los Angeles. He is co-editor of Semiotext(e) alongside Chris Kraus and Sylvère Lotringer. He was partner at the now defunct Dilett ...

, a publishing house with a focus on self-taught, visionary, and vernacular art and photography. Dilettante published only three titles, but "their impact was considerable." Dilettante produced exhibitions, symposiums, and parties related to their books in galleries and museums in multiple cities in the U.S. and in Europe. In 2005, Wille founded

Process Media A process is a series or set of activities that interact to produce a result; it may occur once-only or be recurrent or periodic. Things called a process include: Business and management *Business process, activities that produce a specific se ...

with her then-partner (later, husband)

Adam Parfrey Adam Parfrey (April 12, 1957 – May 10, 2018) was an American journalist, editor, and the publisher of Feral House books, whose work in all three capacities frequently centered on unusual, extreme, or "forbidden" topics. A 2010 ''Seattle Weekl ...

Feral House Feral House is an American book publisher founded in 1989 by Adam Parfrey and based in Port Townsend, Washington. Feral House is known for its taboo and provocative publications, but has had significant influence in both underground circles an ...

. The imprint focuses on non-fiction, literary memoirs, and illustrated books exploring subcultures and groundbreaking artists such as

Andy Kaufman Andrew Geoffrey Kaufman ( ; January 17, 1949 – May 16, 1984) was an American entertainer and performance artist. He has sometimes been called an "anti-humor, anti-comedian". He disdained telling jokes and engaging in comedy as it was tra ...

Roky Erickson Roger Kynard "Roky" Erickson (July 15, 1947 – May 31, 2019) was an American musician and singer-songwriter. Called an "outsider genius," he was a founding member and the leader of the 13th Floor Elevators and a pioneer of the psychedelic r ...

and the

13th Floor Elevators The 13th Floor Elevators was an American rock band from Austin, Texas, United States, formed by guitarist and vocalist Roky Erickson, electric jug player Tommy Hall, and guitarist Stacy Sutherland. The band was together from 1965 to 1969, an ...

, John Sinclair and

MC5 MC5 was an American rock music, rock band formed in Lincoln Park, Michigan, in 1963. The classic lineup consisted of vocalist Rob Tyner, guitarists Wayne Kramer and Fred "Sonic" Smith, bassist Michael Davis (bassist), Michael Davis, and drummer ...

and Ya Ho Wha 13, and

Moondog Louis Thomas Hardin (May 26, 1916 – September 8, 1999), known professionally as Moondog, was an American composer, musician, performer, music theoretician, poet and inventor of musical instruments. Largely self-taught as a composer, his ...

. Process has also created a "Self-Reliance Series" of illustrated guide books that promote sustainable and self-sufficient living.

Curating

In 2000, Wille,

, and

Cheryl Dunn Cheryl Dunn is an American documentary filmmaker and photographer. She has made two feature films, ''Everybody Street'' (2013) and ''Moments Like This Never Last'' (2020). She has had three books of photographs published: ''Bicycle Gangs of New Y ...

co-curated the first exhibition of the work of amateur photographer Gary Lee Boas, "Starstruck: Photographs from Fan", at

Deitch Projects Jeffrey Deitch (pronounced ''DIE-tch'';Mike Boehm (January 12, 2010)''Los Angeles Times''. born July 9, 1952) is an American art dealer and curator. He is best known for his gallery Deitch Projects (1996–2010) and curating groundbreaking exhi ...

. This led to exhibitions at galleries and museums in the U.S. and throughout Europe including

Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA) is a multi-disciplinary Contemporary art, contemporary arts center in San Francisco, California, United States. Located in Yerba Buena Gardens, YBCA features visual art, performance, and film/video that cel ...

in San Francisco,

The Photographers' Gallery The Photographers' Gallery was founded in London by Sue Davies opening on 14 January 1971, as the first public gallery in the United Kingdom devoted solely to photography. It is also home to the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize, established ...

in London, and

Galerie Kamel Mennour Galerie Kamel Mennour is a contemporary art gallery in Paris, France, owned and directed by Kamel Mennour. History The first space, 50sqm, was inaugurated on Rue Mazarine in 1999. Dedicated to contemporary photography, the gallery showed works of ...

in Paris. In 2013, Wille was named as co-curator with Rebecca Alban Hoffberger of the

American Visionary Art Museum The American Visionary Art Museum (AVAM) is an art museum located in Baltimore, Maryland's Federal Hill neighborhood at 800 Key Highway. The museum specializes in the preservation and display of outsider art (also known as "intuitive art," " ...

exhibition ''The Visionary Experience: St. Francis to Finster,'' a 44-artist, 244-works exhibition which ran 2014-2015. Since 2014, Wille has curated several exhibitions of photographs, art, costumes, and ephemera produced by the extraterrestrial-channeling spiritual school Unarius Academy of Science, including a 2016 exhibition at the London arts venue The

Horse Hospital The Horse Hospital is a Grade II listed not for profit, independent arts venue at Colonnade, Bloomsbury, central London. Its curatorial focus is on counter-cultural histories, sub-cultures, outsiders and emerging artists. It organizes undergroun ...

, works in ''The Visionary Experience'' exhibition at

, a 2016 exhibition at The Standard Hotel Hollywood, and at the 2017 ''Basilisk'' exhibition at Nicodim Gallery in Los Angeles.

Film programming and cultural events

Over the years, Wille has programmed films and curated cultural events in several cities. From 2007-2017, Wille served as a regular guest programmer at The

Cinefamily The Cinefamily was a non-profit cinematheque located in Beverly Grove, Los Angeles, at the historic Silent Movie Theatre. The Cinefamily's mission statement was to "reinvigorate the movie-going experience by fostering a spirit of community and a ...

cinematheque in Los Angeles, hosting the popular "Occult LA" series and other programs including an eclectic range of guests from

Kris Kristofferson Kristoffer Kristofferson (June 22, 1936 – September 28, 2024) was an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He was a pioneering figure in the outlaw country movement of the 1970s, moving away from the polished Nashville sound and toward a m ...

Tony Clifton Tony Clifton is a character created by comedian and performance artist Andy Kaufman in the late 1970s. An absurdly foul-mouthed and domineering lounge singer claiming to hail from Las Vegas, the tuxedo-clad Clifton often led unsuspecting audien ...

, Rocky Erickson, and

Tom Laughlin Thomas Robert Laughlin Jr. (August 10, 1931 – December 12, 2013) was an American actor, director, screenwriter, author, educator, and activist. Laughlin was best known for co-producing and starring in the four '' Billy Jack'' films, ...

to white witches, Hare Krishnas, and Bigfoot researchers, as well as live music, ritual performance, panels, and art exhibitions. In 2015, Wille presented a retrospective of the films of the Unarius Academy of Science at Cinefamily, which included a Unariun art and artifact exhibition and Unariun workshops. This led to invitations to present Unarius films at the 2015

San Francisco International Film Festival The San Francisco International Film Festival (abbreviated as SFIFF), organized by SFFILM, is held each spring for two weeks, presenting around 200 films from over 50 countries. The festival highlights current trends in international film and vid ...

and the

arts center in London.

Selected works

Film

(2012, 98 mins.), directed with Maria Demopoulos
We Are Not Alone
(2016, 11 mins.) *''Welcome Space Brothers'' (2023, 100 mins.)

Music videos (Selected Works)

- "

" (1994) *The Meices - "Daddy's Gone to California" (4/14/94) *

Wool Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have some properties similar to animal w ...

- "Kill the Crow" (5/10/94) also producer *

Local H Local H is an American rock band co-founded in 1990 in Zion, Illinois by guitarist and vocalist Scott Lucas, who has remained the band's sole consistent member. Following the departures of the early line-up's bassist and lead guitarist, Lucas a ...

- "Cynic" (2/3/95) also editor * Jennifer Trynin - "Happier" (1995)
Hot Damn
"My Panties Are Too Tight" (7/30/96)DP: Chris Meyer, editor: Chad Misner.

Publishing and editing (select works)

*''Family: The Source Family Scrapbook'' by Isis Aquarian, Charlie Kitchings, and Jodi Wille (

Sacred Bones Sacred Bones Records is an American independent record label founded in 2007 and based in Brooklyn, New York. The label has released recordings from artists including Zola Jesus, David Lynch, John Carpenter, Spellling, Blanck Mass, Crystal Sti ...

and Otherworld Press), 2023. *''Starstruck: Photographs from a Fan'' by Gary Lee Boas. Foreword by

Michael Musto Michael Musto (born December 3, 1955) is an American journalist who has long been a prevalent presence in entertainment-related publications, as well as on websites and television shows. He is best known as a columnist for ''The Village Voice'', ...

. Afterword by

Carlo McCormick Carlo McCormick is an American culture critic and curator living in New York City. He is the author of numerous books, monographs and catalogues on contemporary art and artists. Pedagogic and art writing activities McCormick was Senior Editor ...

. Edited by Jodi Wille, Photo Editor: Hedi El Kholti ( Dilettante Press, 2000). *''Gary Lee Boas: New York Sex 1979–1985.'' Essay by Bruce Hainley, edited by Hedi El Kholti and Jodi Wille (text editor). (Editions Kamel Mennour, 2003). *''Go Ask Ogre: Letters from a Deathrock Cutter'' by Jolene Siana, edited by Jodi Wille (

, 2005). *''Sex Machines: Photographs and Interviews'' by Timothy Archibald, edited by Jodi Wille (Process Media, 2005). *''The Source: The Untold Story of Father Yod, Ya Ho Wa 13, and The Source Family'' by Isis Aquarian and Electricity Aquarian. Introduction by

Erik Davis Erik Davis (born June 12, 1967) is an American writer, scholar, journalist and public speaker whose writings have ranged from rock criticism to cultural analysis to creative explorations of esoteric mysticism. He is perhaps best known for his b ...

. Edited by Jodi Wille (Process Media, 2007). *''Pure Country: The Leon Kagarise Archives 1961–1971'' by Leon Kagarise. Essays by Eddie Dean and Robert Gordon, edited by Jodi Wille (Process Media, 2008). *''Master of the Mysteries: The Life of Manly Palmer Hall'' by Louis Sahagun, edited by Jodi Wille (Process Media, 2008). *''Dear Andy Kaufman, I Hate Your Guts!'' by Lynne Margullies, edited by Jodi Wille and Lissi Erwin (Process Media, 2009).

Awards

* ''Welcome Space Brothers'' - Best Historical Documentary, Oregon Independent Film Festival * ''Welcome Space Brothers'' - Honorable Mention Award, Chicago Underground Film Festival *''Dear Andy Kaufman, I Hate Your Guts!'' (Process Media) Gold Medal, Best Popular Culture Book, 2010 Independent Book Awards *''The Source: The Untold Story of Father Yod, Ya Ho Wa 13, and the Source Family'', (Process Media) Bronze: Best Popular Culture Book, 2008 Independent Book Awards *''Sex Machines: Photographs and Interviews'', (Process Media) Winner: Best Book on Sexuality/Relationships, 2006 Independent Publisher Awards *''Starstruck: Photographs from a Fan'' (Dilettante Press) included in

Artforum ''Artforum'' is an international monthly magazine specializing in contemporary art. The magazine is distinguished from other magazines by its unique 10½ × 10½ inch square format, with each cover often devoted to the work of an artist. Notably ...

's "Best of 2000" issue (Boas image on cover). *''Go Ask Ogre: Letters from a Deathrock Cutter'', (Process Media) Finalist: Best Juvenile/Teen Young Adult Non-fiction, 2006 Independent Publisher Awards *''The End is Near: Visions of Apocalypse, Millennium and Utopia'', (Dilettante Press) Winner: Benjamin Franklin Award for Best First Book, 1998

References

External links

jodiwille.comFilmmaker Magazine interview with Jodi Wille and Maria Demopoulos
* ttps://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/26/nyregion/the-source-family-a-concert-and-film.html The New York Times Article on THE SOURCE FAMILYbr>"Bring Your Own Doc" video interview with Ondi Timoner, Jodi Wille, and Maria DemopoulosProcess Media
{{DEFAULTSORT:Willie, Jodi Year of birth missing (living people) American book editors American photographers Living people Writers from Port Townsend, Washington American women photographers 21st-century American women American women curators American curators