Amy Holden Jones is an American screenwriter and film director. Jones edited various films and ultimately began directing and writing. She currently works in television.
Life and career
Jones grew up in Florida and lived in Buffalo, New York during her high school years. She attended Wellesley College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, majoring in art history, so she could also take film studies courses at nearby MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts. After she won first place at the American Film Institute National Student Festival for her short filmA Weekend Home, Martin Scorsese, one of the judges, offered her a job as his assistant as he directed Taxi Driver. It was there that she met her husband cinematographerMichael Chapman. Martin Scorsese told Jones she was “too good to be an assistant” and got her in contact with film producer Roger Corman. She went on to work for Corman editing Joe Dante's first film, Hollywood Boulevard, when she was 22 years old. She edited for Scorsese, Corvette Summer for MGM, and Second-Hand Hearts for Hal Ashby. She was offered the job of editor on Stephen Spielburg’s E.T, but turned it down in favor of directing her own movie. She directed her first film The Slumber Party Massacre by the age of 27, also for Roger Corman. Jones is featured in the first chapter of Julie MacLusky's book Is There Life After Film School? as well as in The First Time I Got Paid for It by Peter Lefcourt and Laura J. Shapiro. Her work on Indecent Proposal earned Jones a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Screenplay. Amy Holden Jones is one of the creators of the medical dramaThe Resident which premiered in 2018 and is still airing. In 2019, Jones signed a new overall deal with 20th Century Fox TV. Jonnie Davis, President of Creative Affairs, said about Jones, “She’s brimming with ideas, and we’re excited to have her continued services on our series as well as her development. She’s an important voice.” Coming from her deal with 20th Century Fox, she is potentially going to be working as co-writer and co-executive producer for a new crime drama at ABC.
