In Spring 2016, July donated an archive of Joanie4Jackie to the Getty Research Institute. July continued to run the project for years, handing it off to the film department of Bard College in 2003. July's first film, Atlanta, appears on the second tape of the series. July also credits the project to the loneliness she was experiencing at the time, but felt she learned from the project immensely, saying 'that was my film school'. When it began in 1995, the project was called Big Miss Moviola but was soon renamed Joanie4Jackie. Participants sent a self-made short film to July, who mailed back a compilation videotape containing that film and nine others – a 'chainletter tape'. The idea was to connect as many women artists as possible, let them see each other's work, and foster a sense of community. One of July's reasons for starting the project was to apply the concepts of riot grrrl into the film making world. July was immersed in the riot grrl scene in Portland and motivated by its do-it-yourself ethos, and she began an effort that she described as 'a free alternative distribution system for women movie-makers'. July reading at Modern Times Bookstore in San Francisco However, while she worked on her art, July had to work several odd jobs she worked as a waitress, a tastemaker for Coca-Cola, a locksmith.

In the early stages of her film career, she created several small video projects and performances years prior to her feature film, Me and You and Everyone We Know. Portland is also where she began participating in the riot grrrl scene that was beginning to grow in the early 1990s. In an interview for the Tate, she explains that she still tries to practice performance, partially due to its stark differences from film making, such as its live audience or how 'present' it is in comparison.

Her performances were successful she has been quoted as saying she has not worked a day job since she was 23 years old. She relocated to Portland, Oregon, and took up performance art, or 'one woman shows'. She later attended the film school at University of California Santa Cruz, but she dropped out during her second year, moving to Portland. She describes this as an experience that pushed her heavily. When she was 16, she wrote and directed The Lifers, a play for which she cast 20 Latina women. She attended The College Preparatory School in Oakland for high school.

She was raised in Berkeley, California, where she first began staging plays at 924 Gilman Street, a local punk rock club. July was encouraged to work on her short fiction by author Rick Moody. July is the cousin of American ballerina Skylar Brandt.

The metal bowl miranda july