Barry Jenkins

Barry Jenkins (born November 19, 1979) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. After making his filmmaking debut with the short film My Josephine, he received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best First Feature for Medicine for Melancholy (2008).

This article is about the director, producer, and screenwriter. For the musician, see Barry Jenkins (musician).

Barry Jenkins
Jenkins in 2009
Born (1979-11-19) November 19, 1979
Miami, Florida, U.S.
Alma materFlorida State University
OccupationFilmmaker
Years active2003–present

Following an eight-year hiatus from feature filmmaking, Jenkins directed and co-wrote the LGBT-themed independent drama Moonlight (2016), which won numerous accolades, including the Academy Award for Best Picture. Jenkins received an Oscar nomination for Best Director and jointly won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay with Tarell Alvin McCraney.[1] He became the fourth black person to be nominated for Best Director and the second black person to direct a Best Picture winner. He released his third directorial feature If Beale Street Could Talk in 2018 to critical praise, and earned nominations for his screenplay at the Academy Awards and Golden Globes.

Early life

Jenkins was born in 1979 at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, Florida,[2] the youngest of four siblings, each from a different father.[3] His father separated from his mother while she was pregnant with Jenkins, believing that he was not Jenkins's father; he died when Jenkins was 12.[3] Jenkins grew up in Liberty City and was primarily raised by another older woman (who had also looked after his mother while she was a teenager) in an overcrowded apartment.[3] He attended Miami Northwestern Senior High School, where he played football and ran track.[2]

Jenkins studied film at the Florida State University College of Motion Picture Arts,[2] where he met many of his future frequent collaborators, including cinematographer James Laxton, producer Adele Romanski and editors Nat Sanders and Joi McMillon.[4] Four days after graduating from FSU, Jenkins moved to Los Angeles to pursue a filmmaking career, spending two years working on various projects as a production assistant.[2]

Career

2000s–2010s: Early work

Jenkins debuted on the screen with his 2003 short My Josephine, but his first breakout film was Medicine for Melancholy, a low-budget independent feature, produced with Strike Anywhere films and released in 2008. The movie stars Wyatt Cenac and Tracey Heggins.[5] The film was well received by critics.[3]

After the success of his previous film, Jenkins wrote an epic for Focus Features about "Stevie Wonder and time travel" and an adaptation of the James Baldwin novel If Beale Street Could Talk, neither of which initially entered production.[3][6] He later worked as a carpenter and co-founded Strike Anywhere, an advertising company. In 2011, he wrote and directed Remigration, a sci-fi short film about gentrification. Jenkins became a writer for HBO's The Leftovers, about which he said, "I didn't get to do much."[3] In 2012, he received a United States Artists Fellowship grant.[7]

2016: Moonlight
Main article: Moonlight (2016 film)

Jenkins directed and co-wrote, with Tarell Alvin McCraney, the 2016 drama Moonlight, his first feature film in eight years.[3] The film was shot in Miami and premiered at the Telluride Film Festival in September 2016 to vast critical acclaim and awards buzz.[8][9] A.O. Scott of The New York Times wrote: "Moonlight dwells on the dignity, beauty and terrible vulnerability of black bodies, on the existential and physical matter of black lives."[10] Variety wrote: "Barry Jenkins' vital portrait of a South Florida youth revisits the character at three stages in his life, offering rich insights into the contemporary African-American experience."[11] David Sims of The Atlantic wrote: "Like all great films, Moonlight is both specific and sweeping. It’s a story about identity—an intelligent, challenging work."[12]

The film won dozens of accolades, including the Golden Globe Award for Best Picture – Drama[13] and the Academy Award for Best Picture at the 89th Academy Awards.[14] Jenkins and McCraney also won Best Adapted Screenplay. Overall, the film received eight Oscar nominations, including Best Director.[15]

2017–present: Further projects

In 2017, Jenkins directed the fifth episode of the Netflix original series Dear White People.[16]

In 2013, the same year he wrote Moonlight, he wrote a film adaptation of James Baldwin's novel If Beale Street Could Talk.[17] Production began in October 2017 with Annapurna Pictures, Pastel, and Plan B.[18] The film was released in December 2018 to critical acclaim. It garnered numerous accolades, including Best Supporting Actress wins for Regina King at the Academy Awards and Golden Globes. Jenkins received an Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay.

Upcoming projects include a series based on Colson Whitehead's novel The Underground Railroad and a screenplay based on the life of Claressa Shields.[19] The main cast of the television adaptation will include Thuso Mbedu as Cora, with Chase W. Dillon as Homer and Aaron Pierre as Caesar. The project was first set up on the heels of Jenkins’s Oscar wins for Moonlight, with Amazon Studios officially ordering it to series in June 2018.[20]

Personal life

Jenkins has been in a relationship with fellow filmmaker Lulu Wang since 2018.[21]

Filmography

Film
Year Title Director Writer Producer Ref.
2008 Medicine for Melancholy Yes Yes No [22]
2016 Moonlight Yes Yes No [23]
2018 If Beale Street Could Talk Yes Yes Yes [18]
2020 Charm City Kings No Story No [24]
TBA Flint Strong No Yes No [25]

Television
Year Title Director Writer Producer Notes Ref.
2017 Dear White People Yes No No Episode: "Chapter V" [26]
TBA The Underground Railroad Yes Yes Yes 11 episodes [27]

Awards and nominations
Year Award Category Nominated work Result
2008Independent Spirit AwardBest First FeatureMedicine for MelancholyNominated
Someone to Watch AwardNominated
2009Gotham AwardsBreakthrough DirectorNominated
2009Los Angeles Film FestivalBest Narrative FeatureNominated
2009San Francisco Film Critics CircleMarlon Riggs AwardWon
2009Chicago International Film FestivalNew Directors CompetitionNominated
2009IndieWire Critics PollBest First Feature5th Place
2016Academy AwardsBest DirectorMoonlightNominated
Best Adapted ScreenplayWon
2016Golden Globe AwardBest DirectorNominated
Best ScreenplayNominated
2016British Academy Film AwardsBest ScreenplayNominated
2016Independent Spirit AwardBest DirectorWon
Best ScreenplayWon
Robert Altman AwardWon
2016Gotham AwardsBest FeatureWon
Best ScreenplayWon
Audience AwardWon
2016IndieWire Critics PollBest DirectorWon
Best ScreenplayNominated
2016Broadcast Film Critics AwardBest DirectorNominated
Best ScreenplayNominated
2016Directors Guild of AmericaDirecting - Feature FilmNominated
2016Writers Guild of AmericaBest Original ScreenplayWon
2016Los Angeles Film Critics AssociationBest DirectorWon
2016National Board of ReviewBest DirectorWon
2016National Society of Film CriticsBest DirectorWon
2016New York Film Critics CircleBest DirectorWon
2016London Film FestivalOfficial CompetitionNominated
2016Toronto International Film FestivalPlatform PrizeNominated
2019Academy AwardBest Adapted ScreenplayIf Beale Street Could TalkNominated
2019Golden Globe AwardBest ScreenplayNominated
2019British Academy Film AwardBest Adapted ScreenplayNominated
2019Independent Spirit AwardBest FilmWon
Best DirectorWon
2019Gotham AwardsBest FeatureNominated
Best ScreenplayNominated
2019Broadcast Film Critics AwardBest Adapted ScreenplayWon
2019Writers Guild of AmericaBest Adapted ScreenplayNominated
2019National Board of ReviewBest Adapted ScreenplayWon
2019Toronto International Film FestivalPeople's Choice Award2nd Place
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References
  1. Rothman, Michael (February 26, 2017). "'Moonlight' wins best picture after 'La La Land' mistakenly announced". ABC News. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
  2. Rodriguez, Rene (February 27, 2017). "'Moonlight' director says growing up in Miami, 'Life was heavy,' but it's a 'beautiful place'". Miami Herald. Retrieved January 18, 2020.
  3. Stephenson, Will. "Barry Jenkins Slow-Cooks His Masterpiece". The Fader. Retrieved October 22, 2016.
  4. Ugwu, Reggie (January 22, 2019). "Barry Jenkins Is Trying Not to Think About 'Barry Jenkins'". The New York Times. Retrieved January 18, 2020.
  5. Scott, A. O. (January 29, 2009). "In Barry Jenkins's First Movie, a Short-Term Romance Leads to Big Questions". The New York Times. Retrieved October 22, 2016.
  6. Keegan, Rebecca. "To give birth to 'Moonlight,' writer-director Barry Jenkins dug deep into his past". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 27, 2016.
  7. "United States Artists » Barry Jenkins". Retrieved May 26, 2020.
  8. Hammond, Pete (September 1, 2016). "Telluride Film Festival Lineup: 'Sully', 'La La Land', 'Arrival', 'Bleed For This' & More". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved September 1, 2016.
  9. Buchanan, Kyle (October 21, 2016). "Moonlight's Barry Jenkins on Directing One of the Best Films of the Year". Vulture. Retrieved October 22, 2016.
  10. Scott, A. O. (October 20, 2016). "'Moonlight': Is This the Year's Best Movie?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 9, 2017.
  11. Debruge, Peter (September 3, 2016). "Film Review: 'Moonlight'". Variety. Retrieved January 9, 2017.
  12. Sims, David. "'Moonlight' Is a Film of Uncommon Grace". The Atlantic. Retrieved January 12, 2017.
  13. Berman, Eliza. "'Moonlight' Wins Golden Globe for Best Picture, Drama". TIME. Retrieved January 9, 2017.
  14. "Oscars 2017: 'Moonlight' wins best picture in a wild ending". USA Today. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
  15. Opam, Kwame (January 24, 2017). "Oscar nominations 2017: Moonlight and La La Land will go head-to-head at the Academy Awards". The Verge. Retrieved February 5, 2017.
  16. Jean Bentley (April 30, 2017). "Inside 'Dear White People's' Pivotal and Emotional Fifth Episode".
  17. Black, Julia (January 9, 2017). "Moonlight Director Barry Jenkins Hopes His Film Pulls People Out of Their Comfort Zones". Esquire. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
  18. Haigney, Sophie (July 10, 2017). "Barry Jenkins to Follow 'Moonlight' With a James Baldwin Work". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
  19. "'Moonlight' Filmmaker Barry Jenkins Will Write Script For Fact-Based Female Boxer Coming-of-Age Drama". IndieWire. October 7, 2016.
  20. Otterson, Joe (April 16, 2019). "Barry Jenkins' 'Underground Railroad' Series at Amazon Sets Three Main Cast Members". Variety.
  21. Gardner, Chris (March 13, 2019). "New Power Couple Alert: Barry Jenkins Makes Red Carpet Debut With Indie Filmmaker Lulu Wang". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 18, 2020.
  22. "Medicine for Melancholy (2008) | Awards" IMDb.
  23. "Moonlight (I) (2016) | Awards" IMDb.
  24. Galuppo, Mia (December 17, 2019). "Sundance: Sony Pictures Classics to Release 'Charm City Kings'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 17, 2019.
  25. Kroll, Justin (June 19, 2019). "'Black Panther' DP Rachel Morrison to Make Directorial Debut on Barry Jenkins Script 'Flint Strong'". Variety. Retrieved March 28, 2020.
  26. "Dear White People" "Chapter V" IMDb
  27. "Barry Jenkins". IMDb. Retrieved March 27, 2020.
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