Age: 46
male
Barry Jenkins (born November 19, 1979) is an American filmmaker. After making his filmmaking debut with the short film My Josephine (2003), he directed his first feature film, Medicine for Melancholy (2008), for which he received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best First Feature. He is also a creative collaborator and a member of The Chopstars collective. Following an eight-year hiatus from feature filmmaking, Jenkins directed and co-wrote the LGBTQ-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. He became the fourth Black person nominated for Best Director and the second to direct a Best Picture winner. He released his third directorial feature If Beale Street Could Talk 2018, to critical praise and earned nominations for his screenplay at the Academy Awards and Golden Globes. He is also known for his work in television. In 2017, Jenkins directed "Chapter V" of the Netflix series Dear White People. In 2021, he created and directed the Amazon Video limited series The Underground Railroad, based on the novel of the same name. The series received a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Limited Series or Movie nomination and won a Peabody Award. In 2017, Jenkins was included on the annual Time 100 list of the most influential people in the world. Description above from the Wikipedia article Barry Jenkins, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Barry Jenkins
Writer
for Writer in Rising Star: The Dedrick D. Gobert Story
Suggested by kamsismith
Set against the backdrop of 1990s Los Angeles, the film follows Dedrick D. Gobert’s journey from a humble upbringing in Shreveport to a breakout star in Boyz n the Hood. Guided by legendary director John Singleton, Dedrick quickly became a recognizable face in a new wave of African-American cinema, with his role as Dooky leaving an indelible mark. The biopic delves into the challenges of navigating fame, the pressures of the film industry, and the allure of fast Hollywood life. As Dedrick works on Poetic Justice and Higher Learning, the film reveals the man behind the camera—charismatic, driven, and deeply connected to the stories he portrayed on screen. Yet, his success couldn’t shield him from the dangers of the environment he sought to escape. On the brink of a promising future, his life was tragically cut short by a senseless act of violence, just days before his 23rd birthday. Rising Star offers a poignant reflection on Gobert’s brief but impactful career, shedding light on the fragility of success and the enduring influence of his work on Black cinema and culture.
