Barry Jenkins
Birthdate: Nov 19, 1979
Birthplace: Miami, Florida, USA
Barry Jenkins is a highly acclaimed American independent filmmaker who has had, on balance, the most artistically successful career as a Black American cineaste since Spike Lee, including directing and writing the Oscar-winning Moonlight (2016). Jenkins impressively launched his feature filmmaking journey as director/writer of the gorgeous Bay Area-set love story, Medicine for Melancholy (2008), starring Wyatt Cenac, Tracey Heggins, and Elizabeth Acker, premiering at the South by Southwest Film Festival and released by IFC Films and grossing nearly ten times its $15,000 budget.
Jenkins made two short films before Medicine for Melancholy, and then made four shorts afterward from 2009 to 2012, preceding his breakthrough project as director/writer of Moonlight (2016), based on playwright Tarbell Alvin McCraney’s unpublished play and story and co-starring Trevante Rhodes, Andre Holland, Janelle Monáe, Jharrel Jerome, Naomie Harris and Mahershala Ali, and released by A24 to a potent $65 million (on a $4 million budget) along with a huge wave of critical support and industry awards and nominations.
Jenkins’ follow-up as director/writer/producer was another critical success, the elegant James Baldwin adaptation, If Beale Street Could Talk (2018), starring KiKi Layne, Stephan James, Colman Domingo, Teyonah Parris, Michael Beach, Dave Franco, Diego Luna, Pedro Pascal, Ed Skrein, Brian Tyree Henry and Regina King, premiering at the Toronto Film Festival and grossing nearly $21 million for distributor Annapurna Pictures.
Barry Jenkins co-wrote the story (with Chris Boyd and Kirk Sullivan) for Angel Manuel Soto’s drama, Charm City Kings (2020), starring Jahi Di’Allo Winston, Meek Mills, Will Catlett, and Teyonah Parris, and premiering at the Sundance Film Festival before a release by HBO Max. Jenkins served as a producer only on his next two exceptional feature projects: British director/writer Charlotte Wells’ highly acclaimed father-daughter debut drama, Aftersun (2022); and another exceptional debut, Raven Jackson’s poetic family saga, All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt (2023), premiering at the Sundance Film Festival and produced and released by A24.
Jenkins joined another acclaimed work of Black cinema as both writer and producer of the boxing drama, The Fire Inside (2024), co-starring Ryan Destiny and Brian Tyree Henry under Rachel Morrison’s direction and released by Amazon MGM Studios. Jenkins was director only for the first time, and for his first big studio project—Disney’s computer-animated Mufasa: The Lion King (2024), with voice actors Aaron Pierre, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Seth Rogan, Beyoncé, Billy Eichner, Tiffany Boone, Donald Glover, and Mads Mikkelsen, and written by Jeff Nathanson.
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Personal Details
Barry Jenkins was born in Miami, Florida, and was raised in the Miami community of Liberty City by a woman other than his mother. Jenkins has said that he didn’t know who his father was since his mother was a crack-addicted teenage runaway who couldn’t raise him and couldn’t confirm who his father was. Jenkins attended Northwestern Senior High School, where he studied creative writing played football, and was on the track team. Jenkins studied filmmaking at Florida State University College of Motion Picture Arts, from which he graduated with a B.A. degree. Jenkins has been in a relationship with filmmaker Lulu Wang since 2018. Jenkins’s height is 5’ 7”.
Filmography
director
Previous (1)
- 2024 | Mufasa: The Lion King
Mufasa: The Lion King
Mufasa, a cub lost and alone, meets a sympathetic lion named Taka, the heir to a royal bloodline. The chance meeting sets in motion an expansive journey of a group of misfits searching for their destiny.
actor
Previous (1)
- 2018 | If Beale Street Could TalkasProducer(produced by, p.g.a.)
If Beale Street Could Talk
A young woman embraces her pregnancy while she and her family set out to prove her childhood friend and lover innocent of a crime he didn't commit.
Some Facts About Barry Jenkins
Cinephile: Barry Jenkins was attracted to the adventurous world cinema of filmmakers like Claire Denis, Hou Hsiao Hsien, and Wong Kar-wai when he was studying film at Florida State University College of Motion Picture Arts.
Soured (then Sweet) on Hollywood: Jenkins moved to Los Angeles four days after graduating from Florida State’s film school, and worked with Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Productions, but grew disillusioned with the production process and wanted to make his kind of movies—-even though, by 2023-2024, Jenkins would be making a movie at Disney, Hollywood’s biggest studio.
