By Madison Terry
Wendy Eley Jackson is a new lecturer at UC Santa Barbara this school year, and she brings with her 25 years of experience in the film and television industry as a screenwriter and producer.
Jackson got her start at TriStar/Columbia Pictures television, worked in advertising and marketing with Turner Entertainment Networks in her native Georgia, and has developed TV pilots for major networks. She is the founder and executive producer at Auburn Avenue Films, a company specializing in entertainment that promotes positive social change.
Now at UC Santa Barbara, Jackson is the instructor for Basic Screenwriting and Crew Production. Becoming a university instructor has reignited Jackson’s passion for writing and film.
She sat down for an interview to discuss her journey through Hollywood and what knowledge she hopes to impart to her students.
Q: How did you find a passion for screenwriting and the entertainment industry?
A: I graduated from UC Berkeley and I was headed to law school and I was driving across the Bay Bridge and broke down crying because I realized I was becoming a lawyer to please my father. At the time I had a professor named Dr. Janet Aleman and she said: ‘What is it that you could do all day and you think you could work at it seven days a week? You might get tired but you wouldn’t cease from pursuing that goal.’ I said probably developing for television and film. And she picked up the phone and made a call to Sunset Gower Studios [in Hollywood]. I took a job as a temp and within two weeks I was put on the desk of the executive vice president of TriStar Television, Helen Verno. I became her executive assistant. It was then I realized this is something I want to do and I’ve been doing it ever since.
Q: What would you say was your first “big break” to get into screenwriting?
A: The first big break really was me giving notes for a movie called ‘The Long Island Lolita Story.’ I learned about how to option, I learned about adaptation, I learned about really understanding how story is told. I was not the screenwriter, but the person within Sony - Sony and TriStar were merged as one company at this point – sitting in on all the development meetings, and sitting with the producers and the writers. I started to learn what the journey was.
Q: Were there any major obstacles along your journey?
A: Learning that you’re going to hear 200 no’s before you get to the one ‘maybe.’ That was hard. And you can’t wear your emotions, as a creative, on your sleeve. That was a challenge to really believe in something when you feel like this is your purpose, it’s purpose-driven.
Q: What made you want to step into that role of teaching?
A: I think that’s part of my purpose. At 49 my purpose has met my passion. It’s a way for me to give, but in giving you also sharpen your own skills, reinforce what you already know. And to see students discover how to tell the stories that they may have had in their head, and how to devise those storylines, man that feels great. It’s like watching kids take their first step.
Q: What are the next steps for you in your career?
A: I am working on a limited series called ‘Ella and Marilyn.’ It’s about Ella Fitzgerald and her little-known friendship with Marilyn Monroe to help desegregate nightclubs in Los Angeles. I also optioned two New York Times’ best sellers, Where Peachtree Meets Sweet Auburn and 30 Days a Black Man. And I’m doing a documentary on [Georgia politician] Stacey Abrams called ‘Counting the Ballots’ about voter suppression.My plate is full, but this is the time for me to do all of this now. My children have graduated from college and I have the time. I enjoy teaching. I didn’t know that I would enjoy teaching this much, but it is waking up every morning with a purpose of wanting to see everyone have an opportunity to fulfill their dreams — and I’m not just saying that. That’s a great feeling, it really is.
Madison Terry is a Senior at UC Santa Barbara majoring in Communication. She wrote this for her course Journalism for Web and Social Media.