By Liv Blair
Wendy Eley Jackson is somewhat of a legend in the UCSB Film and Media Studies department. Her screenwriting classes earn rave review, students consistently go to her for mentorship and many film students have been known to say, “Oh, take that class—no brainer. Wendy is teaching it.”
Jackson is founder and executive producer of Auburn Avenue Films, a production company that stresses collaborative storytelling. It is well-known for producing Maynard, a 2017 documentary detailing the personal and professional life of Atlanta’s first black mayor, Maynard Jackson. Throughout her career, she has worked with SONY Pictures and Turner Broadcasting as well as executive produced and written for other film and television projects.
Lecturer Wendy Eley Jackson is a recipient of the Producers Guild Mark as well as the founder of Auburn Auburn Avenue Films, a flourishing Georgia production company. As As a UCSB faculty member who has worked within the film and television industry, she provides mentorship to many UCSB Film and Media Studies students.
Jackson is one of the few UCSB film lecturers who know the inner workings of the film industry through lived experience. Her work on Maynard earned her the Producers Guild Mark, and a feature film she wrote, Napa Ever After, was aired by Hallmark under its Mahogany banner in 2023.
“Maynard,” produced by UCSB lectuer Wendy Jackson’s Auburn Avenue Films, is currently available to stream on Apple TV.
It has made her a realist. “Getting into the industry is like Willy Wonka winning the Golden Ticket,” Jackson said. “Don’t take it for granted.”
Prior to her career in film, Jackson had set out to earn a law degree rather than a Master of Fine Arts.
“Growing up the way that I did in the Deep South, for African Americans, our parents kind of guided us in four ways: You become a doctor, a lawyer, an engineer, or a teacher,” she recalled. It wasn’t until a college professor asked her, ‘What could you do every day no matter how little or how much they pay you? that she decided to pursue film — though she did not know for certain what her professional calling would be.
“I don’t think at 22 you really know,” she said. “Some people know, but I don’t think the vast amounts of people can say what would make them long-term happy.”
Jackson then wrote letters to Hollywood production companies until she landed her first job in L.A. with Marcy Carsey and Tom Werner, who ran an independent production house that produced Roseanne, That ‘70s Show, and many others. UCSB’s Carsey-Wolf Center is co-named for Marcy Carsey. Jackson then found herself working as a temp for TriStar TV, a television production studio, under its executive vice president, in the years when women were just breaking into executive positions.
“If you’ve ever seen The Devil Wears Prada, she was Miranda Priestly, and I was Andy,” Jackson said. “I knew she was smart, and I learned so much from her, but I hated the way she treated me.”
But Jackson never complained and learned how the Hollywood system functioned. She looks back on her time with a tough boss as a difficult but necessary learning experience. “It’s kind of like resenting your parents for things, and then as you get older, you’re like, oh my god, they were teaching me!”
At UCSB, Jackson is one of few faculty members who have worked within the Hollywood system. She believes it’s important to learn about the industry from people who have lived through it.
“The biggest advice I could give anybody your age is: don’t burn bridges,” Jackson said. “I learned very quickly you’re not competing against other students that have the same skillset. You are competing against Barbara Streisand’s gardener.”
UCSB Film and Media Studies Lecturer Wendy Eley Jackson, on set.
As a mentor, she has seen her hard work pay off. Recently, one student she took under her wing throughout his undergraduate career ended up working on Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, an Oscar-nominated film.
“If you’re going to be in this industry, think of other people you can bring along with you,” Jackson said. “I believe that any prosperity or blessings I have in my life right now is because I’m willing to give you the most valuable thing I have — my time.”
As for that student who is now working with the likes of Scorsese? He has a dog named Jackson.
Liv Blair is a third-year Film and Media Studies student. She wrote this piece for her Digital Journalism course.