Filmmaker Talk: Wendy Eley Jackson – “The Transformative Power of Storytelling”

Wendy Eley Jackson draws on three decades of experience in film and television in her talk, “The Transformative Power of Storytelling” for a Westmont Downtown Lecture on Thursday, Feb. 1, at 5:30 p.m. at the Community Arts Workshop, 631 Garden Street, in downtown Santa Barbara. The event is free and open to the public; no tickets or reservations are required. Free parking is available on the streets surrounding CAW or in nearby city parking lots. For more information, please call (805) 565-6051.

“My talk will resonate with every demographic as I explore why it’s important to harness the influence of storytelling to make a positive impact in communities,” Jackson says.

She began teaching at Westmont in fall 2020 and founded the Montecito Student Film Festival. Recently she made news for writing the screen play to “Napa Ever After,” an historic Mahogany movie premier on the Hallmark Channel.

A native of Atlanta, Jackson earned a Bachelor of Arts in English literature at the University of California at Berkeley and her M.F.A. in screenwriting from the University of Georgia.

She serves as the CEO of Auburn Avenue Films, a production company specializing in entertainment that brings social awareness and engages audiences to participate in social change. At Westmont, she teaches Documentary Filmmaking, Screenwriting, and Creative Writing for the theater and English departments.

“My hope is to find a happy marriage between the written word, the actors and the production crew that will bring great storytelling to life,” she says. “Story has the ability to build bridges of empathy, understanding and respect, helping to make sense of our lives and the world around us. As a professor, my goal is to help the students develop their stories as expressed through theater and the written word to inspire social impact.”

Her experience in the media industry ranges from working in made-for-television movies for TriStar/Columbia Pictures Television, to advertising and marketing with Turner Entertainment Networks, to developing television pilots for major networks. She won the Producers Guild of America mark for her work on the feature-length documentary “Maynard,” which explores the life and legacy of Atlanta’s first black mayor.

While serving as the executive producer of “Welcome to Pine Lake,” a 2020 documentary about a progressive all-female city council outside of Atlanta, she uncovered a more interesting story about systemic racism in the idyllic town of fewer than 800 residents.

She produced “Facing the Falls,” a documentary about international human-rights advocate Cara Yar Khan, who went on a 12-day Grand Canyon expedition while battling an aggressive, fatal, muscle-wasting disease.

She is also co-writing a feature film, “30 Days A Black Man,” adapted the award-winning novel, “30 Days A Black Man: The Forgotten Story of Jim Crow” by Bill Steigerwald.

The Westmont Foundation sponsors Westmont Downtown: Conversations about Things that Matter, a free lecture series, as well as the annual Westmont President’s Breakfast, which features Richard Haass, a veteran diplomat, on March 1 at Hilton Santa Barbara Beachfront Resort. Tickets go on sale Feb. 2 at westmont.edu/breakfast.