Today we’d like to introduce you to Benny Jenkins.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Having grown up in a small farming town in Southern Indiana, hard work has been ingrained in who I am since I was a child. I started producing music when I was 16, releasing my first album at 18. Performing over 100 shows a year while I was in high school, my career as a professional musician started early. After forming a multitude of bands and attending the University of Southern Indiana, I decided to move to Nashville at 19 with my guitar player and co-writer at the time, Grayson Gerni. Once seating up shop in Nashville, we hit the road with our new folk-rock band, The Bad Hats. We pursued this project for three years to a myriad of cities and festivals across the country. With the unfortunate events of Covid-19, each of our members found other opportunities to express themselves. Grayson and myself found film as both a new strength and old love. We quickly setup our film company, Forest Films to serve musicians and filmmakers in Nashville, Atlanta, Memphis, and Knoxville.
Following the rapid success of our film company, I was asked to join the team at Round Room Records as their creative director. I have loved my position and am actively filling roles managing artists through development deals with our label, designing content for our larger non-profit partners, and directing artistic visions for clients and the company as a whole.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Hell no! Nothing easy is worth doing or really feels all that good when you accomplish it. Managing and booking your own career as an indie artist and crowd-sourcing your funding is immensely difficult, especially when that stress is compounded by the need to write, produce, and perform quality music. Building a great team around me has been a complete game-changer for dealing with these struggles.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am a creative director. I can take an idea to a vision, a vision to team, and a team to delivery. I’ve worked on animated shows, feature films, music videos, product commercials, product photography, graphic design, event planning, online marketing campaigns, NFT content, and more. Originally, Forest Films was focused on creating highly-stylized content that delivered the unexpected. We pushed our skills in artistic design, creative lighting, interesting camera movements, and challenging concepts. We learned a lot from this process and found creative solutions to difficult problems, but it wasn’t satisfying who we were at our core as friends and as a company. We focus on personal growth.
My new goal moving forward is to provide the most wholesome, feel-good content that can be visualized and felt. Understanding the moments in our lives that shape us and taking the audience on a journey of self-actualization and relational awareness.
Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
DO THE DAMN THING! If you want to do something, do it. Don’t hesitate. Ask if you need help. Once people see you working, they will jump on board. Momentum is powerful and persuasive.
Contact Info:
- Email: benny@forestfilms.us
- Website: https://vimeo.com/504618037
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bennyjenkinsart/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ForestFilms/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyLIHxtF3Ff6yicb7-8LJIQ
