Andrew Jenks

Often dubbed ‘the voice of his generation,’ Andrew Jenks is an award-winning filmmaker who has lived in New York City, Katmandu, Nepal, Brussels, Belgium and Japan. Recently adding ‘author’ to his list of accomplishments, Andrew released his first book, My Adventures As A Young Filmmaker, to coincide with the second season launch of his highly successful documentary series on MTV, World of Jenks. In both the book and the show, Andrew brings the viewer into the life of his subjects and ultimately allows the audience to see the world through someone else’s eyes. It’s this type of intimate connection that Andrew is able to draw from his subject and himself that rings authenticity to his peers and audience.

When Andrew was 16, he founded the Hendrick Hudson Film Festival. By its second year, the festival hosted keynote speaker James Earl Jones and has since become one of the biggest high school film festivals in the United States.

At age 19, Andrew moved into an assisted living facility in order to capture the true essence of this often overlooked community. What started as a simple, low-budget documentary turned into an international hit. Andrew Jenks, Room 335 starring Andrew and a group of elderly facility residents, went on to win top prizes at a number of domestic and international film festivals. HBO released the film domestically in 2008 to rave reviews and critical acclaim.

At 21, ESPN financed Andrew’s second film, The Zen of Bobby V, which tracked Bobby Valentine, an American baseball coach who had become a national icon in Japan.

In 2010, Andrew launched World of Jenks on MTV where he focused on stories not normally told: from a young homeless woman to a physically abused football star, to a young adult with autism. The series launch garnered over 5-million viewers, marking MTV’s highest-rated series launch to date.

He created the All-American High School Film Festival, which sold out at AMC Theaters in Times Square in early October, with hundreds of students attending from around the world, as well as a college fair, technology fair and judges ranging from Kirsten Stewart to Morgan Spurlock to James Earl Jones. It is the biggest high school film festival in the world.

Andrew is the creator of the YouTube Series, It’s About a Girl, a magical realism web series that premiered in July 2013. He plays a man who pursues the girl of his dreams, played by Taryn Southern. Tubefilter praised the series for seeking a connection between dreams and reality and preferring symbolism and emotions over dialogue.

In 2014, Andrew partnered with former MSNBC host Dylan Ratigan, launching the New York-based production company Jenks & Ratigan Productions. They are currently developing a Untitled Ryan Ferguson Documentary presenting a revolutionary look into America’s judicial system through the prism of one of the past decade’s most controversial cases.

Andrew has appeared on NBC’s The Today Show, CBS’s The Early Show, Fox News Channel’s Fox and Friends, MSNBC, CNN, and has been interviewed on dozens of other television, print, and radio programs worldwide.