Media release from Berry College, Written by Public Relations Student Bella Brown:
The critically-acclaimed creator of “The Chosen” TV series visited Berry College Oct. 15 to chat with students and discuss his rise from crowdfunding to global fame.
Dallas Jenkins spoke about his experience in Hollywood and overcoming failure to roughly 700 students, faculty, staff and guests at Berry’s Cage Athletic Center. He is an American film and television director, writer and producer. On Prime Video, his series, “The Chosen” reached the no. 1 position in the U.S. following the season 5 debut and has remained in the platform’s top 10 rankings through 2025. The show has been watched by an estimated 280 million people worldwide.
“The world is going to bring you with pleas for a plan, set a goal – be yourself. You do you, just do it.” Jenkins said at the lecture and limited pre-screening of episode 1, season 6 of the series. “Whether you’re a believer or not. You can only focus on what you’ve been called to do. Only focus on the two fish and five loaves.”
Jenkins also spoke with filmmaking students in the Communication Department before his lecture.
“Students were excited to hear first-hand about Mr. Jenkins’ career – how he broke into the industry and moved from film directing to creating and producing such a highly successful streaming series,” said Associate Professor of Communication Curt Hersey. “One of the best pieces of advice he gave them was to use this time in college to experiment and collaborate with each other producing their own content.”
Student Kailey Knoop appreciated the meaningful opportunity.
“As a filmmaking student who aspires to share faith focused, life changing messages such as those of The Chosen, this was a moment that will always be remembered,” Knoop said.
For the past 25 years Jenkins has been directing and producing films. His first film was “Hometown Legend”, a film distributed by Warner Brothers in 2000. Jenkins has been recognized as one of Hollywood Reporter’s “50 Most Powerful TV Producers” and Variety500’s “most influential leader in media and entertainment.”
Jenkins’ event was made possible through the Gloria Shatto Lecture Series which honors the memory of Berry and Georgia’s first female college president. Shatto, who served from 1980-1998, believed strongly that there is more to a college education than what can be learned in the classroom. The Shatto Lecture Series honors her vision by bringing Berry speakers of international renown.
For more information on the Gloria Shatto Lecture Series, visit https://berry.edu/students-faculty-staff/events/shatto.
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