Bryan Jenkins, Production Engineer
When I decided to dedicate a few blog entries to my production mentors, Bryan Jenkins was one of the first to come to mind. In production, we normally spend more time with our crew mates then we do our spouses and children. I suspect that's why the bonds we create on set often last a lifetime.
Bryan was a field production engineer for the 1995 Olympics and the resident engineer for the Host Broadcast Training program at Clark Atlanta University. As an engineer, he has to know everything about EVERYTHING that makes a broadcast work. That means he is a really, really intelligent guy! Usually, really smart people tend to come off as really cranky to all of us normal folk. Before meeting Bryan formally I was basically warned that he didn't 'suffer fools' kindly. The whispers proved true. When I first met him, he was yelling at someone! I remember thinking, "Oh. That must be him!" We became friends instantly.
Bryan was the first person I met that I would classify as a 'pure' production artist. A true one man arsenal of knowledge, craft, and talent. Half Inspector Gadget and half Jason Bourne - - you could drop him into any production scenario and he would make television.
Not one for the spotlight, Bryan enjoyed the 'dirty work'. He had a passion for making stuff work. If you visited the studio you would often find him behind a rack or crawling under the studio floor running cables. If not there, he'd be building cables, teching gear, or his favorite - smoking cigars while building custom Land Rovers!
As a student I spent almost all my free time with Bryan in and out of the studio. One of the first things he taught was how to wrap cables. He was completely crazy about things being in their place and being in perfect working order. We had some of our best conversations making things 'ready to go'.
Bryan's passion brought an art to the non-glamorous side of production. I can't express how important it was to have seen that. It has allowed me to weather the ups and downs of the business and maintain a joyful spirit in all aspects of a job. Today, as a DP, although it's technically not good for business to be seen wrapping cables, I still enjoy doing it from time to time. And when I do, I'm thinking of my friend.
It's not just what you know, but who you know that will determine how far you go and how long you stay in production.
My advice to folks just starting out is this-- make friends with everyone in production. The result can only make your time on set more memorable and will definitely make you better at your craft. Your friends will teach you things you didn't know. They will keep you level headed. When you make mistakes, and you will make mistakes - - your friends will cover for you. Your friends will recommend you for gigs... I would even go so far as saying it's not the money or accolades that you will value as you look back, it will be the relationships you made.
"People GO to war for all kinds of reasons, but they STAY because of the people they are in the fox hole with."
Bryan Jenkins is currently based in Atlanta, Ga. After 25 years we still work together from time to time. In 2014 Bryan came on as engineer and operator for the Lincoln Journey series I produced. (as seen in the picture above)
Finally, I am happy to report that he is still really, really smart. But thanks to his loving wife and 2 beautiful children, I'm told he no longer yells! LOL!
