Academy Award-winning director Barry Jenkins shared candid advice about sustaining a creative career during a Directors Guild of America panel, revealing the financial realities many filmmakers face even after critical success.
Jenkins, known for directing Moonlight and If Beale Street Could Talk, disclosed that he worked at Banana Republic for three and a half years following his acclaimed 2008 debut Medicine for Melancholy. Despite having representation at CAA and a deal with Focus Features after the film became a New York Times Critics' Pick, Jenkins said having critical recognition "doesn't pay the rent."