John Singleton

Producer, director and screenwriter John Singleton has helped to create some of the more prominent and esteemed black films in the past decade. He exploded onto the screen with his first film, Boyz ‘N the Hood, a tough, intelligent, plain-speaking look at friends in gang-ridden South Central L.A. that earned him Oscar nominations for best original screenplay and best director, becoming the youngest and first African American filmmaker to do so.

He went on to produce and direct Baby Boy, and Shaft, starring Samuel L. Jackson, and Rosewood, starring John Voight and Ving Rhames. Among his other works are Higher Learning starring Omar Epps and Laurence Fishburne, and Poetic Justice. In 2006 he produced his second independent film, Illegal Tender, the story of a mother and son who flee from the thugs who killed his father. He has also directed television commercials for Coca-Cola and AT&T with D.L. Hughley.

Singleton has claimed numerous awards including the LAFCA New Generation Award, the MTV Movie Award for Best New Filmmaker, the New York Film Critics Award for Best New Director, the Special Award for Directorial Debut of the Year, and the ShoWest Award for Screenwriter of the Year.

Currently, Singleton is directing Tulia, a new movie starring Halle Berry. He is also preparing to direct a big screen version of the 1980’s television series The A-Team.