JOHN SINGLETON

An Evening with John Singleton: Cinema and Society

February 26 at 7:30pm · Mountainlair Ballroom

Producer, director, and screenwriter, John Singleton most recently wrote, produced, and directed Baby Boy, starring R&B singer Tyrese, Ving Rhames, Snoop Dogg, and newcomer Taraji P. Henson. The film has received four NAACP nominations.

Singleton also wrote, produced, and directed Shaft, starring Samuel L. Jackson for Paramount Pictures. Prior to Shaft, he directed Rosewood, starring John Voight and Ving Rhames. He also wrote, produced, and directed Higher Learning, starring Omar Epps and Laurence Fishburne, and Poetic Justice, starring Janet Jackson.

While Singleton was attending the Filming Writing Program at USC, he won three writing awards from the university, which led to a contract with Creative Artists Agency during his sophomore year. Singleton has also received the John Nicholson Award in 1989 and 1990, and the Robert Risking Award in 1999.

Singleton 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. He was the youngest individual and first African American filmmaker ever to be nominated for a Best Director Academy Award.

Boyz N the Hood featured a strong cast and deft direction that humanized the violence of South Central L.A., rather than sensationalizing it. The film was a major critical and commercial triumph. It was one of the highest-grossing films in history to have been directed by an African American.

Singleton has won numerous awards, including the LAFCA New Generation Award (1991), the Movie Award for Best New Filmmaker (1992), the New York Film Critics Award for Best New Director (1991), the Special Award for Directional Debut of the Year (1992), and the ShoWest Award for Screenwriter of the Year.