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John Singleton

Highest Rated: 96% Maya Angelou and Still I Rise (2016)

Lowest Rated: 5% Abduction (2011)

Birthday: Jan 6, 1968

Birthplace: Los Angeles, California, USA

One of the most relevant cinematic voices of his generation, John Singleton entered into the public consciousness with the release of his landmark urban drama "Boyz n the Hood" (1991) in 1991. Born in Los Angeles, California in 1968, Singleton graduated from the University of Southern California's Filmic Writing program in 1990 and sold the script for the film to Columbia Pictures that same year. Based largely on his own experiences growing up in South Central Los Angeles, "Boyz n the Hood" explored issues of race, class, and violence with an artistic finesse that caught both audiences and critics by surprise. It garnered Oscar nominations for Best Original Screenplay and for Best Director-the latter of which made history as Singleton, at 24, was the youngest person ever nominated in the category, as well as the first African-American. Singleton would continue to deal with similar issues in his following film, "Poetic Justice" (1993), which starred Janet Jackson as a young woman who expresses her emotions regarding the injustices around her through striking poetry, which was provided for the film by Maya Angelou. Confronting social questions would remain Singleton's focus in the collegiate-set "Higher Learning" (1995), as well as in the historical drama "Rosewood" (1997), which depicted the 1923 massacre of African-Americans in Rosewood, Florida. Though he would lighten his tone slightly with his rollicking remake of the blaxploitation classic "Shaft" (2000), Singleton remained just as interested in exploring the black experience in film, even inverting many of the hyper-masculine stereotypes about urban men he himself had helped perpetuate in the thought-provoking "Baby Boy" (2001). Throughout the 2000s, Singleton enjoyed using his position in Hollywood to elevate other voices, taking on a producer role on the films "Hustle & Flow" (2005) and "Black Snake Moan" (2006). In 2017, he began producing, writing, and directing the acclaimed series "Snowfall" (FX, 2017-), a drama set during the height of the crack epidemic in Los Angeles-a subject Singleton had been peripherally dealing with in much of his work for decades. Tragically, Singleton died in 2019 following a stroke. He was 51 years old.

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Highest rated movies

96% 88% Maya Angelou and Still I Rise Watchlist 96% 93% Boyz N the Hood Watchlist
91% 84% Baadasssss!
Watchlist
87% 83% Rosewood
Watchlist
83% 82% Hustle & Flow Watchlist
72% 87% Baby Boy
Watchlist
67% 41% Shaft
Watchlist
66% 69% Black Snake Moan
Watchlist
53% 80% Four Brothers Watchlist
46% 74% Higher Learning
Watchlist

Filmography

Movies

Credit
20% 93% Mosagallu Executive Producer - 2020
96% 88% Maya Angelou and Still I Rise Self - 2016
5% 42% Abduction Director $28.1M 2011
15% 66% Illegal Tender Producer $3.1M 2007
66% 69% Black Snake Moan Producer $9.4M 2007
53% 80% Four Brothers Director $74.5M 2005
83% 82% Hustle & Flow Producer $22.2M 2005
91% 84% Baadasssss! Detroit J (Character) $365.2K 2003
37% 50% 2 Fast 2 Furious Director $127.1M 2003
72% 87% Baby Boy Director,
Writer,
Producer
$28.7M 2001
67% 41% Shaft Director,
Writer,
Screenwriter,
Producer
$70.3M 2000
10% 62% Woo Executive Producer $8.1M 1998
87% 83% Rosewood Director $13.1M 1997
46% 74% Higher Learning Director,
Writer,
Producer
$36.8M 1995
35% 83% Poetic Justice Director,
Screenwriter,
Producer
$27.5M 1993
96% 93% Boyz N the Hood Director,
Screenwriter
$55.1M 1991

TV

Credit
92% 93% Snowfall Director,
Creator,
Executive Producer
2017-2019 2021-2023
No Score Yet No Score Yet Close Up With The Hollywood Reporter Guest 2019
No Score Yet 61% Late Night With Seth Meyers Guest 2017
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Daily Show Guest 2017
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Wendy Williams Show Guest 2011
No Score Yet No Score Yet 30 for 30 Director 2010