John Singlenton Director, screenwriter and producer Date of Birth: 06.01.1968 Country: USA

Biography of John Singleton

John Daniel Singleton, a director, screenwriter, and producer, was born in 1968 in Los Angeles, California. He studied the craft of screenwriting at the University of Southern California, and his first film was released in 1991. The social drama "Boyz n the Hood" was Singleton's debut work as a 23-year-old director, and it turned out to be bright and talented. The film, which was nearly nine times profitable in the box office, presented a harsh and dramatic narrative about crime among African Americans. The film portrayed black people fiercely and thoughtlessly destroying each other in shootouts or fights on the streets and corners of American cities, suffering from drugs, and dying from AIDS. The controversial film received criticism but did not leave anyone indifferent. "Every 21st African American will be killed" - these are the opening words of the dry police report in "Boyz n the Hood," and the film ends with a passionate plea: "Keep the peace!" John Singleton (by the way, he appeared in his own film as a mailman) became the youngest and first African American to be nominated for an Oscar for directing and original screenplay. Singleton's next film, the drama "Poetic Justice," was released in 1993. Janet Jackson, who played the lead role in the film, as well as Tupac Shakur, managed to convey the director's main idea of seeking justice and harmony in a cruel world to the audience. Just like in his first film, Singleton wrote the screenplay for "Poetic Justice." In 1995, the director made another film based on his own screenplay. This time, his film, "Higher Learning," featured several small stories from the lives of freshman students at an American university, addressing various personal, racial, and political problems. The historical action film "Rosewood," based on real events, was released in 1997 and told a horrifying story of the residents of a small town who became victims of a gang of thugs that went rampant in the area in the early 1920s. This time, Singleton directed the film based on Gregory Poirier's screenplay. In 2000, Singleton directed the remake of the popular action film "Shaft," released almost thirty years earlier. Samuel L. Jackson played the titular role, and the first actor to portray John Shaft, Richard Roundtree, also appeared in the film as the uncle of the main character. In the Russian release, the film was titled "Detective Shaft." According to critics, Singleton was considered to have worked "on autopilot" this time, and the film, at the very least, did not become a significant cinematic event. In 2001, the director, once again serving as a screenwriter, released the crime drama "Baby Boy," which told the story of a young African American man who had been living his whole life under his mother's wing. The film does not feature fights, shootings, or violence. Instead, it makes the audience reflect on life, specifically the lives of African Americans, which is the most familiar side of life to Singleton. In 2003, Singleton worked on the hit film "2 Fast 2 Furious," which sparked controversy and received mixed reviews from the public. However, the box office numbers spoke for themselves. In 2005, Singleton directed another action film, "Four Brothers," which focused on four brothers, adopted sons of a woman who became a victim of killers. They returned home to bury their mother... and her murderers. Singleton's most recent work to date is the adventure action film "The Wheelman," starring Vin Diesel in the lead role. In addition to directing and writing screenplays, Singleton works extensively as a producer, participating in both his own projects and others. John Singleton has been married multiple times and has five children from different marriages.