there's a new movie that really cuts to the heart of an american crisis boys in the hood it is an
important movie this movie was written and directed by a young black man who is only
23 years old he's with us today welcome john singleton american film director writer and
producer john daniel singleton was born on january 6 1968 in los angeles california he watched a lot
of movies and television growing up john's biggest writing influence would turn out to be woody allen
after seeing his films bananas and annie hall when john realized that woody wrote
every word he was hearing he knew that this was the level he needed to rise to
after high school john enrolled at the university of southern california's school of cinematic arts
and joined the school's filmic writing program he did an interview in 2016 with the television
academy foundation about his writing process he confessed that he prefers to write longhand first
before typing it out on a computer i feel the mind moves quicker than your hands on a keyboard can
so if you can write it out you can change your idea you have it in your notebook it's organic
it's there you can touch it you can feel it when you get on a computer and you compose your ideas
you may second think yourself and then delete it and it may be something that you really really had
an inspired thought that's there then it's not there anymore in his final year jon decided to
write a screenplay for a movie he planned to call boys in the hood the script would actually serve
two purposes he was also required to write a script for one of his classes to graduate
as he had already learned to do in class john wrote about what he knew john knew south central
los angeles so the script quickly unfolded as he drew experiences from his own life and from the
lives of the people around him years later that script would launch his career and make him famous
john would graduate from usc in 1990 and immediately apply and by the skin of his teeth be
accepted into graduate school little did he know his school days were over he would make his mark
in the professional movie making world in a major way the very next year john's film debut 1991's
boyz in the hood an inner city dramatization of his upbringings in south central l.a was both
a critical and commercial success starting out he pitched the script around town and got nothing but
a bunch of rejections then russell simmons got his hands on it read it loved it and started talking
it up to colombia john even revealed years later that russell was supposed to produce the film
but that was a no-go after he cursed out the head of the studio for his first project jon
received academy award nominations for best original screenplay and best director at age 24
he became the youngest person ever and the first african-american to be nominated for the latter
the film was also featured at that year's cannes film festival in the years since boys in the
hood has attained classic status and in 2002 the united states library of congress selected it for
preservation in the national film registry john's directing ability led to the opportunity to direct
michael jackson's remember the time music video featuring eddie murphy iman and magic johnson
he took on triple duties writing directing and producing his next two films 1993's poetic
justice and 1995's higher learning john even got a girlfriend out of the experience filming
the latter he and model tyra banks who played deja began a short-lived romance in october 1996
john married ghanaian actress film director author and songwriter akosua gayamama busia she's best
known for her role as neddy harris in the 1985 film the color purple her father was also a former
prime minister of their country they would have a daughter the following year just months before
calling it quits john had actually entered the marriage already a father having had two children
with a long-term girlfriend even though this would be his only marriage he would go on to have
several more children ultimately totaling seven with several different women over the years in
1997 john's historical drama film rosewood was released based on historical events of
the 1923 rosewood massacre in florida the film received generally favorable reviews
but was not a commercial success john then started off the 2000s with shaft followed by
baby boy too fast too furious and four brothers around this time he also received a star on the
hollywood walk of fame then in the summer of 2007 john was involved in an automobile accident
in which he struck a jaywalking pedestrian he did stay on the scene until police arrived
judged to not be under the influence of alcohol or any other substances and was released after
being questioned sadly the pedestrian died later in the hospital due to the incident now involving
a death the case was turned over to the district attorney but no charges were ever filed what would
end up being john's last movie the action thriller abduction was released in 2011. no doubt what john
had to say a few years later about the industry better explains why he moved away from filmmaking
in 2014 while addressing students at lmu's school of film and television in los angeles he didn't
hold back criticizing popular studios for refusing to let african americans direct black themed films
they want black people to be what they want them to be and nobody is man enough to go and say that
they want black people to be who they want them to be as opposed to what they are the black films
now so-called black films now they're great they're great films but they're just product
they're not moving the bar forward creatively when you try to make it homogenized when you try to
make it appeal to everybody then you don't have anything that's special more award nominations
would come john's way over the next several years he would score an emmy nomination in 2016 for the
people versus o.j simpson american crime story and another in 2017 for his documentary la burning the
riots 25 years later after directing episodes of the critically acclaimed tv show's empire
and american crime story john served as an executive producer of the crime drama series rebel
for bet and co-created snowfall for fx on april 17 2019 john suffered a stroke and
was placed under intensive care at cedars-sinai medical center he reportedly began to experience
weakness in his legs after returning to the u.s from a trip to costa rica 12 days later and after
falling into a coma that he never came out of john was removed from life support he was 51 years old
the official cause of death was acute ischemic stroke intracerebral hemorrhage and hypertension
the somber news was met with sadness across social media an outpouring of grief especially came from
black social media users with most if not all of them attesting to what a cultural impact the
academy award nominated filmmaker had on their lives including many celebrities namely rapper
actor and filmmaker ice cube who played doughboy in boys in the hood i was discovered by a master
filmmaker by the name of john singleton he not only made me a movie star but made me a filmmaker
there are no words to express how sad i am to lose my brother friend and mentor he loved to bring the
black experience to the world thanks for watching please like share and comment also don't forget to
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