Wikipedia

Tim Story

Timothy Kevin Story is an American film director.[2][3] He is best known for Barbershop (2002), Fantastic Four (2005), and the Ride Along franchise. He has been nominated for two NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Directing in a Feature Film/Television Movie in 2006 and 2013.

Tim Story
Born
Timothy Kevin Story

Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Alma materUSC School of Cinematic Arts (1991)[1]
Occupations
  • Film director
  • producer
  • editor
Years active1997–present
TitleFounder of The Story Company
Spouse
Vicky Story
​
(m. 2003)​
Children3

He is the founder of The Story Company, a production company co-founded with his future wife Vicky in 1996. He is the first African-American film director to have grossed over US$1 billion at the box office.[4]

Early life

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Story was born in Los Angeles on March 13, 1970. From a young age, he made home movies with an 8mm movie camera when his brother became bored using it.[5] Story attended LA's Westchester High School, with jazz pianist Eric Reed and actresses Regina King and Nia Long. He was senior class president at Westchester High. He graduated from the USC School of Cinematic Arts in 1991.[1]

While in high school, Story briefly attempted a career in music. He was part of Ice-T's Rhyme Syndicate and even appeared as a member of the group T.D.F. on the song "T.D.F. Connection" from the 1988 compilation album Rhyme Syndicate Comin' Through.[6] A group member was shot and killed prior to them being signed to Warner Bros. Records.[7] Story later turned his attention to directing feature films.[8]

Film career

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Story made his feature debut with One of Us Tripped (1997), where he followed the model detailed by Kevin Smith in how he had made Clerks (1994) on a modest budget; the resulting movie, made for $30,000 on 16 mm with a crew of one, the movie made its money back mostly on a distribution deal. His second movie The Firing Squad (1999) went from a budget of $60,000 to $200,000 and sent him into debt that he had to solve by doing music videos. The experience filming the videos would serve him well with Barbershop, with the resulting success making him a mainstream director, which continued with Taxi (2004). The early cut of the film, impressed 20th Century Fox enough to offer him the chance to direct Fantastic Four; he was also a fan of the comics.[9][10][11] At the time, the film would be the highest-grossing superhero movie by an African-American director. He reflected on the experience making them as one with multiple lessons: "With those types of big movies, you’re directing three movies. There’s the movie you’re shooting, there’s the second-unit action stuff, and there’s the visual effects movie. You’ve got to learn how to deal with all of them. The other thing I learned from those two Fantastic Four movies, is that sometimes you can be too lax on how much control you give to the visual effects team, or the production design team, or whoever. If you end up in situations and you’re not happy with certain things, it’s because you didn’t stay on top of them.”[12]

Filmography

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Film

Year Title Director Producer Notes
1997 One of Us Tripped Yes No Also editor
1999 The Firing Squad Yes No Also editor and writer
2002 Barbershop Yes No Also executive soundtrack producer
2004 Taxi Yes No
2005 Fantastic Four Yes No
2007 Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer Yes No
2009 Hurricane Season Yes No
2012 Think Like a Man Yes No
2014 Ride Along Yes No
Think Like a Man Too Yes No
2016 Ride Along 2 Yes No
2019 Shaft Yes Executive
2021 Tom & Jerry Yes Executive Voice of Pigeon Announcer
2022 The Blackening Yes Yes
2023 Praise This No Yes
Dashing Through the Snow Yes No
2025 The Pickup Yes Yes

Stand-up film

Television

Year Title Director Executive
producer 		Notes
2006 Standoff Yes Yes Directed episodes "Pilot" and "Borderline"
2010 CSI: Miami Yes No Episode "On the Hook"
2012 Supah Ninjas Yes No Episode "Limelight"
2017 Scorpion Yes No Episode "Sharknerdo"
White Famous Yes Yes Directed episodes "Pilot", "Heat", "Woo", and "Zero F**ks Given"
2018 Prince of Peoria No Yes
2020 #blackAF No No As himself in Episode 5, "yo, between you and me... this is because of slavery"
2021 Queens Yes Yes Directed episodes "1999" and "Heart Of Queens"

Music videos

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Collaborations

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Collaborator One of Us Tripped
(1997)		 The Firing Squad
(1999)		 Barbershop
(2002)
Taxi
(2004)		 Fantastic Four and Rise of the Silver Surfer
(2005-2007)		 Hurricane Season
(2009)		 Think Like a Man
(2012)		 Ride Along
(2014)		 Think Like a Man Too
(2014)		 Ride Along 2
(2016)		 Shaft
(2019)		 Tom & Jerry
(2021)
The Blackening
(2022)
Dashing Through the Snow
(2023)
The Pickup
(2025)		 Total
Ice Cube  Y  Y  Y 3
Michael Ealy  Y  Y  Y 3
Laurence Fishburne  Y  Y 2
Regina Hall  Y  Y  Y 3
Kevin Hart  Y  Y  Y  Y 4
Taraji P. Henson  Y  Y  Y 3
Ken Jeong  Y  Y 2
Christopher Lennertz  Y  Y  Y  Y  Y  Y 6
Kevin Mambo  Y  Y 2
Will Packer  Y  Y  Y  Y 4
Eric Reed  Y  Y 2

References

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  1. ^ a b "Notable Alumni". USC School of Cinematic Arts. Archived from the original on August 26, 2009.
  2. ^ "Tim Story". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. 2007. Archived from the original on October 13, 2007.
  3. ^ Diamond, Jamie (July 3, 2005). "The New York Times".
  4. ^ "Tim Story - Film".
  5. ^ https://www.dga.org/Craft/DGAQ/All-Articles/1402-Spring-2014/Tim-Story
  6. ^ Various Artists - Rhyme Syndicate Comin' Through (LP liner notes). Warner Bros. Records. 25774-1
  7. ^ Story, Tim. "Biography". filmbug.com. Filmbug. Retrieved August 5, 2014.
  8. ^ Shaw, Lucas (June 19, 2014). "Hollywood, Tim Story Will See You Now: Why the 'Think Like a Man' Director Is More Powerful Than Ever". thewrap.com. The Wrap. Retrieved August 5, 2014.
  9. ^ Claude Brodesser (April 7, 2004). "Fox 'Four' play heats up". Variety.
  10. ^ Heroes Are Born: Making the Fantastic Four (DVD). 20th Century Fox. 2005.
  11. ^ Scott Brown (July 1, 2005). "Fantastic Voyage". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on October 16, 2014. Retrieved October 10, 2014.
  12. ^ https://www.dga.org/Craft/DGAQ/All-Articles/1402-Spring-2014/Tim-Story
  13. ^ ""He Can't Love U" by Jagged Edge | Music Video | VH1.com". VH1. Viacom International. April 29, 2008. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
  14. ^ Abraham, Mya (October 1, 2021). "Brandy, Eve, Naturi Naughton, And Nadine Velazquez Drop "Nasty Girl" Single, Ahead of Queens Premiere". Vibe. Retrieved October 4, 2021.
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