- JOHN SINGLETON, 2 FAST 2 FURIOUS (2003) & FOUR BROTHERS (2005)
Singleton made his presence as a director known soon after graduating from USC’s Filmic Writing Program in 1990. When he released Boyz N The Hood just a year later, the film helped Singleton become the youngest person to ever receive an Academy Award nomination for Best Director. While he’s known for grooming young Black talent like Nia Long, Taraji P. Henson, Tupac Shakur, Ice Cube, Tyrese and Tyra Banks in urban fare like Boyz, Poetic Justice (2003), Baby Boy (2001) and Higher Learning (1995), mainstream pictures like Four Brothers and 2 Fast 2 Furious have brought in bigger box office earnings ($92 million and $236 million worldwide, respectively) for the multi-talented auteur.