On June 2, the DGA’s African American Steering Committee (AASC) presented a special evening in honor of Director Tim Story. The evening celebrated the industry heavyweight who has had six of his seven feature films open at number one at the box-office and collectively gross over $1 billion worldwide. In a star-studded evening, Story joined an esteemed group of leading African American directors previously honored by the AASC including Sidney Poitier, Maya Angelou, Michael Schultz, Richard Pryor, Bill Duke, F. Gary Gray, Ivan Dixon, Melvin Van Peebles, Debbie Allen, and Gordon Parks.
The evening began with a VIP reception in the Guild’s Los Angeles headquarters atrium, before the near-capacity audience of DGA members and guests settled into DGA Theater One to enjoy an evening of stories about the director from his collaborators and admirers. After a welcome from DGA Associate National Executive Director/Western Executive Director Bryan Unger, the floor was ceded to AASC Co-Chairs Jeff Byrd and Carl Seaton for a brief presentation about the history and role of the Committee. Then AASC Activities & Events Subcommittee Co-Chair Abdul Malik Abbott introduced a screening of retrospective clips from Story’s work curated by himself, Seaton and Director Reginald D. Brown, and narrated by Director Carl Weathers. The video presentation included pre-recorded “shout-outs” to Story from co-workers and friends unable to attend including Director Oz Scott and actors Gabrielle Union, Cedric the Entertainer, Courtney B. Vance, Ice Cube, and Kevin Hart.
The screening was followed by special guest speakers, each with their own amusing and/or moving anecdote about working with Story on a wide variety of productions, or being befriended by him, including actors Jessica Alba (Fantastic Four) and Meagan Good (Think Like A Man), producer Will Packer (Ride Along) and Director Stan Lathan (Real Husbands of Hollywood). After the tributes, Story was presented with a commemorative gift from the Committee and took the stage to say a few words before engaging in a conversation about his work with moderator, Director John Singleton (Boyz n the Hood). After the discussion, everyone adjourned for a post-event reception in the DGA Lobby.
One of the most successful African-American filmmakers of all time, Story is a graduate of the University of Southern California’s film school and honed his cinematic style directing music videos and the indie films One of Us Tripped and The Firing Squad. His smash hit comedy Barbershop garnered an NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Motion Picture. He followed up that success with films such as Taxi, Fantastic Four, Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer, Hurricane Season, Think Like a Man, Think Like a Man Too, and Ride Along. His next film, Ride Along 2, is set to premiere in January 2016. Story has been a member of the DGA since 2002.
ABOUT THE COMMITTEE:
The African American Steering Committee (AASC) was born of a desire to address the specific needs of the African-American members of the Directors Guild. One of the primary goals of the Committee is to establish a productive line of communication between African-American members and the creative community. The Committee meets monthly to plan events throughout the year celebrating the achievements of African-Americans, as well as forums with industry executives to proactively address what can be done to hire more African-Americans.