Rick Famuyiwa

In the film, influential 1960s African American radio personality Ralph “Petey” Greene and his contributions to American popular culture and the Civil Rights movement are chronicled. The film explores the construction of race and race relations during this volatile period of American history.

After high school, Famuyiwa attended the University of Southern California (USC) and double-majored in cinematic arts film & television production and cinematic arts critical studies. During his time at the university, Famuyiwa worked intimately with film professor Todd Boyd, who would later help write and produce his first feature film. In 1996, prior to graduation, Famuyiwa created a 12-minute short film entitled Blacktop Lingo that garnered critical positive feedback and led to his invitation to the Sundance Filmmaker’s Institute. In 1997, during his time at the Sundance Director’s Lab, Famuyiwa put the finishing touches on The Wood, his first feature film.

The film was produced by MTV Films and was released on July 16, 1999. Speaking of his partnership with MTV for The Wood, Famuyiwa states, "[MTV Films] had the best concept and could deal with it better because it was young, [it had] the music and they wanted to make a film with predominantly African-American characters.” The Wood was produced for an estimated cost of $6 million and went on to gross over $25 million at the box office in the United States alone.

In 2000, The Black Reel Awards nominated Famuyiwa for Best Director (Theatrical) for his work on The Wood. Later on that year, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Image Awards nominated The Wood for Outstanding Motion Picture.

Brown Sugar was released on October 11, 2002. The film was marketed extensively by distributor Fox Searchlight Pictures and made $10 million in its opening weekend, ultimately grossing close to $28 million nationwide.

In 2003, after completing work on Brown Sugar Famuyiwa was once again nominated by the NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Motion Picture.

Talk to Me was released on August 3, 2007. The independent film grossed $400,000 in its opening weekend and nationwide, the film made close to $5 million.

In 2008, while working on Our Family Wedding, Famuyiwa was recognized for his work on Kasi Lemmons’ Talk To Me by the NAACP Image Awards. The Association nominated Talk To Me for Outstanding Motion Picture and Famuyiwa won for Outstanding Writing in a Motion Picture (Theatrical or Television).

In April 2015 Famuyiwa was announced as the Director of Confirmation, an HBO original movie. The film starred Kerry Washington as Anita Hill and was based on Hill's accusations of sexual harassment and testimony against Clarence Thomas during his Supreme Court nomination.

In October 2016, Famuyiwa left the project. He had been on board since June developing the project, even overseeing the castings of Kiersey Clemons and Billy Crudup in key roles. Famuyiwa gave a statement to The Hollywood Reporter on the matter:

Famuyiwa’s films mainly explore themes of racial diversity and acceptance of oneself and others, especially within communities of color. In the majority of Famuyiwa’s films, friendship plays a central role to the characters’ development and progression throughout the film.