Remembering John Singleton

John Singleton - RIP

Boyz N The Hood Director

For over 25 years, John Singleton has led a phenomenal and creatively rich career, working both inside and outside the Hollywood system, defying every expectation since his directional debut Boyz N The Hood. That film, for which he became the youngest person and first African-American nominated for a Best Director Oscar launched him (along with stars Cuba Gooding Jr., Morris Chestnut and Angela Bassett), and brought his home of South Central Los Angeles into sharp focus. His latest project, Snowfall, returns to his hometown with a wide-scope exploration into the rise of crack cocaine in the 1980s. We sit down with him to explore his creative process, his views on film and television, and the role art plays in politicized times.

MM: How does your life in South Central Los Angeles inform your work?

JS: I grew up in a world that molded me as person, where I saw the strain of family units under poverty, gang violence, at the beginning of a drug epidemic. Luckily, I was able to pursue a career in film, and tell stories about my community to audiences outside my own. Although much of my work is made to present to broader audiences, I am proud that I still have my office in the neighborhood and I am close with many of my friends and family who I grew up with.

MM: Regarding your new show Snowfall, what brought you to this project?

JS: We’ve seen other depictions of the drug epidemics across the United States, but I wanted to give people a glimpse of a world I grew up in, 1980’s Los Angeles. The audience will both experience a perspective on the breakdown of the family unit at the hand of crack cocaine. A drug so powerful, it could pry a black mother from her own children.

MM: What’s your thought about television as a mode of creative expression? How do you bring your language of cinema to tv

JS: The cinematic appeal is by making sure your show isn’t paint by numbers, it’s not procedural, and your characters are living in a world dealing with real problems. That is what I aim to do in my television series, to create an experience for our audiences that they couldn’t find anywhere else.

MM: Your films are both socially conscious and emotionally intimate. How do you find the balance in telling stories that are political yet personal?

JS: When telling stories we have a responsibility, both to represent a history, but also share a perspective. My hope is that projects will generate a conversation amongst the audiences, especially dealing with relevant social and political topics of the day.

MM: Your work maintains a deep cultural relevance, especially for black America. How do you see your films both reflecting the time they were made, and their continuing resonance today?

JS: Films are changing, for a while there was an obsession with stories of gang representation, then you have movies like Hidden Figures or Moonlight that switch up the formula. The more films we make the more nuance we can add to our community’s representation.

MM: What do you do to cultivate your creativity? Are there things you gravitate towards? Things you avoid?

JS: I think you’ve got to have an urge to tell a story, and once you find that, you will go to no end in order to complete that task. I like surrounding myself with positivity and knowledge, whether I’m spending time with friends in Miami or reading a book, the process helps me keep inspired.

MM: What function does film serve today? As an art form, how does it speak differently from other mediums?

JS: Film is king in the sense that people still need to sit down, for the most part, in a dark theater in order to take in your work. It is an exclusive experience that trickles down to all other formats such as streaming, television, and new media.

MM: What excites you creatively? Is there something that you are responding to now in the culture? J

S: This whole political state right now, it absorbs, distracts, and intrigues me. The effects of it are something that everyone has been feeling, and allows us as artists to better express ourselves. We give a clear voice to those around us, and for better or worse that voice can transcend broader audiences.