Timothy Kevin Story (born March 14, 1970) is an American film director, producer, and editor. 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 2014.
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.
Early life 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.https://www.dga.org/Craft/DGAQ/All-Articles/1402-Spring-2014/Tim-Story 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.
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.Various Artists - Rhyme Syndicate Comin' Through (LP liner notes). Warner Bros. Records. 25774-1 A group member was shot and killed prior to them being signed to Warner Bros. Records. Story later turned his attention to directing feature films.
Film career 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. 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.”
Filmography Film Year Title Director Producer Notes 1997 One of Us Tripped Also editor 1999 The Firing Squad Also editor and writer 2002 Barbershop Also executive soundtrack producer 2004 Taxi 2005 Fantastic Four 2007 Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer 2009 Hurricane Season 2012 Think Like a Man 2014 Ride Along Think Like a Man Too 2016 Ride Along 2 2019 Shaft 2021 Tom and Jerry Voice of Pigeon Announcer 2022 The Blackening 2023 Praise This Dashing Through the Snow 2025 The Pickup 2026 72 Hours
Stand-up film Kevin Hart: Laugh at My Pain (2011) Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain (2013) Kevin Hart: What Now? (2016)
Television Year Title Director Executiveproducer Notes 2006 Standoff Directed episodes "Pilot" and "Borderline" 2010 CSI: Miami Episode "On the Hook" 2012 Supah Ninjas Episode "Limelight" 2017 Scorpion Episode "Sharknerdo" White Famous Directed episodes "Pilot", "Heat", "Woo", and "Zero F**ks Given" 2018 Prince of Peoria 2020 #blackAF As himself in Episode 5, "yo, between you and me... this is because of slavery" 2021 Queens Directed episodes "1999" and "Heart Of Queens"
Music videos "Do You Love Me" by Benito (1996) "Straight From The Dec" by Ghetto Mafia (1997) "I Can't Feel It (Remix)" by Ghetto Mafia (1997) "You Ain't Heard Nothin Yet" by Benito (1997) "I Do" by Jon B. (1998) "Cool Relax" by Jon B. (1998) "Remember When" by Color Me Badd (1998) "I'll Be Around" by Rahsun featuring Big Pun (1998) "What" by Rahsun (1998) "Sweet Lady" by Tyrese (1998) "Are U Still Down" by Jon B. feat. 2Pac (1998) "I Tried" by 4Kast (1998) "Nitty Gritty" by Jayo Felony (1998) "Cheers 2 U" by Playa (1998) "He Can't Love U" by Jagged Edge (1999) "Get Gone" by Ideal (1999) "Creep Inn" by Ideal (1999) "Crave" by Marc Dorsey (1999) "I Drive Myself Crazy" by 'N Sync (1999) "Tell Me It's Real" by K-Ci & JoJo (1999) "Lately" by Tyrese (1999) "Take Your Time" by Pete Rock feat. Loose Ends (1999) "Shorty Got Her Eyes On Me" by Donell Jones (1999) "One Night Stand" by J-Shin featuring LaTocha Scott (1999) "Ooh Wee Wee" by Cherokee (1999) "Ghetto Star" by Bad Azz (1999) "The Best Man I Can Be" by Ginuwine, Tyrese, Case, RL (1999) "It Feels So Good" by Sonique (2000) "My First Love" by Avant feat. Keke Wyatt (2000) "Ryde or Die Chick" by The Lox feat. Eve and Timbaland (2000) "Mr. Too Damn Good" by Gerald Levert (2000) "Sugar" by Don Philip (2000) "Wild Out" by The Lox (2000) "Love Me Now" by Beenie Man (2000) "Let's Get Married" by Jagged Edge (2000) "How Long" by L.V. (2000) "Why You Wanna Keep Me From My Baby" by Guy (2000) "Monica" by Before Dark (2000) "Once My Shhh Always my Shhh" by Sam Salter (2000) "Brown Skin" by India.Arie (2001) "Nasty Girl" by Queens cast: Brandy, Eve, Naturi Naughton, and Nadine Velazquez (2021)
Collaborations CollaboratorOne 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 and Jerry(2021)The Blackening(2022)Dashing Through the Snow(2023)The Pickup(2025) 72 Hours (2026) TotalIce Cube 3Michael Ealy 2Regina Hall 2Kevin Hart 5Taraji P. Henson 3Laurence Fishburne2Gabrielle Union2Ken Jeong 2Jay Pharoah2Gary Owen3Bruce McGill2Christopher Lennertz 9Kevin Mambo 2Will Packer 6Eric Reed 2
References
External links Tim Story Official Website