Darren Grant

For the Australian rules footballer, see Darren Grant (footballer).
Darren Grant
Born1969[1]
Seattle, Washington, U.S
OccupationDirector
Years active1997–present

Darren Grant is an American television, film and music video director. He has directed over eighty music videos for mostly R&B and hip hop artists. In 2005, Grant directed his debut film Diary of a Mad Black Woman.[2] In 2008, he directed the film Make It Happen starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead.[3]

Life and career

Grant was born and raised in Seattle, Washington and graduated from Sammamish High School in Bellevue, Washington.[1] He later graduated from the California State University, Northridge and began directing music videos and commercials for Destiny's Child, Aaliyah, Brian McKnight, Deborah Cox, Jermaine Dupri and other artists.[1] Grant has been awarded the MTV Video Music Award for Best R&B Video for Destiny Child's video for "Survivor" and the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Music Video for "Stomp" for Kirk Franklin.[1]

In 2005, Grand made his feature directorial debut with comedy-drama film Diary of a Mad Black Woman written by Tyler Perry. The film received mostly negative reviews from critics, but was commercially successful, grossing $50.6 million in North America against a $5.5 million budget.[4] In 2008 he directed dance film Make It Happen. In 2017 he directed action comedy Killing Hasselhoff.[5] In 2021, Grand directed Wendy Williams: The Movie for Lifetime.[6]

On television, Grand directed more than 30 television dramas, include episodes of Saints & Sinners, Supernatural, Suits, Empire, Queen of the South, Wu-Tang: An American Saga, God Friended Me, The Chi, Your Honor and Billions. At the 1st Children's and Family Emmy Awards, Grand received nomination for Outstanding Children's or Family Viewing Series for producing Raising Dion.[7]

Videography

1996

  • Alfonzo Hunter - "Weekend Thang"

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

  • Tamia - "Can’t Get Enough"

2007

2011

  • Mary Mary - "Survive"

2012

Filmography

Films

Television

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Darren Grant biography and filmography | Darren Grant movies". Tribute.
  2. ^ "Diary of a Mad Black Woman (2005)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2009-05-20.
  3. ^ "Mary Elizabeth Winstead set to "Make It Happen" in Burlesque Flick". RottenTomatoes.com. Retrieved 2008-11-07.
  4. ^ "Tyler Perry's Diary of a Mad Black Woman (2005) - Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 2 December 2013. Retrieved 24 April 2015.
  5. ^ Staff, ComicMix (July 13, 2017). "Killing Hasselhoff Bypasses Theaters, Comes Home in August | ComicMix". www.comicmix.com.
  6. ^ Petski, Nellie Andreeva,Denise; Andreeva, Nellie; Petski, Denise (September 3, 2020). "Ciera Payton & Morocco Omari To Play Wendy Williams & Kevin Hunter In Lifetime Biopic; Darren Grant To Direct".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  7. ^ https://theemmys.tv/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/CAFE-Nominations-with-Credits-FINAL.pdf [bare URL PDF]