John Ridley is an American film director, actor, and writer.
Ridley got his start as a stand-up comedian. He eventually was hired as a writer for sitcoms such as
The Fresh Prince of Bel-AirThe Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is an American television sitcom that originally aired on NBC from September 10, 1990 to May 20, 1996. The show stars Will Smith as a fictionalized version of himself, a street-smart teenager from West Philadelphia who is sent to move in with his aunt and uncle in their...
and
MartinMartin is an American sitcom produced by HBO Independent Productions that aired for five seasons, from August 27, 1992 to May 1, 1997 on Fox...
. He began to concentrate on writing and wrote his first novel, Stray Dogs, which became the basis the
1997-Events:* The original Star Wars trilogy's Special Editions are released.* Production begins on Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace.* Titanic becomes the first film to gross US$1,000,000,000 at the box office making it the highest grossing film in history until Avatar broke the record in 2010.*...
film U Turn, directed by
Oliver StoneWilliam Oliver Stone is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. Stone became well known in the late 1980s and the early 1990s for directing a series of films about the Vietnam War, for which he had previously participated as an infantry soldier. His work frequently focuses on...
. Ridley also provided the original script for the film Three Kings, starring
George ClooneyGeorge Timothy Clooney is an American actor, film director, producer, and screenwriter. For his work as an actor, he has received two Golden Globe Awards and an Academy Award...
,
Mark WahlbergMark Robert Michael Wahlberg is an American actor, film and television producer, and former rapper. He was known as Marky Mark in his earlier years, and became famous for his 1991 debut as a musician with the band Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch. He was named No. 1 on VH1's 40 Hottest Hotties of...
and
Ice CubeO'Shea Jackson , better known by his stage name Ice Cube, is an American rapper and actor. He began his career as a member of the hip-hop group C.I.A. and later joined the rap group N.W.A. After leaving N.W.A in December 1989, he built a successful solo career in music, and also as a writer,...
. But his script was changed so much by director
David O. RussellDavid Owen Russell is an American film director and screenwriter. He has been praised for the loose, comic energy that characterizes his work, and is notorious for his explosive confrontations with cast members.-Early life:...
that he only received a credit for the original story. With Stone's encouragement, Ridley also tried his hand at directing with the film Cold Around the Heart.
He is one of the creators of
Urban Entertainment, showcasing short films and animation from minority filmmakers, including his own works: the animated cartoons Undercover Brother (the basis for the
Undercover BrotherUndercover Brother is a 2002 American comedy film starring Eddie Griffin and directed by Malcolm D. Lee. The screenplay is by Michael McCullers and co-executive producer John Ridley, who created the original internet animation characters. It spoofs blaxploitation films of the 1970s as well as a...
film starring comedian
Eddie GriffinEdward James "Eddie" Griffin, Jr. is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his sitcom, Malcolm & Eddie along with co-star, Malcolm-Jamal Warner, and his role in the 2002 comedy film Undercover Brother as the film’s title character.-Early life:Griffin was born in Kansas City,...
) and
Those Who Walk in DarknessThose Who Walk In Darkness is a novel by John Ridley, published in May 2003. It details the life of a member of an elite police task force in Los Angeles that hunts down superhumans known as metanormals...
, featuring the voice of rapper
Lil' KimKimberly Denise Jones , better known by her stage name Lil' Kim, is an American rapper and actress who was a member of the group Junior M.A.F.I.A.....
— which itself was the basis of a novel of the same name written by Ridley. Additionally, Ridley developed
Tim StoryTimothy Kevin Story is an African-American film director. Born in Los Angeles, California, he attended Westchester High School in Los Angeles with jazz pianist Eric Reed and actresses Regina King and Nia Long. He was senior class president at Westchester High. He graduated from the University of...
's 2002 motion picture
BarbershopBarbershop is a 2002 American comedy film directed by Tim Story, produced by State Street Pictures and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer on September 13, 2002. Starring Ice Cube, Cedric the Entertainer, and Anthony Anderson, the movie revolves around social life in a barbershop on the South Side of...
into the short-lived 2005 Showtime comedy
Barbershop: The SeriesBarbershop: The Series is an American sitcom which made its debut on the Showtime cable network in August 2005. It is based upon the Mark Brown-created characters from the popular films Barbershop and Barbershop 2: Back in Business , and was developed for television by screenwriter John Ridley...
.
Ridley was the original co-host on the
MSNBCMSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
daily morning show
Morning JoeMorning Joe is a weekday morning talk show on MSNBC, with Joe Scarborough discussing the news of the day in a panel format with co-hosts Mika Brzezinski and Willie Geist. It was created as the replacement for Imus in the Morning, which was canceled in April 2007 after simulcasting on MSNBC since 1996...
upon its premiere in 2007, and was an occasional guest on the network's cancelled nightly program
Scarborough CountryScarborough Country was an opinion/analysis show broadcast on MSNBC Monday - Thursday at 9 P.M. ET. It was hosted by former congressman Joe Scarborough....
. He hosted the short-lived Movie Club with John Ridley on American Movie Classics and has written The Authority and
The American WayThe American Way is an eight-issue American comic book limited series produced under DC Comics' Wildstorm Signature imprint. The series debuted in April 2006, and was created by John Ridley and Georges Jeanty.-Publication history:...
for
DC ComicsDC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
. He has recently become a regular guest commentator on
American Public MediaAmerican Public Media is the second largest producer of public radio programs in the United States of America after NPR. Its non-profit parent, American Public Media Group, also owns and operates radio stations in Minnesota, California, and Florida. Its station brands are Minnesota Public Radio,...
's
Weekend AmericaWeekend America was a weekly public radio program dealing with news, popular culture, the arts and more. The program was produced for American Public Media and hosted by John Moe in Saint Paul, Minnesota....
in a segment called "Good News, Bad News, No News" which reviews the week's news. He co-produced the film
BobbyBobby is a 2006 American drama film written and directed by Emilio Estevez. The screenplay is a fictionalized account of the hours leading up to the June 5, 1968 shooting of United States Senator from New York and former U.S. Attorney General Robert F...
. He wrote the play Ten Thousand Years about
kamikazeThe were suicide attacks by military aviators from the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, designed to destroy as many warships as possible....
pilots in
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. On the weekend of August 19, 2006, John co-hosted the syndicated program Ebert & Roeper while film critic
Roger EbertRoger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
was on medical leave. On August 28, 2007, it was announced that George Lucas hired him to pen the script for his upcoming World War II film
Red TailsRed Tails is an upcoming 2012 action drama film directed by Anthony Hemingway, from a screenplay by John Ridley and Aaron McGruder. The story, written by Ridley, is inspired by true events. George Lucas serves as the executive producer for the project...
. Ridley was head writer and co-executive producer of
The Wanda Sykes ShowThe Wanda Sykes Show was an American talk show hosted by comedian Wanda Sykes on Fox that debuted on November 7, 2009. The show was announced in March 2009 by the president of Fox, Kevin Reilly...
.
Financial Core status
In the recent
Writer's StrikeThe 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, more commonly referred to as simply the Writers' Strike, was a strike by the Writers Guild of America, East and the Writers Guild of America, West ....
of 2007-2008 John Ridley was the only Feature, and/or Primetime Television writer to elect for
financial coreA 1963 United States Supreme Court ruling, NLRB v. General Motors, defined the term financial core as it applies to compulsory union membership. The term is frequently abbreviated to FiCore or Fi-Core.-Origin:...
status. (Several soap writers also did so.) Financial Core status legally allows a person to retain most of the benefits of union membership, including the right to work in jobs requiring union membership, without the obligation to follow strike orders or contribute financially to union political activities. (In 2005/6, this gave a 4.21% reduction in union fees compared to full membership )
Ridley wrote many articles critical of the
Writers Guild of AmericaThe Writers Guild of America is a generic term referring to the joint efforts of two different US labor unions:* The Writers Guild of America, East , representing TV and film writers East of the Mississippi....
and its leadership, and cited these criticisms for his choice to go "fi-core". However, some WGA members view Mr. Ridley's motivations as both self-serving and self-promoting.
John Ridley serves as head writer and co-executive producer.
Novels
- Stray Dogs
Stray Dogs is the second album released by the Norwegian singer/songwriter Thomas Dybdahl.-Track listing:#"Rain down on me"#"Cecilia"#"Make a mess of yourself"#"Pale green eyes"#"Either way I'm gone"#"Honey"#"Rise in shame"#"Stray dogs"...
(1997)
- Love is a Racket (1998)
- Everybody Smokes in Hell (1999)
- A Conversation with the Mann (2002)
- The Drift (2002)
- Those Who Walk in Darkness
Those Who Walk In Darkness is a novel by John Ridley, published in May 2003. It details the life of a member of an elite police task force in Los Angeles that hunts down superhumans known as metanormals...
(2003)
- What Fire Cannot Burn (2006)
Graphic novels
- The Authority: Human on the Inside (2004)
- Razor's Edge: Warblade (2004)
- The American Way
The American Way is an eight-issue American comic book limited series produced under DC Comics' Wildstorm Signature imprint. The series debuted in April 2006, and was created by John Ridley and Georges Jeanty.-Publication history:...
(2006)
Screenplays
- U Turn (1997)
- Cold Around the Heart (1997) (also directed)
- Three Kings (1999) (story)
- Undercover Brother
Undercover Brother is a 2002 American comedy film starring Eddie Griffin and directed by Malcolm D. Lee. The screenplay is by Michael McCullers and co-executive producer John Ridley, who created the original internet animation characters. It spoofs blaxploitation films of the 1970s as well as a...
(2002)
- Positively Fifth Street
Positively Fifth Street: Murderers, Cheetahs, and Binion's World Series of Poker is a memoir by Chicago area author James McManus set during the 2000 World Series of Poker....
(2007) (also directing)
- Let Me Take You Down (2007) (also directing)
- Red Tails
Red Tails is an upcoming 2012 action drama film directed by Anthony Hemingway, from a screenplay by John Ridley and Aaron McGruder. The story, written by Ridley, is inspired by true events. George Lucas serves as the executive producer for the project...
(2012)
- L.A. Riots (TBA) (Spike Lee
Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee is an American film director, producer, writer, and actor. His production company, 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks, has produced over 35 films since 1983....
directing) (Brian GrazerBrian Thomas Grazer is an Academy Award-winning American film and television producer who co-founded Imagine Entertainment in 1986 with Ron Howard. Together they have produced many acclaimed films, including Apollo 13 and A Beautiful Mind .- Career :Brian Grazer began his career as a producer...
producing)
Teleplays
- The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is an American television sitcom that originally aired on NBC from September 10, 1990 to May 20, 1996. The show stars Will Smith as a fictionalized version of himself, a street-smart teenager from West Philadelphia who is sent to move in with his aunt and uncle in their...
- Martin
Martin is an American sitcom produced by HBO Independent Productions that aired for five seasons, from August 27, 1992 to May 1, 1997 on Fox...
- The John Larroquette Show
The John Larroquette Show is a situation comedy that ran on the NBC network from 1993 to 1996. The show, created by Don Reo, was a vehicle for John Larroquette following his run as Dan Fielding on Night Court. The series took place in a seedy bus terminal in St. Louis, Missouri and focused on the...
- Team Knight Rider
Team Knight Rider is a syndicated television spin-off series of the Knight Rider franchise that ran between 1997 and 1998. TKR was created by writer/producers Rick Copp and David A. Goodman, based on the original series created by Glen A. Larson, who was an executive producer...
- Static Shock
Static Shock is an American animated television series produced by Warner Bros. Animation. It premiered in September 2000 on the Kids' WB! block and ran for four seasons, with a total of 52 half-hour episodes....
(2000)
- Third Watch
Third Watch is an American television drama series which first aired on NBC from 1999 to 2005 for a total of 132 episodes, broadcast in 6 seasons of 22 episodes each....
- six episodes (1999–2001)
- Platinum
Platinum is an American television series which aired on UPN in 2003.-Synopsis:Platinum is a family saga that follows two brothers who own and operate a record company called "Sweatback Entertainment" in the competitive world of rap and hip-hop...
(2003) (also directed)
- Justice League
Justice League is an American animated television series about a team of superheroes which ran from 2001 to 2004 on Cartoon Network. The show was produced by Warner Bros. Animation. It is based on the Justice League of America and associated comic book characters published by DC Comics...
(2004)
- Barbershop: The Series
Barbershop: The Series is an American sitcom which made its debut on the Showtime cable network in August 2005. It is based upon the Mark Brown-created characters from the popular films Barbershop and Barbershop 2: Back in Business , and was developed for television by screenwriter John Ridley...
(2005) (also directed)
Magazine articles
- "The Manifesto of Ascendancy for the Modern American Nigger" in Esquire
Esquire is a men's magazine, published in the U.S. by the Hearst Corporation. Founded in 1932, it flourished during the Great Depression under the guidance of founder and editor Arnold Gingrich.-History:...
, December 2006, Volume 146, Issue 6
External links