John Daniel Singleton (born January 6, 1968) is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer best known for directing
Boyz n the Hood. For the film, he was nominated for the
Academy Award for Best Director, becoming the first African American and youngest person to have ever been nominated for the award. Singleton is a native of
South Los Angeles and many of his early films, such as
Poetic Justice (1993),
Higher Learning (1995), and
Baby Boy (2001), consider the implications of inner-city violence. Some of his other films include dramas such as
Rosewood (1997) in addition to action films such as
Shaft (2000),
2 Fast 2 Furious (2003), and
Four Brothers (2005).