Deon Taylor

Deon Taylor

Born	(1976-01-25) January 25, 1976 Chicago, Illinois, United States
Residence	Sacramento, California
Education	Lew Wallace High School, Florin High School
Alma mater	San Diego State University
Occupation	Film director, film producer, screenwriter
Years active	2005–present
Notable work	Dead Tone, The Hustle, Nite Tales, Chain Letter, Supremacy, Meet the Blacks

Deon Taylor (born January 25, 1976) is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. He is the founder of Hidden Empire Film Group.

Early life

Deon Taylor was born in Chicago, Illinois, and grew up in Gary, Indiana. During high school he and his mother moved to Sacramento, California, stating that, “Gary, Indiana is the murder capital of the world, numerous of my freshman basketball team was killed in gun violence."^[1] Taylor slept on the floor of a family friend’s house and finished high school in Sacramento. During high school he played basketball and earned a full-tuition basketball scholarship to college. The first student to receive a full-tuition scholarship from his school or the district, Taylor attended college at San Diego State University and received a degree in Biology. During college he was named “Newcomer of the Year,” and went on to play professionally, earning a spot in the NBA Entertainment League.^[2]

Life and career

While briefly playing basketball in Kemnitz, Germany for the Kemkatz, Taylor wrote his first script for Dead Tone (originally titled 7eventy 5ive). However, it would not be until years later Taylor would act on the project, first having a minor encounter with the music industry. Taylor set up his own independent record label in Northern California, but later changed his mind about the industry, saying, “I was selling someone else, and that was the artist."^[3] Taylor made up his mind to go into film after this and bring Dead Tone to completion. Currently, Taylor is head of Deon Taylor Enterprises, CEO of Ether Marketing, and partnership owner of the American Basketball Association. "^[4]

Taylor says he loved horror movies since he was a kid and made up his mind to go into film-making after college and departure from the music industry. After his screenplay was rejected in Los Angeles, Taylor partnered with an independent film company who later encouraged him to create his own business. Taylor founded Hidden Empire Film Group in Sacramento, California and wrote and directed his first film, Dead Tone.^[5] Taylor went on to shoot a horror series for BET, Nite Tales: The Series,^[6] a low budget series starring Flavor Flav that drew one million viewers on its first airing, but later lacked support from television because it was independently done.^[7] Taylor’s slasher thriller Chain Letter was released to select theaters on October 1, 2010.^[8] Taylor currently resides in Sacramento, California, filming in both Sacramento and Los Angeles three days a week.^[9]

Television

Nite Tales: The Series was created after Nite Tales: The Movie due to the success of its airing. Episodes were shot in one day on a 35 millimeter camera and budgeted around $20,000 – $50,000. The series was later aired on WGN in Chicago, Illinois on Friday nights at midnight in 2009. Nite Tales: The Movie was released on DVD in 2008 with a DVD release of the series pending in the future.^[7] Taylor has paired with Jamie Foxx to co-direct a future national television release titled Tommy's Little Girl.^[8]

Awards

African Movie Academy Awards | Won Best Diaspora Feature for Supremacy (2014)^[10]
LA Muse Awards | Supremacy (2015) Nominated for Best Picture^[10]

Music Videos

Year	Title	Artist
2015	"In Love by Now"	Jamie Foxx^[11]

Filmography

Year	Title	Cast
2007	Dead Tone (originally 7eventy 5ive)	Brian Hooks as Marcus Jud Tylor as Karina Cherie Johnson as Roxy Germán Legarreta as Shawn Antwon Tanner as Kareem Wil Horneff as Scott/Josh Aimee Garcia as Jody Walters Rutger Hauer as Detective John Criton Denyce Lawton as Anna Gwendoline Yeo as Detective Anne Hastings Jonathan Chase as Brandon O'Connell
2008	Hustle, TheThe Hustle	Charles Q. Murphy as Junior Walker Al Shearer as Freddy Manning David Alan Grier as Rev. Isaac Montgomery Paid Tamala Jones as Nikki Tommy Lister as Dog Thief Kym Whitley as Miss Tanya Bai Ling as Han John Witherspoon as Mr. Wikes Tony Cox as Biggman Brigitte Nielsen as Rich woman Michael J. Pagan as Dee aka Dwayne David Faustino as Derrick Darrin Dewitt Henson as Brother Efrom Luenell as Metermaid Ellia English as Mama
2008	Nite Tales: The Movie	Flavor Flav as Himself – Host Dante Basco as Gerard Andrea Bogart as Cindy James Ferris as Cop Sticky Fingaz as Dice Soraya Kelley as Sarah Sandra McCoy as Serena Richard Moorhouse as Bank manager Ariele Senara as Bloody Mary Tony Todd as Clown Jordan Woolley as Tom
2009	Nite Tales: The Series	Flavor Flav as Himself – Host Brigitte Nielsen as Mona (episode Black Widow) April Scott as "Barbie" (episode "Trapped") Gary Busey as "Army Man" (episode "Trapped") Tiny Lister as "The Wrestler" (episode "Trapped")
2010	Chain Letter	Nikki Reed as Jessie Cambell Keith David as Detective Jim Crenshaw Brad Dourif as Mr Smirker Noah Segan as Dante Bai Ling as Jai Pham Betsy Russell as Sergeant Hamill Matt Cohen as Johnny Jones Michael Bailey Smith as Chain Killer
2015	Supremacy	Joe Anderson as Garrett Tully Dawn Olivieri as Doreen Danny Glover as Sonny Walker Derek Luke as Raymond Lela Rochon as Odessa Evan Ross as Anthony Mahershala Ali as Deputy Rivers Julie Benz as Kristen Nick Chinlund as Hannity Robin Bobeau as Cassie Alex Henderson as Jamar Jenica Bergere as Gerardi Sean Taylor-Corbett as Pedro Tyrin Turner as Reggie Anson Mount as Paul Sobecki Hemky Madera as Miguel
2016	Meet the Blacks	Mike Epps as Carl Black Zulay Henao as Lorena Black Lil Duval as Cronut Andrew Bachelor as Freezee Bresha Webb as Allie Black Charlie Murphy as Keyflo Mike Tyson as Mad Clown Tameka Cottle Gary Owen

References

↑ "Who is Deon Taylor?" by Fabio Periera. July 9, 2010. HuffingtonPost.com. Retrieved July 12, 2010.
↑ NBAE Rosters 2007–08 2010. NBA Media Ventures, LLC. Retrieved July 1, 2010.
↑ Deon Taylor Bio 1990–2010. IMDb.com, Inc. Retrieved June 30, 2010.
↑ "THE ICONIC AMERICAN BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION (ABA), ETHER MARKETING AND 6SPORTS ANNOUNCE THE FORMATION OF “ABA CLASSICS.”" June 30, 2011. ABAlive.com. Retrieved July 1, 2011.
↑ “Screen Media pacts for Deon Taylor's Dead Tone” by Wendy Mitchell. July 2009. ScreenDaily.com. Retrieved July 6, 2010.
↑ Nordyke, Kimberly (26 January 2009). "'Nite Tales' deal is first from NATPE: Flavor Flav-hosted series is from Trifecta, Star Media venture". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on March 1, 2009. Retrieved 18 July 2010.
1 2 “Bob Shallit: Sacramento Filmmaker’s Horror Flick set for National Release” Sacramento Bee News. 2010. Retrieved July 6th 2010.
1 2 “Former Gary resident is a fresh face in fright fare” by Bob Kostanczuk. Post Tribune. August 6, 2010. Retrieved August 9, 2010.
↑ "Brief Interview: Deon Taylor” by Tony Sheppard. Sacramento Press. April 11, 2009. Retrieved July 8th 2010.
1 2 "IMDB Awards Listings” by IMDB. September 26, 2015. Retrieved January 12, 2016.
↑ "Jamie Foxx - "In Love by Now"". music video credits. jamie-foxx.us. Retrieved January 12, 2016.

External links

Deon Taylor Enterprises – Official website
Deon Taylor at the Internet Movie Database

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