Timothy Kevin Story (born March 13, 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 2013.

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. 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. 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

YearTitleDirectorProducerNotes
1997One of Us TrippedYesNoAlso editor
1999The Firing SquadYesNoAlso editor and writer
2002BarbershopYesNoAlso executive soundtrack producer
2004TaxiYesNo
2005Fantastic FourYesNo
2007Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver SurferYesNo
2009Hurricane SeasonYesNo
2012Think Like a ManYesNo
2014Ride AlongYesNo
Think Like a Man TooYesNo
2016Ride Along 2YesNo
2019ShaftYesExecutive
2021Tom and JerryYesExecutiveVoice of Pigeon Announcer
2022The BlackeningYesYes
2023Praise ThisNoYes
Dashing Through the SnowYesNo
2025The PickupYesYes
202672 Hours †YesYes
TBARide Along 3 †YesYes

Stand-up film

  • Kevin Hart: Laugh at My Pain (2011)
  • Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain (2013)
  • Kevin Hart: What Now? (2016)

Television

YearTitleDirectorExecutive producerNotes
2006StandoffYesYesDirected episodes "Pilot" and "Borderline"
2010CSI: MiamiYesNoEpisode "On the Hook"
2012Supah NinjasYesNoEpisode "Limelight"
2017ScorpionYesNoEpisode "Sharknerdo"
White FamousYesYesDirected episodes "Pilot", "Heat", "Woo", and "Zero F**ks Given"
2018Prince of PeoriaNoYes
2020#blackAFNoNoAs himself in Episode 5, "yo, between you and me... this is because of slavery"
2021QueensYesYesDirected episodes "1999" and "Heart Of Queens"

Music videos

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 & Jerry (2021)The Blackening (2022)Dashing Through the Snow (2023)The Pickup (2025)72 Hours (2026)Total
Ice CubeYYY3
Michael EalyYY2
Regina HallYY2
Kevin HartYYYYY5
Taraji P. HensonYYY3
Laurence FishburneYY2
Ken JeongYY2
Christopher LennertzYYYYYYYYY9
Kevin MamboYY2
Will PackerYYYYYY6
Eric ReedYY2

External links