George Tillman Jr. (born January 26, 1969) is an American filmmaker.
Tillman directed the films Soul Food (1997) and Men of Honor (2000). He is also the producer of Soul Food: The Series on television and the four films in the Barbershop series: Barbershop, Barbershop 2: Back in Business, Beauty Shop and Barbershop: The Next Cut. He directed the 2009 biopic Notorious, about the late Brooklyn-born rapper The Notorious B.I.G., and directed and produced the drama The Hate U Give (2018).
Tillman was nominated for the Black Film Award for Best Director for Soul Food (1997). Tillman was also nominated for the Black Reel Award for Best Director and Best Screenplay for Notorious (2009). In 2023, he won the Children's and Family Emmy Award for Outstanding Young Teen Series at the 2nd Children's and Family Emmy Awards as executive producer on the Disney+ sports drama series The Crossover.
Early life
Tillman was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. His father, George Tillman, worked at the American Motors plant in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and his mother was a secretary. Throughout his early childhood, Tillman would borrow his father's 8mm camera and would start to shoot things with Milwaukee's Public-access television cable TV channel. and he took Mass Communications Magnet Classes. As a teenager, Tillman made amateur videos and created Splice of Life, which was a program for a local Public-access television. and winning the Midwest Regional, Dramatic Category, of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences' 19th Annual Student Academy Award competition (1992). In 1991, Tillman graduated from Columbia College and became a part of a directing and producing partnership with his college friend, Robert Teitel. Together, they created Menagerie Films. During that time, Tillman supported himself by being a production assistant. In 1995, Tillman finished editing the film. Upon completion, Tillman went to Hollywood with the copy of Scenes for the Soul and a few hundred dollars. Tillman was able to sell his film to George Jackson and Doug McHenry who bought it for Savoy Pictures for $1,000,000. However, Savoy Pictures went bankrupt before the film went out in theaters.
Soul Food
Tillman, disappointed that his film did not make it to screen, went to Chicago and wrote the screenplay to Soul Food. Tillman told the Chicago Tribune, "I wanted to make a movie about a black family in Middle America. I wanted to make a film where everyone can look at them and say, 'this is my family.'" When Tillman finished his screenplay, he returned to Hollywood. Tillman made sure to focus on female characters and tell a humble story about the importance of family.
When it was time for Tillman's agents to sell the script, they marketed it as an independently produced and low-budget project and asked the musician, Kenneth Edmonds, if he would want to contribute and record a soundtrack album. At the same time of requesting his musical talents, Edmonds and his wife/business partner, Tracey Edmonds, had recently formed a television and film development company.
The Edmonds' were able to negotiate with 20th Century Fox to underwrite the film for $6.5 million.
On November 6, 1996, the production of Soul Food began on a thirty-day schedule. Tillman finished the film on schedule because he already had so much of the big ideas worked out in advance. Tillman told Murray during an interview, "I knew all the shots. I knew the locations…It was pretty much based on my experiences, so it wasn't hard for me."
In September 1997, Soul Food reached theaters and earned $11 million during its first weekend. However, even with the lack of white supporters, it proved that African American audiences are able to make a film a commercial success. According to Jack Trout, president of Trout & Partners, in regard to black audiences, "this segment is really sizable, and Hollywood is just starting to recognize that."
Personal life
Tillman is married to actress Marcia Wright and has one child.