F. Gary Gray

Felix Gary Gray (born July 17, 1969) is an American film director, film producer, and music video director. Gray began his career as a director on numerous critically acclaimed and award-winning music videos, including "It Was a Good Day" by Ice Cube, "Natural Born Killaz" by Dr. Dre and Ice Cube, "Keep Their Heads Ringin'" by Dr. Dre, "Waterfalls" by TLC, and "Ms. Jackson" by Outkast. Gray made his feature film directorial debut with the comedy Friday (1995). He has since directed the films Set It Off (1996), The Negotiator (1998), The Italian Job (2003), Be Cool (2005), Law Abiding Citizen (2009), and Straight Outta Compton (2015). He also directed the eighth installment of the Fast & Furious franchise, The Fate of the Furious (2017), which is the 23rd-highest-grossing film of all time. Early life Gray was born in New York City and raised primarily in South Los Angeles. He decided at the age of sixteen that he would become a filmmaker, having discovered a talent for the video camera with his AV class in high school. Career Seeking out a step-by-step process, he planned to work a number of years in the film industry as an assistant and hoped to work his first feature by the time he had turned 45. As such, he started working as soon as he left high school, working as a camera operator on programs such as Screen Scene. He also had a bit part in the comedy Major League (1989). He got his first chance to direct with music videos, starting with a video for the hip-hop group WC and the Maad Circle (WC was a former classmate of his). In 1993, he directed the music video for Ice Cube's "It Was a Good Day". The video is a literal adaptation of the lyrics. He would go on to direct subsequent videos for Ice Cube, as well as artists such as Cypress Hill, Outkast, Dr. Dre, and Queen Latifah. At age 26, Gray directed his first film, the buddy stoner comedy Friday with rapper-producer Ice Cube (who co-wrote the film based on his experiences in Los Angeles) and Chris Tucker. Next, he directed the film Set It Off, with Jada Pinkett and Queen Latifah. He then directed The Negotiator, which starred Kevin Spacey and Samuel L. Jackson while earning Gray both Best Film and Best Director awards at the 1998 Acapulco Film Festival.