Juel Taylor

Juel Taylor (born May 1, 1987) is a director and screenwriter. He wrote Creed II (2018) and Space Jam: A New Legacy (2021) with his writing partner Tony Rettenmaier. Taylor and Rettenmaier wrote the movie They Cloned Tyrone (2023), which is also Taylor's first feature film as a director. He has also directed several TV series and a short film. Early life and education Taylor was born and raised in Tuskegee, Alabama. Taylor largely based the fictional neighborhood in They Cloned Tyrone on the area where he grew up. Taylor was initially interested in studying video game design when he attended college at the University of Florida. His first introduction to making movies was a music video he created for his college's digital arts program. Taylor then studied film as a graduate student at the University of Southern California, where he met Rettenmaier. Career Taylor cites questions around blame and responsibility and experiences with friends in unfortunate circumstances as the inspiration for They Cloned Tyrone. Taylor and Rettenmaier initially pitched They Cloned Tyrone in 2018, not yet having written the script and while working on other films. The draft changed through the pitching process, eventually leading to They Cloned Tyrone to be produced as a Netflix feature film. In the editing process, Taylor cited Guillermo del Toro for his help on several scenes.