Carl Franklin

Franklin was born and raised in Richmond, California. He never had the opportunity to know his biological father, who had died before Carl was born. Franklin was raised by his mother and stepfather. While Franklin speaks highly of his stepfather and has called him "very loving", he has spoken about his stepfather's abusive tendencies, linking his outbursts to alcohol use. Problems at home combined with life in a tough neighborhood fueled Franklin's ambition to be the first in his family to attend college. He was awarded a scholarship to University of California, Berkeley. Franklin's initial desires to become a teacher or lawyer led him to study history upon his arrival at the university. However, after two years, Franklin changed his major to theater arts. Franklin did not actively participate in the many demonstrations at Berkeley in the period. Describing the scene, Franklin told the Los Angeles Times: "It was like a dream to me, I wasn't really sophisticated enough to join a particular movement." == Career ==

Acting After graduation, Franklin made his theater debut as a slave in The Public Theater's production of Timon of Athens. He would go on to act in Mark Taper Forum's production of ''In the Belly of the Beast. Straight out of his Master's program, Franklin landed a job with movie producer-director Roger Corman in 1989. While working at Corman's Concorde Films, Franklin gained experience working on low-budget films, helping to crank out six films in just two years' time. From 1989 to 1990, Franklin worked on Nowhere to Run, Eye of the Eagle 2: Inside the Enemy, and Full Fathom Five, respectively, under Concord Films. At the end of the 80s, producer Jesse Beaton was looking for a director for a film called One False Move. Remembering Franklin's short film Punk, Beaton met Carl to discuss the film's vision. Franklin's approach to the screenplay produced a thriller of the film noir genre. The story follows three drug dealers, played by Billy Bob Thornton, Cynda Williams, and Michael Beach and their interactions with a small-town Arkansas police chief played by Bill Paxton. Franklin collaborated with producers Jonathan Demme and Jesse Beaton on adapting Walter Mosley's novel Devil in a Blue Dress after Demme acquired its film rights. Franklin directed and wrote the screenplay for the film on a budget. == Unrealized projects ==

After Devil in a Blue Dress, Franklin and Denzel Washington planned to collaborate on a trilogy of films based on the Easy Rawlins character, but this never materialized. Around 1996–97, Franklin was attached to direct a film of the Russell Banks novel Rule of the Bone, but the project stalled at Columbia/TriStar. Filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson allegedly was hired to write the script, later saying "I didn't do a very good job. I didn't really know what I was doing in general, let alone how to adapt a book." In January 1997, Variety indicated that Franklin was set to direct a thriller for Fox 2000 about ex-spy Aldrich Ames. The film was titled Killer Spy, with Nicolas Cage reportedly being courted by the studio for the main role, though Al Pacino was later attached. By June, Franklin had left the project, with James Gray entering negotiations to direct in his place. In June 1997, it was reported that Franklin had dropped out of directing Brokedown Palace, citing "creative differences" over the casting of the film. Jonathan Kaplan took over for Franklin following his departure. In 1999, Franklin was attached as the director of the sci-fi film The Mothman Prophecies, with Richard Gere starring, before Mark Pellington was chosen. Franklin was attached to direct Will Smith in the fourth remake of the musical A Star Is Born for Warner Bros., though Smith passed up the role in order to star in Ali. In 2000, Franklin was expected to begin filming The Shooter, an adaptation of Point of Impact by Stephen Hunter. However, he stepped down as the director and writer of the project, which at the time was planned as a co-production between Paramount Pictures and Lakeshore Entertainment. In 2001, Franklin was announced to direct and produce a film adaptation of the novel Rescue Me, by Gigi Levangie, who sold the rights to Fox Searchlight. As of the announcement, no screenwriter was attached to adapt the story. In 2002, it was reported that writer Sid Quashie was tapped by Paramount Pictures to adapt Susan Kelly's 1995 book The Boston Stranglers, with Franklin attached to direct. The film was scheduled to go into production that summer, with Gale Anne Hurd and Jesse Beaton producing. In 2003, Franklin was set to direct the legal thriller The Emperor of Ocean Park for Warner Bros. Pictures from the novel by Stephen L. Carter, adapted by Stephen Schiff. In early 2007, Franklin had been attached to direct the legal drama Tulia for Lionsgate Films, starring Halle Berry and Billy Bob Thornton. Karen Croner wrote the script for the film, based on the Nate Blakeslee book Tulia: Race, Cocaine, and Corruption in a Small Texas Town. In August that year, John Singleton took over directing duties from Franklin, who departed from the project. The film was not made. On July 23, 2007, it was reported that Franklin would direct The Maintenance Man, the Screen Gems adaptation of Michael Baisden's novel about a gigolo in existential crisis, set to begin shooting later that year. On July 31, 2007, it was reported that Franklin would direct Snitch for New Line Cinema, a thriller produced by Guy East and Nigel Sinclair inspired by true events chronicled in a PBS Frontline documentary. Justin Haythe, who wrote the screenplay, was to executive produce the film along with Franklin's producing partner Jesse Beaton. In 2009, HBO was developing a historical miniseries from Franklin about the Black Panther Party called The Black Panthers, which he was writing and attached to direct and executive produce. He later further developed it as a project for Netflix. On February 8, 2011, Peter Facinelli was reported to write the script for, star in and co-produce the indie crime drama El Chico Blanco, with Franklin directing. Titan Worldwide Entertainment was financing the project, which would have been shot in New Mexico. On May 29, 2012, Meyers Media Group and McDonald Entertainment announced that they would co-finance the thriller City of Night, to be directed by Franklin, written by David Chisholm and produced by Brendan McDonald. Set against the backdrop of South Central L.A., the film follows a rookie cop who becomes the target of an elaborate psychological game to destroy him. A date for principal photography was soon to be announced, but the project did not move forward. In March 2013, it was reported that Franklin would direct a biopic about the life of soul music singer/songwriter Sam Cooke. ABKCO Records was set to independently produce the project. As of 2015, Franklin was still developing the film, which was then in the process of being cast from a script he wrote himself, based on Peter Guralnick's biography Dream Boogie: The Triumph of Sam Cooke. In April 2015, Franklin replaced John Singleton as director of Morgan Creek's Tupac, a biopic written by Jeremy Haft and Ed Gonzalez about rapper Tupac Shakur. Casting for the role was reportedly under way, with principal photography planned to begin in August or September. In May 2016, Franklin was announced to be directing a film adaptation of William Faulkner's Intruder in the Dust. Our House Productions held the rights to produce the adaptation of the 1948 novel, with distribution rights for the project being sold at that year's Cannes Film Festival. In July 2016, John Malkovich signed on to star in and executive produce Humboldt, a TV drama series to be directed by Franklin, inspired by Emily Brady's best-selling book ''Humboldt: Life on America's Marijuana Frontier''. The project was written on spec by Michael A. Lerner, and set up at Sony Pictures Television and Anonymous Content. Despite Franklin's prolific career in television, this never came to fruition either. In 2018, it was reported that Franklin was prepping to direct Excessive Force, a thriller about racism and corruption in the Cleveland police department written by Jeff Kwatinetz and Ice Cube and set to star Cube in the main role. The film was planned to enter production that fall, produced under Cube's production banner CubeVision. In 2022, Franklin was attached to the series Black Harvest, set in Paris in 1952, as executive producer. The project was developed with Epix Studios. ==Race and film==

Franklin says "I am interested in the universal values of the black experience." Discussing the realities for black Americans in the television and film industry, Franklin said: "When I came up, the only legitimate dramatic actor was Sidney Poitier, the bankable star was Richard Pryor and the other choice roles were action parts that went to Jim Brown. Even someone as good as Billy Dee Williams had a couple of great moments and then couldn't get a decent part." == Personal life ==

Franklin married film producer Jesse Beaton, who produced One False Move (1992). ==Filmography==

Film Short film Feature film Acting roles Television Director Acting roles Guest appearances ==Awards and nominations==