Stokes first became connected with film and television through the talent of whom he managed. In 1992,
Marques Houston made his acting debut in the animated comedy film ''
Bebe's Kids, and received his big break as a regular on Sister, Sister in 1994. All three members of Immature appeared in the film House Party 3'' (1994). Stokes' first film credit came in 2001 as the writer and director of
House Party 4, which starred
Immature, which by then had transitioned to their new name
IMx. He then served as the writer and director of the 2004 dance film
You Got Served, which was commercially successful and starred members of his
TUG label; The cast included Houston, as well as rapper
Lil' Kim. the Christopher Brian Collection, which debuted at
Magic in Las Vegas February 2007. The line featured
Kim Kardashian as the principal spokesmodel and was available at Dash, her Calabasas boutique. He also wrote and directed the horror films
Somebody Help Me and
Somebody Help Me 2. The first of which made a television premiere on
BET on Halloween 2007, and released to DVD the following November. Both were distributed by
Vivendi. The company's second feature,
No Vacancy, another horror, was completed in 2011 and the first of Stokes' films not star talent from his musical career. It was distributed by Grindstone /
Lionsgate Home Entertainment. Also in 2011, Stokes returned to the dance battle genre with the dance-drama
Battlefield America, starring Houston,
Gary Anthony Sturgis, and
Lynn Whitfield. The film follows a young businessman whose community service obligations require him to turn a group of misfit kids into a dance team. In 2018, Stokes signed a 3-picture deal with Viacom for his films
We Belong Together,
Running Out of Time, and
Fall Girls. The former launched BET Network's original movie franchise by premiering simultaneously on BET and BET Her, produced by Chris Stokes' Footage Films production company. In August 2019,
BET+ announced their legal thriller,
Sacrifice to be written, directed, and produced by Stokes, and to star
Paula Patton. In May 2020, Stokes' new musical series "Howard High", starring Marques Houston debuts on subscription-based platform UrbanflixTV. In 2020, BET+ acquired
Trigger, directed by Stokes. It is set to be released this summer as a BET Original on their streaming platform. That same year, the company released
Always and Forever, directed by Stokes and starring
Lauren London,
Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Deborah Ayorinde, Rocsi Diaz,
Wood Harris and
Loretta Devine. In September 2020, BET+ launched
Sacrifice into a television series, ordering 10 episodes to be written, directed, and produced by Stokes. Stokes announced in 2021 that Footage Films was greenlit to produce a new series, Foster Law, for the Black streaming network UrbanFlix. In 2023, Stokes released the third installment of
The Stepmother, marking the first three-movie franchise in
Tubi's history. Each film follows Elizabeth Carter (
Erica Mena)'s escapades to find the perfect family and stars recurring Stokes cast members, including Houston. Tubi then released four new original Black cinema thrillers by Stokes in 2023:
The Assistant,
Best Friend,
You’re Not Alone and
No Way Out. ==Sexual assault allegations==