JOHN SINGLETON (director) exploded onto the scene with his first film, “Boyz N the Hood,” a tough, intelligent, plain-speaking look at friends in gang-ridden South Central L. A. that earned him two Oscar® nominations, for Best Original Screenplay and Best Director. Singleton became the first African-American (and the youngest filmmaker ever) to achieve both honors.

Singleton recently directed the successful “2 Fast 2 Furious” and wrote, produced, and directed “Baby Boy,” starring R&B singer (and “Four Brothers” star) Tyrese Gibson, Ving Rhames, Snoop Dogg, and newcomer Taraji P. Henson. “Baby Boy” received four NAACP nominations. He also wrote, produced, and directed “Shaft,” starring Samuel L. Jackson, for Paramount Pictures. Before that, he directed “Rosewood,” starring Jon Voight and Ving Rhames. Prior to that, he wrote, produced and directed “Higher Learning” starring Ice Cube and Laurence Fishburne, and wrote, produced, and directed “Poetic Justice” starring Janet Jackson and Tupac Shakur. Most recently, Singleton produced the 2005 Sundance Film Festival hit “Hustle & Flow.”

While Singleton was attending the Filmic Writing Program at USC, he won three writing awards from the university, which led to representation with Creative Artists Agency during his senior year. He was also a two-time recipient of the John Nicholson Screenwriting Award and won the Robert Riskin Award in 1989.

Singleton has won numerous awards, including the LAFCA New Generation Award in 1991, the MTV Movie Award for Best New Filmmaker 1992, the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best New Director (“Boyz N the Hood”) 1991, and finally the ShoWest Award for Screenwriter of the Year, and the Special Award for Directorial Debut of the Year, 1992.

He has also directed television commercials for Coca-Cola and AT&T.

DAVID ELLIOT & PAUL LOVETT (writers) met at the University of Texas. Inspired by the indie film success of fellow Austinites Richard Linklater and Robert Rodriguez, Elliot & Lovett loaded up their truck and moved to Beverly Hills (actually West LA – it was all they could afford).

“Four Brothers” is their tenth collaboration. They are currently under contract to write two more films for Paramount Pictures and di Bonaventura Pictures.

LORENZO DI BONAVENTURA (producer) was born in New York. His father Mario is an internationally known symphonic conductor.

di Bonaventura received his undergraduate degree in intellectual history at Harvard College and earned a Master of Business Administration at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business. He began his professional life operating a river-rafting company and later joined Columbia Pictures, where he worked in distribution, marketing and the office of the president.

In February 1989, di Bonaventura joined Warner Bros. While at Warner Bros., di Bonaventura was involved in over 130 productions. Among his biggest commercial and critical successes were “Falling Down” (1993), “A Time to Kill” (1996), “The Matrix” (1999), “Analyze This” (2000), “The Perfect Storm” (2000), “Ocean’s Eleven” (2001), “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” (2001), “Training Day” (2001), “Scooby Doo” (2002), and “The Last Samurai” (2003).

In January 2003, di Bonaventura formed a production company based at Paramount Pictures. In addition to “Four Brothers,” di Bonaventura Pictures is currently in production on “Doom,” starring The Rock and Karl Urban, and in post-production on “Derailed,” starring Clive Owen and Jennifer Aniston. di Bonaventura Pictures’ first feature, “Constantine,” starring Keanu Reeves and Rachel Weisz, was directed by Francis Lawrence and opened worldwide in February.

RIC KIDNEY (executive producer) has previously served as producer or executive producer on such films as “Flight of the Phoenix,” “The Rundown,” “The Recruit,” “Life or Something Like It,” “D-Tox,” “Legally Blonde,” “Mercury Rising,” “Fear,” “The Chamber,” “A Simple Twist of Fate,” “Six Degrees of Separation,” “Other People’s Money,” and “After Dark, My Sweet.”

ERIK HOWSAM (executive producer) was raised in Scottsdale, Arizona, where as a young boy his father sparked his interest in cinema by taking him to such classic films as “The Seven Samurai.” He later attended Steven Spielberg’s alma mater, Ingleside Middle School, which further fueled his passion for film.

After studying film and graduating from the University of Arizona, Howsam joined CAA as an assistant in the Motion Picture Department and then became assistant to Mike Stenson at Touchstone Pictures. Following Stenson to Jerry Bruckheimer Films, Howsam stayed for five years, being promoted to creative executive and then director of development. In that role, Howsam was intimately involved with the development and production of “Black Hawk Down,” which was nominated for four Academy Awards® and won two. Howsam also worked on such box-office hits as “National Treasure,” “Pirates of the Caribbean,” “Gone in 60 Seconds,” and “Remember the Titans.”

Since May, 2003, Howsam has been Vice President of Production for di Bonaventura Pictures, for which he helps oversee all aspects of film development and production. He is currently overseeing several projects in development including “GI Joe” and “Transformers.”

PETER MENZIES, JR., ACS (director of photography) served as cinematographer on such action-dramas as “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider” and “The General’s Daughter,” both for director Simon West, as well as “Die Hard: With a Vengeance” and “The Thirteenth Warrior” for director John McTiernan. Other action thrillers include “Hard Rain,” “A Time to Kill,” “The Getaway,” and “White Sands.”

Menzies recently filmed two action-comedies due for release in 2005: “Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous,” starring Sandra Bullock and directed by John Pasquin, and “Man of the House,” starring Tommy Lee Jones and directed by Stephen Herek. Other comedies to Menzies’ credit are “Disney’s The Kid,” directed by Jon Turteltaub, and Jerry Bruckheimer’s “Kangaroo Jack,” directed by David McNally. Currently in postproduction is the historically based WWII drama, “The Great Raid,” which Menzies filmed for director John Dahl.

A native of Sydney, Australia, Menzies was introduced to the film business by another Australian cinematographer, his father, Peter Menzies. Menzies gave his son his first film industry job as a camera loader when the younger Menzies was seventeen years old. He worked his way through the ranks of the camera department in both commercials and features as a camera assistant and later as an operator before establishing himself as a commercial director of photography in the 1980s.

Menzies’ commercial cinematography work has earned him several awards, including the Australian Television Award, the New York One Show Prize, the London International Advertising Award, and the Cannes Advertising Film Festival Award. Menzies continues to enjoy filming commercials between his feature film commitments. He is a member of the Australian Cinematographers Society and has been a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences since 1996.

Menzies is married with three daughters and divides his time between his native Australia and his U.S. residence in Nevada.

KEITH BRIAN BURNS (production designer) most recently designed the feature film “Hustle & Flow,” which premiered at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival, and reunited Burns with director John Singleton, who produced the project.

Singleton and Burns have collaborated on several films over the last fifteen years, including “2 Fast 2 Furious,” “Baby Boy,” “Higher Learning,” and “Poetic Justice.” Other notable directors Burns has worked with include Michael Apted (“Always Outnumbered”), Phil Alden Robinson (“Sneakers”), and Robert M. Young (“Talent for the Game”).

Burns has also served as production designer on such films as “Johnson Family Vacation,” “Stark Raving Mad,” “Liberty Stands Still,” “B*A*P*S,” and “Black & White.” Burns started out as an architect before crossing over into film. He met Singleton in his senior year at USC.

BRUCE CANNON, A.C.E. (editor) is a long-time collaborator with John Singleton, having previously worked with Singleton on such films as “2 Fast 2 Furious,” “Baby Boy,” “Rosewood,” “Higher Learning,” “Poetic Justice,” and “Boyz N The Hood.” His additional editing credits on films with other filmmakers include “One Night At McCool’s,” “Sunset Strip,” “Paulie,” “Crazy People,” “The End of Innocence,” “Carried Away,” “Time Out,” “One Fine Night,” “The Wind,” and “Rose and Katz.” He served in additional editing capacities on such titles as “Silverado,” “The Big Chill,” “Rocky III,” “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial,” and “Body Heat.” For television, Cannon’s credits include the telefilms “Meltdown” and “The Heart of Justice.”

BILLY FOX, A.C.E. (editor) is an award-winning editor and producer with a wide variety of work ranging from television drama to mini-series to feature films.

From 1990 to 2000, he produced and edited the NBC drama “Law & Order” for Universal Television and Wolf Films. In 2000, he co-produced and edited the critically acclaimed HBO miniseries “Band of Brothers.” In 2003, he edited the feature “Woman Thou Art Loosed,” which subsequently was selected Best Film in the Santa Barbara Film Festival. Most recently, Fox edited the hit of the 2005 Sundance Film Festival and winner of its American Dramatic Audience Award, “Hustle & Flow.”

Fox has been the recipient of Emmy Awards, Golden Globes, BDA Awards, a Monitor Award, a Peabody Award, a Golden Laurel, and The Humanitas Award. In 1994, he received an Emmy nomination for editing “Law & Order” and in 1998 he received an Emmy Award for Best Drama for his editing and producing on “Law & Order.” In 2001, he received an Emmy and Golden Globe for his editing and producing on “Band of Brothers.”

RUTH CARTER (costume designer) is a two-time Academy Award® nominee, for her work on Spike Lee’s “Malcolm X” and Steven Spielberg’s “Amistad.”

Carter’s previously collaborated with director John Singleton on the features “Baby Boy,” “Shaft,” and “Rosewood.” She is also a long-time collaborator of Spike Lee, having worked with the director on “School Daze,” “Do the Right Thing,” “Mo’ Better Blues,” “Jungle Fever,” “Crooklyn,” “Clockers,” “Summer of Sam,” and “Bamboozled.” Carter’s numerous other credits also include Joss Whedon’s upcoming feature “Serenity.”

DAVID ARNOLD (composer) has scored the music for many major motion pictures. “Four Brothers” is his fourth collaboration with director John Singleton, following “Baby Boy,” “2 Fast 2 Furious” and “Shaft.” Also a frequent collaborator with directors Michael Apted and Roland Emmerich, Arnold scored Apted’s “Enough” and “The World is Not Enough” and Emmerich’s “Godzilla,” “Stargate,” and “Independence Day.” In addition, he was the composer for director Frank Oz’s “The Stepford Wives,” Lee Tamahori’s “Die Another Day,” Roger Michell’s “Changing Lanes” and Ben Stiller’s “Zoolander.”

Arnold won the Ivor Novello Award for the Best Film Score in 2000 for “The World is Not Enough,” and the talented composer won the 1997 Grammy Award for the Best Instrumental Composition Written for a Motion Picture or for Television, for “Independence Day.”

His other credits as composer include “Tomorrow Never Dies,” for director Roger Spottiswoode and “The Musketeer,” for director Peter Hyams.

In addition to his film score work, Arnold has written and produced records for many contemporary artists, including Bjork, Iggy Pop, Damien Rice, Aimee Mann, The Propellerheads, Leftfield, Chrissie Hynde, Garbage, kd lang, Scott Walker and Pulp, to name a few.