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Nelson George
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Nelson George (b. September 1, 1957) is an African American author, music and culture critic, journalist, and filmmaker. He has been nominated twice for the National Book Critics Circle Award.
He attended St. John's University, after which he served as a music editor for Billboard magazine from 1982 to 1989. While there, George published two books; Where Did Our Love Go: The Rise and Fall of the Motown Sound in 1986, and The Death of Rhythm & Blues in 1988. Nelson also wrote a column, entitled "Native Son," for the Village Voice from 1988 to 1992. He first got involved in film when, in 1986, he helped to finance director Spike Lee's debut feature She's Gotta Have It.
George has authored fifteen non-fiction books, including the bestseller The Michael Jackson Story in 1984, Blackface: Reflections on African-Americans and the Movies in 1994, Elevating the Game: Black Men and basketball in 1992 and Hip Hop America in 1998. In 1991 he co-wrote the Halle Berry vehicle Strictly Business and in 1993 Nelson was co-creator of the movie CB4 starring comedian, Chris Rock.
In 2004, he made a short called To Be a Black Man, starring Samuel L. Jackson, and a documentary called A Great Day in Hip Hop. Both titles have been aired in festivals in New York, London, and Amsterdam. In 2004 He executive produced the HBO film Everyday People that debuted at the Sundance Film Festival in 2004.
Currently he is serving as co-executive producer of VH1's Hip Hop Honors television show and a consultant to Black Entertainment Television's news division. He executive produced An American Gangster in 2006, which was the highest rated series in the history of BET. His directorial debut, Life Support, starring Queen Latifah, will air on HBO on March 10, 2007.
He has been a lifelong resident of Brooklyn, New York.