Juel Taylor (born May 1, 1987) is a director and screenwriter. He wrote ''

Creed II ''Creed II'' is a 2018 American sports drama film directed by Steven Caple Jr. from a screenplay by Juel Taylor and Sylvester Stallone. The sequel to ''Creed'' (2015) and the eighth installment in the ''Rocky'' franchise, the film stars Michae ...

'' (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 episodes 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's

School of Cinematic Arts The University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts (SCA) houses seven academic divisions: Film & Television Production; Cinema & Media Studies; John C. Hench Division of Animation + Digital Arts; John Wells Division of Writing for Sc ...

, where he met Rettenmaier.

Career

In 2017, Taylor co-directed ''Actors Anonymous'', the feature film adaptation of James Franco's novel of the same name, ''

Actors Anonymous ''Actors Anonymous'' is a novel by American author and actor James Franco. Published in 2013 by Little A/New Harvest, the novel is a series of connected short stories about actors in Los Angeles. The chapters follow the 12 Steps and the 12 Tradit ...

'', starring James Franco,

Eric Roberts Eric Anthony Roberts (born April 18, 1956) is an American actor. His career began with a leading role in ''King of the Gypsies'' (1978) for which he received his first Golden Globe Award nomination. He was nominated again at the Golden Globes fo ...

, Emma Rigby, Scott Haze,

Jake Robbins Phillip Jacob Robbins (born May 23, 1976) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher who ended his career in the Chicago White Sox organization. He appeared in only two major league games in for the Cleveland Indians at the age of 28. The only ru ...

, Carmen Argenziano, and Horatio Sanz. The film screened at

Cinequest The Cinequest Film & Creativity Festival is an annual independent film festival held each March in San Jose, California and Redwood City, California. The international festival combines the cinematic arts with Silicon Valley’s innovation. It is ...

and the Newport Beach Film Festival. Taylor co-wrote ''

'' (2018) alongside

Sylvester Stallone Sylvester Enzio Stallone (; born Michael Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone, ) is an American actor and filmmaker. After his beginnings as a struggling actor for a number of years upon arriving to New York City in 1969 and later Hollywood in 1974, h ...

, featuring Michael B. Jordan and directed by Steve Caple Jr. He also co-wrote '' Space Jam: A New Legacy'' (2021) with his writing partner Tony Rettenmaier, starring LeBron James and directed by

Malcolm D. Lee Malcolm D. Lee (born January 11, 1970) is an American filmmaker. He is known for directing numerous comedy films, including '' The Best Man'' (1999), ''Undercover Brother'' (2002), ''Roll Bounce'' (2005), ''Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins'' (2008), ...

. Taylor's feature directorial debut, '' They Cloned Tyrone'', starring John Boyega, Jamie Foxx, Teyonah Paris, and

Kiefer Sutherland Kiefer William Sutherland (born 21 December 1966) is a British-Canadian actor and musician. He is best known for his starring role as Jack Bauer in the Fox drama series '' 24'' (2001–2010, 2014), for which he won an Emmy Award, a Golden Glo ...

, released on Netflix in 2023. He co-wrote the screenplay with Tony Rettenmaier. 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'' being produced as a Netflix feature film.{{Cite web , last=Davids , first=Brian , date=2023-08-13 , title='They Cloned Tyrone' Filmmaker Juel Taylor Talks the Epilogue and Editing With Guillermo del Toro , url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-features/they-cloned-tyrone-juel-taylor-end-1235562373/ , access-date=2023-10-20 , website=The Hollywood Reporter , language=en-US In the editing process, Taylor cited

Guillermo del Toro Guillermo del Toro Gómez (; born October 9, 1964) is a Mexican filmmaker, author, and actor. He directed the Academy Award–winning fantasy films ''Pan's Labyrinth'' (2006) and ''The Shape of Water'' (2017), winning the Academy Awards for Be ...

for his help on several scenes.

References

1987 births Living people University of Florida alumni University of Southern California alumni