Steven Caple Jr. (born May 19, 1988) is an American film and television director, producer, and screenwriter. His credits include '' The Land'' (2016), ''

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. It is the sequel to ''Creed'' (2015), a follow-up to '' Rocky IV'' (1985), and the eighth installment in t ...

'' (2018), ''A Different Tree'', and ''Prentice-N-Fury's Ice Cream Adventure''. In 2017, ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

'' named Caple Jr. one of the "30 Under 30" in Hollywood & Entertainment. He also directed '' Transformers: Rise of the Beasts'' (2023), the seventh live-action ''

Transformers ''Transformers'' is a media franchise produced by American toy company Hasbro and Japanese toy company Tomy, Takara Tomy. It primarily follows the heroic Autobots and the villainous Decepticons, two Extraterrestrials in fiction, alien robot fac ...

'' film.

Career

Caple caught his first big break when his student film ''A Different Tree'' won

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

's Short Film Competition in 2013. Caple's feature film debut '' The Land'' premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival, where it was acquired by

IFC Films Independent Film Company (formerly IFC Films) is an American film production and distribution company based in New York City, New York. It is an offshoot of IFC (U.S. TV channel), IFC, owned by AMC Networks. It mainly distributes independent fil ...

. It tells the story of four teenage boys who devote their summer to escaping the streets of Cleveland to pursue a dream life of professional skateboarding. The film was released on July 29, 2016. Caple would go on to be named by ''The Playlist'' as one of the 25 best breakthrough directors of 2016. Caple recently wrote HBO's high-profile

Emmett Till Emmett Louis Till (July 25, 1941 – August 28, 1955) was an African American youth, who was 14 years old when he was abducted and Lynching in the United States, lynched in Mississippi in 1955 after being accused of offending a white woman, ...

project, produced by

Will Smith Willard Carroll Smith II (born September 25, 1968) is an American actor, rapper, and film producer. Known for his work in both Will Smith filmography, the screen and Will Smith discography, music industries, List of awards and nominations re ...

Casey Affleck Casey Affleck (born Caleb Casey McGuire Affleck-Boldt; August 12, 1975) is an American actor. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Casey Affleck, various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film ...

and

Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American Rapping, rapper, businessman, and record executive. Rooted in East Coast hip-hop, he was named Billboard and Vibe's 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time, the ...

. The six-episode miniseries is adapted from Devery Anderson's 2015 biography, ''Emmett Till: The Murder That Shocked The World And Propelled The Civil Rights Movement''. It is based on the real-life story of 14-year-old black teen

, who was brutally murdered after falsely being accused of flirting with a white woman in Mississippi in 1955. Caple's next film was the 2018 sports action drama film ''

'', a sequel to 2015 film ''

Creed A creed, also known as a confession of faith, a symbol, or a statement of faith, is a statement of the shared beliefs of a community (often a religious community) which summarizes its core tenets. Many Christian denominations use three creeds ...

'' and the eighth installment in the ''Rocky'' film series. Stallone said of appointing Caple as director: “I believe it's important for the director to also be a part of this generation like I was in mine, to make the story as relatable as possible. We are extremely lucky to have the talented young filmmaker Steven Caple Jr. step up and accept the role of director. I am confident that he and Michael B. Jordan will hit it out of the park!” Production of ''Creed II'' began in spring 2018. The film was released on November 21, 2018 and received positive reviews. In June 2025, it was announced that Caple would launch his own production company, entitled Grey Skies. The company's first project will be a film adaptation of the

Dark Horse Comics Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book, graphic novel, manga and Artist's book, art book publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon, by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, O ...

series ''The Ghost Fleet'', previously written by Donny Cates and drawn by

Daniel Warren Johnson Daniel Warren Johnson (born March 1987) is an American comic book artist and writer based in Chicago. He has worked on titles with Image, Marvel, and DC. He also collaborated with colorist Mike Spicer beginning with ''Extremity''. The duo also wo ...

. Caple will direct from a screenplay by Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer, with

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...

serving as distributor.

Filmography

Film Television Music video * Machine Gun Kelly: "Dopeman" (2017)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Caple, Steven 1988 births Living people 21st-century African-American writers 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American screenwriters African-American film directors African-American film producers African-American male writers African-American screenwriters American male screenwriters Baldwin Wallace University alumni Film directors from Ohio Film producers from Ohio Screenwriters from Ohio Skydance Media people Writers from Cleveland