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Hype Williams

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the American director. For the band, see Hype Williams (band).
Hype Williams
Born
Harold Williams

(1970-08-01) August 1, 1970 (age 54)[1]
Queens, New York City, U.S.
Occupations
  • Music video director
  • film director
  • film producer
  • screenwriter
Years active1991–present

Harold "Hype" Williams (born August 1, 1970) is an American music video and film director, film producer, and screenwriter.

Early life

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Williams was born in Queens. He is of mixed African-American and Honduran descent.[2] He attended Adelphi University.[3] He first displayed his work by tagging local billboards, storefronts, and playgrounds using HYPE as his graffiti tag. His graffiti style was influenced by artists like Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat. His big break came when he began working with Classic Concepts Video Productions. Lionel "Vid Kid" Martin and VJ Ralph McDaniels created Williams' first opportunity with the Filmmakers With Attitude moniker (FWA), which was Williams' first video company.[3]

Career

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Music videos

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Awards Williams has received for his video work include the Billboard Music Video Award for Best Director of the Year (1996), the Jackson Limo Award for Best Rap Video of the Year (1996) for Busta Rhymes' "Woo Hah!! Got You All in Check", the NAACP Image Award (1997), the 8th annual Music Video Production Association Award for Black Music Achievement (1997), MTV Video Music Award in the Best Rap Video (1998) category for Will Smith's "Gettin' Jiggy wit It", MTV Video Music Award for Best Group Video (1999) for TLC's "No Scrubs", and the BET Award for Best Director (2006) for Kanye West's "Gold Digger".[4] In 2006, Williams was honored by MTV with its Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award, presented in honor of his achievements as a filmmaker.[5]

In the December 2007 issue of Playboy magazine, Williams shot the photographs for cover subject Kim Kardashian.[6]

In 2008, Williams directed Kanye West's video for "Heartless".[7] He also directed the music video for his single "All of the Lights", which premiered on February 19, 2011.[8]

As of 2014, Kanye West holds the artist record for working the most times with Williams; the two have collaborated on 20 music videos, beginning in 2005 with the music video for "Diamonds from Sierra Leone". Busta Rhymes is second behind West, collaborating with Williams on 16 music videos, beginning with debut solo music video "Everything Remains Raw" / "Woo Hah!! Got You All in Check".

Feature and short films

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In 1998, he directed his first and so far his only feature film to date, Belly, starring rappers Nas and DMX, the film released by Artisan Entertainment. In 1999, Williams signed a two-year overall deal with New Line Cinema to produce and direct feature films.[9] His first film with New Line, Mothership,[10] died in development. Later that year, Williams was in negotiations with MTV to develop an animated series which was described as a behind-the-scenes look at the world of music and celebrities. The project also died in development.[11]

In 2000, Williams was hired to direct the Warner Bros. film Speed Racer. He left the project the following year, with the film being released in 2008 under the direction of The Wachowskis.[12]

In 2003, Disney purchased the zombie horror film Thrilla, which Williams wrote. The project died in development, with Gavin Polone attached to produce.[13]

In 2010, Williams was the writer for the Kanye West-directed short film Runaway.[14]

Videography

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Main article: Hype Williams videography

References

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  1. ^ "It's official! 🗣Birthday weekend almost here 🦁🦁🦁✨✨✨big BDay shout out to all the Leo's #leogang @liluzivert 👑👑👑BDay coming up quick! 😅🏆🏆🏆". @hypewilliams' Instagram. July 29, 2021. Archived from the original on December 23, 2021. Retrieved August 2, 2021.
  2. ^ Contreras, Milly (September 15, 2015). "Honduran Independence Day: America Ferrera, Rocsi Diaz, Satcha Pretto & More Famous Hondureños". Latin Post. New York City: Latin Post Company. Retrieved March 6, 2018.
  3. ^ a b Birchmeier, Jason. "Artist biography: Hype Williams". AllMusic. San Francisco, California: All Media Network. Retrieved March 6, 2018.
  4. ^ "Hip-Hop News: Hip Hop Mega Producer Hype Williams Launches Web Site". Rap News Network. September 6, 2006. Archived from the original on March 17, 2022. Retrieved March 6, 2018.
  5. ^ "MTV Video Music Awards 2006". New York City: MTV. Archived from the original on July 6, 2006. Retrieved July 23, 2012.
  6. ^ Jones, Jaleesa M. (December 16, 2015). "Kim Kardashian throws it back with '07 'Playboy' pics". USA Today. McLean, Virginia. Retrieved March 6, 2018.
  7. ^ Perpetua, Matthew (June 16, 2009). "The Greatest Animated Music Videos". Rolling Stone. New York City. Archived from the original on April 8, 2014. Retrieved March 6, 2018.
  8. ^ "Kanye West's 'All of the Lights' Music Video, Featuring Rihanna, Hits the Web". The Wall Street Journal. New York City. February 19, 2011. Retrieved February 19, 2011.
  9. ^ Hayes, Dade (October 8, 1999). "Williams inks New Line deal". Variety. Retrieved October 21, 2021.
  10. ^ Basham, David (October 11, 1999). "Hype Williams Lands Deal To Direct Sci-Fi Film". MTV.com. New York City. Archived from the original on January 29, 2013. Retrieved July 24, 2012.
  11. ^ Lyons, Charles (October 27, 1999). "MTV toon will get plenty of Hype". Variety. Los Angeles, California. Retrieved July 24, 2012.
  12. ^ Thompson, Anne (June 13, 2008). "Why 'Speed Racer' Sputtered". Variety. Los Angeles, California. Retrieved March 6, 2018.
  13. ^ "Hype and his zombie THRILLA". Mania.com. Archived from the original on August 26, 2014. Retrieved July 24, 2012.
  14. ^ Kaufman, Gil (October 7, 2010). "Kanye West Screens 'Runaway' In London". MTV.com. New York City. Archived from the original on October 9, 2010. Retrieved October 8, 2010.
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