Charles Stone III Biography

Date of Birth: 1966

Charles Stone III credits his mother for inspiring his interest in the arts, by taking him to museums, ballets and operas while he was growing up in his hometown of Philadelphia. He later participated in theater acting at Brown University, and attended the Rhode Island School of Design, where he received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in animation in 1988. After graduation, he first worked as an animator and special effects designer for a small film production company. From there, he moved on to directing over three dozen music videos for artists such as Living Colour, Public Enemy and The Roots, and in the process, won numerous music industry awards for his work from CEBA, Billboard, The Source and MTV.

It was Stone's three-minute short, True (1999), which he directed, wrote and appeared in, that caught the attention of Anheuser-Busch executives and prompted them to sign him up to direct their Budweiser ads. His memorable Budweiser TV campaign known as "Whassuup?!" won several awards.

His short film also impressed producer Damon Dash, who asked Stone to direct the feature film Paid in Full (2002) starring Mekhi Phifer. In his spare time, Stone likes to play the drums, so he was pleased when given the opportunity to direct his second feature, Drumline (2002), about a marching band drummer. His third feature, Mr. 3000 (2004), starred Bernie Mac as a retired baseball player who returns to the game to get his 3000th hit.

Filmography:

Mr. 3000 (2004)
Drumline (2002)
Paid in Full (2002)