Shaka King facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Shaka King
King at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival
Born	(1980-03-07) March 7, 1980 (age 45) New York City, U.S.
Alma mater	New York University Vassar College
Occupation	Filmmaker writer director
Years active	2009–present

Shaka King (born March 7, 1980) is an American filmmaker. He is known for directing and co-writing the 2021 movie Judas and the Black Messiah. This film tells the true story of Fred Hampton, a leader in the Black Panther Party.

Who is Shaka King?

Shaka King is a talented director, writer, and producer. He creates movies and TV shows that often explore important social topics. His work helps audiences understand different parts of history and society.

Early Life and Education

Shaka King was born on March 7, 1980, in Crown Heights, a neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York. He grew up in another Brooklyn neighborhood called Bedford-Stuyvesant. His mother's family came from Barbados and Panama, and his father's family was also from Panama. Both of his parents were public school teachers. They taught him a lot about African culture and history.

King went to school in different parts of New York City, including East Harlem and Fort Greene. For middle and high school, he attended a private school in Bay Ridge. It was during these years that he discovered he loved creative writing.

After high school, King studied political science at Vassar College. He also took his first class in making films there. After college, he worked as a youth counselor and tutor while practicing his screenwriting. In 2007, he joined a film program at New York University Tisch School of the Arts. There, he was a student of the famous director Spike Lee. For his master's degree, King created his first feature film, Newlyweeds. Today, Shaka King still lives in Brooklyn.

His Journey in Film

Shaka King's first feature film, Newlyweeds, was shown at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. This festival is a big event where new independent films are first seen. He later showed another short film called Mulignans at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival.

In 2017, he made a short film called LaZercism. This film starred actor Lakeith Stanfield. It imagined a world where white people had a made-up eye condition called "racial glaucoma." Lakeith Stanfield also appeared in King's second feature film, Judas and the Black Messiah. In this movie, Daniel Kaluuya played the role of Fred Hampton.

Judas and the Black Messiah was a very successful film. It was nominated for six Academy Awards, which are very important movie awards. Shaka King himself was nominated for Best Original Screenplay and Best Picture for the film. More recently, he made a deal with FX Productions to create television shows. This means he will be developing new TV projects for them.

A writer named Angelique Jackson from Variety magazine has said that Shaka King is one of the "Black filmmakers [who] are offering an honest look at the history of the 1960s civil rights era." This means his films help us understand America's past struggles with racism.

Films and TV Shows

Shaka King has worked on many different film and television projects.

Short Films

Feature Films

Television Shows

Awards and Recognitions

Shaka King's work has earned him several important awards and nominations.