Bryan Barber, the director of sexy new romcom ‘Singleholic’ opening in cinemas on 18 February, is known for his ground-breaking, left-of-centre visual directing style. Barber directed his first music video ‘Skew It on the Bar-B’ in 1998 for Outkast. He soon became known for his original narrative video scripts, and his unique approach to directing.
Owning a camera at a young age allowed Barber to focus on directing. At the time, there was a boom in the music industry in Atlanta and not many music video directors. “I grew up admiring all of these guys who had cut their teeth on directing music videos, directors like John Landis, Ridley Scott, Michael Bay, David Fincher, and Spike Lee,” Barber said. “I knew if I wanted to make movies the easiest way to gain experience was through following their footsteps.”
He beings the stylised gloss and glamour of innovative and exciting hip-hop music videos to ‘Singleholic’, a spicy story about a woman who moves to Mauritius to pursue her PhD after a painful breakup with her boyfriend. While there, she goes on a series of very funny dating encounters only to realise that the key to her happiness is to first be comfortable in her own skin.
Early on, Barber produced his videos through his own company, Bush Harbor Filmworks, Inc. He then joined a major production company where his success as a director took off working with stars like Destiny’s Child, Beyoncé, Justin Timberlake, Kelly Clarkson, Christina Aguilera, Mary J. Blige, Dr. Dre, Kanye West, Janet Jackson, and Wiz Khalifa. This led to him being a pioneer in the field and making several award-winning classic videos.
He has directed more than 200 music videos and 40 commercials, and has written, directed and produced various television and film projects. Barber received a Grammy nomination for Best Music Video, Short Form for directing Outkast’s ‘Hey Ya!’. He is also the winner of three MTV awards, five BET (Black Entertainment Television) awards, two Soul Train Michael Jackson Icon Awards, five MVPA (Music Video Production Association) awards, and two Much Music awards. His videos and artist collaborations have sold over 100 million albums worldwide.
After a decade of pushing the music video genre, Barber wrote, directed, and co-produced the HBO/Universal Studios produced Idlewild, a 1930s musical inspired by the Michigan resort town that was as a vacation haven for middle-class blacks in the pre-Civil Rights era.
‘Singleholic’ stars Rotimi Akinosho, R&B chart topping singer and star of the American TV show ‘Power’, opposite Erica Ash (‘Survivor’s Remorse’, ‘Uncle Drew’), Stephen Bishop (‘Being Mary Jane’), Tyson Beckford (superstar model and actor), Vanessa A. Williams (‘New Jack City’, ‘Soul Food’) and Adrian Martinez (‘Focus’, ‘I Feel Pretty’).
‘Singleholic’ is produced by Milan Selassie and is based on the novel by the same name from English author Katherine Bing. This film was shot in Mauritius.
