Deon Taylor is an American film director, producer and screenwriter.
Background
Deon Taylor was born in Chicago, Illinois, and grew up in Gary, Indiana. During high school he and his mother moved to Sacramento, California, stating that, “Gary, Indiana is the murder capital of the world, numerous of my freshman basketball team was killed in gun violence." Taylor slept on the floor of a family friend’s house and finished high school in Sacramento.
Education
The first student to receive a full-tuition scholarship from his school or the district, Taylor attended college at San Diego State University and received a degree in Biology.
Career
Taylor is known for producing high quality major motion pictures with notable starring talent on a shoestring budget. During high school he played basketball and earned a full-tuition basketball scholarship to college. During college he was named “Newcomer of the Year,” and went on to play professionally, earning a spot in the National Basketball Association Entertainment League.
While briefly playing basketball in Kemnitz, Germany for the Kemkatz, Taylor wrote his first script for Dead Tone (originally titled 7eventy 5ive).
However, it would not be until years later Taylor would act on the project, first having a minor encounter with the music industry. Taylor set up his own independent record label in Northern California, but later changed his mind about the industry, saying, “I was selling someone else, and that was the artist." Taylor made up his mind to go into film after this and bring Dead Tone to completion.
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Taylor says he loved horror movies since he was a kid and made up his mind to go into film-making after college and departure from the music industry. After his screenplay was rejected in Los Angeles, Taylor partnered with an independent film company who later encouraged him to create his own business.
Taylor founded Hidden Empire Film Group in Sacramento, California and wrote and directed his first movie, Dead Tone.
Taylor went on to shoot a horror series for Black Entertainment Television, Nite Tales: The Series, a low budget series starring Flavor Flav that drew one million viewers on its first airing, but later lacked support from television because it was independently done. Taylor’s slasher/thriller Chain Letter was released to select theaters on October 1, 2010. Taylor currently resides in Sacramento, California, filming in both Sacramento and Los Angeles three days a week.