Award-winning filmmaker Allen Hughes’ major leap into the entertainment industry came with his and twin brother Albert’s jolting debut as the 20 year-old creators/directors of Menace II Society. His other films with Albert include Dead Presidents, From Hell, The Book of Eli and the documentary American Pimp. Hughes’ most recent project was the critically acclaimed four-part HBO documentary series The Defiant Ones, the stories of Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre. The series was nominated for five Emmys®, a Peabody® Award, and won the Grammy Award for Best Music Film, the IDA Documentary Award for Best Limited Series, and the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Directing in a Television Movie or Special. The series was also nominated for the NAACP for Outstanding Documentary (Television), a Critics’ Choice Documentary Award, and an ACE Eddie Award.

Hughes is the director and executive producer of FX’s Dear Mama, the first definitive, comprehensive five-part documentary series on the late hip hop icon Tupac Shakur and his mother Afeni Shakur, who was an activist, with the full cooperation of his estate, including access to all of his music and poetry. The series debut scored FX’s most watched premiere for an unscripted series ever, and currently holds a perfect Rotten Tomatoes score. Dear Mama recently received two Emmy nominations for Outstanding Documentary Or Nonfiction Series and Outstanding Writing For A Nonfiction Program.

Hughes is also the executive producer of Netflix’s Arnold, the three-part documentary series which chronicles Arnold Schwarzenegger’s journey from the countryside of Austria to the highest echelons of the American dream. The series is produced by Hughes’ production company Defiant Ones Media Group.