Carl Franklin

Carl Michael Franklin (born April 11, 1949) is an American film and television director, producer, screenwriter, and former actor. He began his career in the 1970s as a television actor, playing regular roles as Dr. Fred Walters on The Fantastic Journey, Detective Jerry Cross on McClain's Law, and Captain Crane on The A-Team. In the 1980s, he graduated from the AFI Conservatory, and began directing B-movies at Roger Corman's Concorde Pictures.

His 1992 film One False Move (1992), written by and starring Billy Bob Thornton, earned him the Best Director Award at the 8th Independent Spirit Awards. His subsequent cinematic directorial efforts include Devil in a Blue Dress and Out of Time; both starring Denzel Washington, One True Thing, High Crimes, and Bless Me, Ultima.

Since the 2010s, most of his work has been for television, including shows such as: Rome, The Pacific, The Newsroom, House of Cards, Homeland, The Affair, The Leftovers, 13 Reasons Why, Ray Donovan, Mindhunter, and the Ryan Murphy production Monster. His television accolades include a BAFTA TV Award, two NAACP Image Awards, and two Primetime Emmy Award nominations.

Early life Franklin was born and raised in Richmond, California. He never had the opportunity to know his biological father, who had died before Carl was born. Franklin was raised by his mother and stepfather. While Franklin speaks highly of his stepfather and has called him "very loving", he has spoken about his stepfather's abusive tendencies, linking his outbursts to alcohol use. Problems at home combined with life in a tough neighborhood fueled Franklin's ambition to be the first in his family to attend college.

He was awarded a scholarship to University of California, Berkeley. Franklin's initial desires to become a teacher or lawyer led him to study history upon his arrival at the university. However, after two years, Franklin changed his major to theater arts. Franklin did not actively participate in the many demonstrations at Berkeley in the period. Describing the scene, Franklin told the Los Angeles Times: "It was like a dream to me, I wasn't really sophisticated enough to join a particular movement." Straight out of his Master's program, Franklin landed a job with movie producer-director Roger Corman in 1989.

While working at Corman's Concorde Films, Franklin gained experience working on low-budget films, helping to crank out six films in just two years' time. From 1989 to 1990, Franklin worked on Nowhere to Run, Eye of the Eagle 2: Inside the Enemy, and Full Fathom Five, respectively, under Concord Films.

At the end of the 80s, producer Jesse Beaton was looking for a director for a film called One False Move. Remembering Franklin's short film Punk, Beaton met Carl to discuss the film's vision. Franklin's approach to the screenplay produced a thriller of the film noir genre. The story follows three drug dealers, played by Billy Bob Thornton, Cynda Williams, and Michael Beach and their interactions with a small-town Arkansas police chief played by Bill Paxton.

Franklin collaborated with producers Jonathan Demme and Jesse Beaton on adapting Walter Mosley's novel Devil in a Blue Dress after Demme acquired its film rights. Franklin directed and wrote the screenplay for the film on a budget.

Unrealized projects After Devil in a Blue Dress, Franklin and Denzel Washington planned to collaborate on a trilogy of films based on the Easy Rawlins character, but this never materialized.

Around 1996–97, Franklin was attached to direct a film of the Russell Banks novel Rule of the Bone, but the project stalled at Columbia/TriStar. Filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson allegedly was hired to write the script, later saying "I didn't do a very good job. I didn't really know what I was doing in general, let alone how to adapt a book."

In January 1997, Variety indicated that Franklin was set to direct a thriller for Fox 2000 about ex-spy Aldrich Ames. The film was titled Killer Spy, with Nicolas Cage reportedly being courted by the studio for the main role, though Al Pacino was later attached. By June, Franklin had left the project, with James Gray entering negotiations to direct in his place.

In June 1997, it was reported that Franklin had dropped out of directing Brokedown Palace, citing "creative differences" over the casting of the film. Jonathan Kaplan took over for Franklin following his departure.

In 1999, Franklin was attached as the director of the sci-fi film The Mothman Prophecies, with Richard Gere starring, before Mark Pellington was chosen.

Franklin was attached to direct Will Smith in the fourth remake of the musical A Star Is Born for Warner Bros., though Smith passed up the role in order to star in Ali.

In 2000, Franklin was expected to begin filming The Shooter, an adaptation of Point of Impact by Stephen Hunter. However, he stepped down as the director and writer of the project, which at the time was planned as a co-production between Paramount Pictures and Lakeshore Entertainment.

In 2001, Franklin was announced to direct and produce a film adaptation of the novel Rescue Me, by Gigi Levangie, who sold the rights to Fox Searchlight. As of the announcement, no screenwriter was attached to adapt the story.

In 2002, it was reported that writer Sid Quashie was tapped by Paramount Pictures to adapt Susan Kelly's 1995 book The Boston Stranglers, with Franklin attached to direct. The film was scheduled to go into production that summer, with Gale Anne Hurd and Jesse Beaton producing.

In 2003, Franklin was set to direct the legal thriller The Emperor of Ocean Park for Warner Bros. Pictures from the novel by Stephen L. Carter, adapted by Stephen Schiff.

In early 2007, Franklin had been attached to direct the legal drama Tulia for Lionsgate Films, starring Halle Berry and Billy Bob Thornton. Karen Croner wrote the script for the film, based on the Nate Blakeslee book Tulia: Race, Cocaine, and Corruption in a Small Texas Town. In August that year, John Singleton took over directing duties from Franklin, who departed from the project. The film was not made.

On July 23, 2007, it was reported that Franklin would direct The Maintenance Man, the Screen Gems adaptation of Michael Baisden's novel about a gigolo in existential crisis, set to begin shooting later that year.

On July 31, 2007, it was reported that Franklin would direct Snitch for New Line Cinema, a thriller produced by Guy East and Nigel Sinclair inspired by true events chronicled in a PBS Frontline documentary. Justin Haythe, who wrote the screenplay, was to executive produce the film along with Franklin's producing partner Jesse Beaton.

In 2009, HBO was developing a historical miniseries from Franklin about the Black Panther Party called The Black Panthers, which he was writing and attached to direct and executive produce. He later further developed it as a project for Netflix.

On February 8, 2011, Peter Facinelli was reported to write the script for, star in and co-produce the indie crime drama El Chico Blanco, with Franklin directing. Titan Worldwide Entertainment was financing the project, which would have been shot in New Mexico.

On May 29, 2012, Meyers Media Group and McDonald Entertainment announced that they would co-finance the thriller City of Night, to be directed by Franklin, written by David Chisholm and produced by Brendan McDonald. Set against the backdrop of South Central L.A., the film follows a rookie cop who becomes the target of an elaborate psychological game to destroy him. A date for principal photography was soon to be announced, but the project did not move forward.

In March 2013, it was reported that Franklin would direct a biopic about the life of soul music singer/songwriter Sam Cooke. ABKCO Records was set to independently produce the project. As of 2015, Franklin was still developing the film, which was then in the process of being cast from a script he wrote himself, based on Peter Guralnick's biography Dream Boogie: The Triumph of Sam Cooke.

In April 2015, Franklin replaced John Singleton as director of Morgan Creek's Tupac, a biopic written by Jeremy Haft and Ed Gonzalez about rapper Tupac Shakur. Casting for the role was reportedly under way, with principal photography planned to begin in August or September.

In May 2016, Franklin was announced to be directing a film adaptation of William Faulkner's Intruder in the Dust. Our House Productions held the rights to produce the adaptation of the 1948 novel, with distribution rights for the project being sold at that year's Cannes Film Festival.

In July 2016, John Malkovich signed on to star in and executive produce Humboldt, a TV drama series to be directed by Franklin, inspired by Emily Brady's best-selling book Humboldt: Life on America's Marijuana Frontier. The project was written on spec by Michael A. Lerner, and set up at Sony Pictures Television and Anonymous Content. Despite Franklin's prolific career in television, this never came to fruition either.

In 2018, it was reported that Franklin was prepping to direct Excessive Force, a thriller about racism and corruption in the Cleveland police department written by Jeff Kwatinetz and Ice Cube and set to star Cube in the main role. The film was planned to enter production that fall, produced under Cube's production banner CubeVision.

In 2022, Franklin was attached to the series Black Harvest, set in Paris in 1952, as executive producer. The project was developed with Epix Studios.

Race and film Franklin says "I am interested in the universal values of the black experience." 2002 High Crimes 2003 Out of Time 2012 Bless Me, Ultima Acting roles Year Title Role Notes 1973 Five on the Black Hand Side Marvin Credited as Carl Mikal Franklin1989 Eye of the Eagle 2: Inside the Enemy Colonel Rawlins Last Stand at Lang Mei Sergeant T. Deveraux 1992 In the Heat of Passion Detective Rooker

Television Director Year Title Notes 1993 Laurel Avenue 2 episodes 1999 Partners 5 episodes 2007 Rome Episode: "A Necessary Fiction" The Riches Episode: "Pilot" 2009 Last of the Ninth Unsold HBO pilot 2010 The Pacific Episode: "Peleliu Landing" 2011 Falling Skies Episode: "Live and Learn" 2012 Magic City Episode: "The Year of the Fin" 2013 The Newsroom Episode: "Unintended Consequences" 2013–14 House of Cards 4 episodes Homeland Episodes: "Gerontion" and "Redux" 2014 The Affair 2 episodes 2014–17 The Leftovers 4 episodes 2015 Bloodline Episode: "Part 12" 2016 Vinyl Episode: "Rock and Roll Queen" Good Behavior Episode: "Only The Best For Mrs. Diaz" 2016–17 Chance 2 episodes 2017 13 Reasons Why 2 episodes Ten Days in the Valley Episode: "Day 1: Fade In" Ray Donovan Episode: "Michael" 2019 I Am the Night 2 episodes Mindhunter 4 episodes 2022 Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story Episode: "Bad Meat"2024 Manhunt 2 episodesMonsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story 2 episodes American Sports Story 2 episodes

Acting roles Year Title Role Notes 1974 The Streets of San Francisco Dallam Episode: "Flags of Terror" It Couldn't Happen to a Nicer Guy Hovey 1974–75 Cannon Various Roles 2 episodes 1975 Caribe Mark Walters 13 episodes 1975–76 Good Times Larry Walters 2 episodes 1975–80 Barnaby Jones Various Roles 2 episodes 1976 Visions David Burrell Episode: "Scenes from the Middle Class" Most Wanted Tannehill Episode: "The Torch" 1977 The Fantastic Journey Dr. Fred Walters 10 episodes 1978 Loose Change Ed Thomas 3 episodes The Incredible Hulk Dr. Crosby Episode: "Life and Death" Centennial Beckworth Episode: "The Yellow Apron" The Rockford Files Roger Orloff Episode: "Black Mirror" 1979 The Legend of the Golden Gun Joshua Brown Trapper John, M.D. Steve Episode: "Deadly Exposure" 1980 The White Shadow Lonie Episode: "A Few Good Men" Joshua's World Unknown Uncredited Lou Grant Milt Carmichael Episode: "Streets" 1981–82 McClain's Law Detective Jerry Cross 15 episodes 1982 Quincy, M.E. Gary Rediford Episode: "Deadly Protection" The Devlin Connection Unknown Uncredited; 2 episodes 1983 One Cooks, the Other Doesn't Officer Lloyd Green 1983–85 The A-Team Captain Crane 17 episodes 1985 Cover Up Paul Cooper Episode: "Murder Offshore" MacGyver Andrew T. Wiley Episode: "The Prodigal" Riptide Ray Episode: "Requiem for Icarus" 1986 Hill Street Blues Lucious Episode: "Das Blues" A Smoky Mountain Christmas Lieutenant Danvers 1987 Frank's Place Father Phil Episode: "Disengaged" ALF Dr. Willoughby 2 episodes 1988 Too Good to Be True Unknown Uncredited 1990 Steel Magnolias Nick Fontenot Episode: "Pilot" Full Fathom Five Fletcher Also director 1991–92 Roseanne Various Roles 2 episodes

Guest appearances Year Title Notes 1977 Battle of the Network Stars II Team NBC 1995 Century of Cinema Episode: "A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies" Charlie Rose 1998 Split Screen Episode: "Carl Franklin Breaks It Down" 1999 The Directors Episode: "The Films of Carl Franklin" 2006 Shooting the Police: Cops on Film Documentary Hitchcocked! Documentary 2014 House of Cards: Politics for the Sake of Politics Short documentary

Awards and nominations YearInstitutionCategoryWorkResult 1992 Deauville Film Festival Critics Award One False Move Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards New Generation Award Mystfest Best Film Best Direction 1993 Cognac Festival du Film Policier Grand Prix Critics Award Fantasporto Best Film Independent Spirit Awards Best Director MTV Movie Awards Best New Filmmaker 1995 San Sebastián International Film Festival Golden Seashell Devil in a Blue Dress 1996 Edgar Allan Poe Awards Best Motion Picture American Film Institute Franklin J. Schaffner Achievement Award "Outstanding Body of Work" 2004 Black Reel Awards Best Director Out of Time 2014 Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series House of Cards 2023 Outstanding Directing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story 2025NAACP Image AwardsOutstanding Directing in a Drama Series Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story