Brett Ratner has established himself as one of Hollywood's most successful directors. By the time he was twenty-six years old, he directed his first feature film, the box office hit,
Money Talks, starring
Charlie Sheen and
Chris Tucker. His second film, the action comedy
Rush Hour, starring
Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker, earned $250 million worldwide. He followed that success with
The Family Man, a critical as well as another box office hit, starring
Nicolas Cage and Tea Leoni. A year later, Ratner delivered more Hong Kong-style action with
Rush Hour 2, which grossed more than $342 million worldwide. His last film,
Red Dragon, made box office history in 2002 as the biggest opening weekend in October and went on to gross $250 million worldwide. Raised in Miami Beach, Ratner dreamed of being a filmmaker since the age of eight. He enrolled in New York University's Tisch School of Arts when he was sixteen, becoming the department's youngest film major. While attending NYU Film School, he made
Whatever Happened to Mason Reese, which earned awards and brought him to the attention of
Steven Spielberg, whose Amblin Entertainment gave him a production grant.
When hip-hop impressario Russell Simmons saw the short, he hired him for his music videos. Ratner has since directed more than 100 music videos for such artists as Madonna, Mariah Carey, Jay-Z, Wu Tang Clan, D'Angelo, Heavy D, Mary J. Blige, Foxy Brown, Public Enemy, P. Diddy, and many others. He also won the Tony Award for producing Russell Simmons' Def Poetry Jam on Broadwy. In addition to success in film and music, Ratner has also segued into the world of publishing. He published Mark Helfrich's photo-driven Naked Pictures of my Ex- Girlfriends and authored the Powerhouse Books project, Hilhaven Lodge: The Photo Booth Pictures, which was released in October 2003.
Ratner is on the board of directors of the Chrysalis Foundation, which helps economically disadvantaged and homeless individuals change their lives through jobs. For his work with the organization, Ratner was the recipient of the Spirit of Chrysalis Award.
