Justin Juice Black

Justin "Juice" Black, most commonly known simply as Juice Black, is a British film director and producer, born in London. Juice Black is also the owner of XL Films (International) and the former owner of Urban XL, a music production company based in London, UK and Atlanta, Georgia, USA. In September 2015, Juice Black published his most recent Director's reel, however his extensive project list goes back a long way. "Prologue" Short Film - In 2013, Juice Black wrote and directed "Prologue", an action/sci-fi short film. With lead actress, Hannah Hoad, it was originally intended to be a proof of concept for a feature length script, however it soon proved more than capable of standing alone in it's own right. "Prologue" was filmed throughout Europe in London, Spain and Gibraltar. In a 2014 interview, Juice Black revealed that some of the scenes which in the story take place in Libya, were actually shot on a Devon beach, in the UK. The short film screened at several film festivals around the UK. "Prologue" was initially slated to feature Johanna Kjaerbo, of Denmark's Next Top Model fame in the lead role. However, due to scheduling issues, Johanna was unable to take the role. Johanna has also previously featured in the Juice Black directed "Call Me" music video for recording artist Moonlight (now known as Emmel) "Identity" Short Film - In 2014, "Identity" became the second short-film to be written and produced by Juice Black. Starring Oli Fowler and Rachel Verkuil, it was a thriller that told the story of a young girl coming to terms with her own identity. Not much more can be revealed about the story behind "Identity", without spoiling the plot. "Love.Kill.Become" Short FIlm - In 2014/2015, Juice Black began work on writing and directing his third short-film, "Love.Kill.Become". Filmed on location in Thailand, London, the British Virgin Islands and Spain, "Love.Kill.Become" is a country-hopping tale of an assassin contracted to kill a woman whom he comes to believe could actually be 'the one' for him. The film culminates in a battle of the wits style "will he /won't he" climax. "Love.Kill.Become" stars Rachel Ritfeld as "Leona" and Mehdi Sakhri as "Adam". Upcoming Feature Film: "The Butcher" - In 2016, Juice Black is slated to direct the horror feature film "The Butcher" (produced by Alison Kathleen Kelly, executive produced by Lee Akehurst). In a departure from Juice Black's typical approach of writing his own work, "The Butcher" is written by a fellow British screenwriter, Lee Akehurst. The synopsis reads: "Whilst driving through France a group of British Girls - one of whom is blind - are led off course to an idyllic villa in the woods, but their seemingly perfect holiday is about to turn into a blood bath when the Butcher comes out to play. In this grizzly game of survival nothing is what is seems." Upcoming Feature FIlm: "The Two Percent - Following completion of "The Butcher", Juice is due to go into production with "The Two Percent" an international sci-fi/adventure, written and directed by Juice Black. The film also has renowned UK actor Sebastian Street attached to star. A synopsis of the movie has not yet been published. Although it was in his migration to film production that he found his true calling, Juice Black has had an extensive career behind the scenes in the entertainment industry. For example, he initially began his career as an executive and creative in the music business. Signing Taio Cruz To Record Contract - Demonstrating an incredible entrepreneurial streak at a young age, it was at just 17 years old, that Juice Black formed his first company. It was about that age and during his time in Stanmore College, that he met the British singer-songwriter, Taio Cruz. Juice Black had been studying Popular Music, whilst Taio had joined in the school year below him, also studying Popular Music. Juice Black signed Taio to his fledgling record label, and they would go on to release several singles regionally, including the vinyl-only release "Morning Sickness", a tongue-in-cheek hip-hop track about an unexpected pregnancy occurring in a non-serious relationship. This being the era just prior to music's digital revolution, Juice Black had physical units manufactured for sale. This necessitated the need for a record distributor in order to achieve significant success. However, being so young, Juice Black was unable to find a distributor willing to take on his company. Refusing to be put off by this, Juice personally took stock and hand delivered the limited manufacturing run of 500 vinyl records to record stores across London and the South-East of the United Kingdom. Soul Boutique, Live Events - In 2006, Juice Black along with Gusto Entertainment and Unristrikted PR, ran the hugely successful "Soul Boutique" event at Opium club in Soho, Central London. The weekly event brought together the music and fashion industries, and featured several different up and coming fashion designers exhibiting their collections every week. Debut Music Video Production - As a director, Juice Black got his start behind the camera directing music videos. In 2005, he directed his first music video for the rap song "Make It Bounce". The song was performed by the Brooklyn, New York City, U.S.A. rapper Tah Mac and also featured Forte Tha Green Giant, a rapper hailing from North Carolina, USA. Juice Black was also the music producer of the song. Both of the performing artists flew to London in order to shoot the video with Juice. From 2005-2008, Juice Black served as 1st Assistant Director on several music videos for local London based artists such Oranj "Bikerman/RIP", Gemeni ft. Nolay "Night Time Part II", Chocolate Blonde "Say Something", and numerous other artists. In addition to his 1st AD role, Juice Black also provided various post-production services for the videos including colour grading and visual effects. In 2008, Juice Black directed the music video for "Cos I Can" a transatlantic hip-hop collaboration that featured two Atlanta rappers Noggz and Major Profit, a North Carolina based rapper, Forte and the London based rapper Ethix (aka film and television actor Chris Steward). The music of the song was also produced by Juice Black. Double E Radio Promotions - In 2010, via his Urban XL company, Juice Black oversaw radio promotion in the UK market for Atlanta rapper Double E's song, "Rain On Me". The song received substantial airplay on UK urban networks. Commercials Work - Juice Black has directed promotional adverts for the UK tours of many A-List American Urban artists, including: The Roots, Ashanti, Ja Rule, Redman, Busta Rhymes, The Lox and many more. Signing Moonlight - From 2009 to 2011, Juice Black, via his Urban XL production company, managed the career of UK rapper Moonlight (now known as Emmel). A successful combination, the alliance saw Urban XL and Moonlight travel the world performing in numerous countries and cities including: London, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Paris, Spain, Tunisia, Miami, New York, Dubai, Barbados, Puerto Rico and many more. The winning combination of Juice Black/Urban XL and Moonlight, saw Moonlight support and perform alongside renowned international artists such as Trey Songz, Rick Ross, Akon, J. Holiday, Bow Wow (aka Shad Moss), Omarion and many more. Moonlight also featured with rap superstar Lil Wayne and producer/rapper Nu Jerzey Devil on the official remix to "Calling All Girls". Studio footage of the recording session can be found in the 2011 Moonlight Electronic Press Kit (available on Youtube and Vimeo). Juice Black also directed several of Moonlight's music videos including: "All Night", "Temperature", "Be My Lady", "Computer Love", "Call Me", "Call Me UK Remix" (ft Casso Blax, Bianca Simmone, Castro, Catia Violante & R.I.O.) and "Subway". Shot in 2009, "Call Me" (directed by Juice Black) was filmed on location in Puerto Rico and London. It featured video model Catia Violante. With the popular Zimbabwe singer Kazz (of BK and Kazz) on the chorus, the song was also produced by the UK's number one Urban music producer, Rymez. Of note, is that Kazz does not appear in the television edit of the video, but does feature on the later re-edited online version. "Call Me", released via Urban XL, reached a high of number 2 on Flava Television's Official Urban Music Chart, soon after its release. The raunchy and controversial video for "Subway", shot by Juice Black, was featured on the renowned hip-hop website WorldStarHipHop, where it garnered over 250,000 views in under 48hours, quickly taking the video viral. "Subway" also featured UK glamour model and television presenter Ruby Summers. The video is still regularly shown on the After Dark show on the UK satellite television station, Channel AKA. Other Music Videos - In 2010, Juice Black directed the music video for "Addiction" by UK singer-songwriter, J. Auburn. International Music Videos In 2011, Juice Black directed the "Hustle" music video by Loko. Filmed on location in and around Simpson Road, Atlanta, (USA) the song was an underground regional smash. Loko, aka Loko Da Lunatic, is a part of Oomp Camp, the Atlanta collective whom had previously found huge success with fellow member DJ Unk's multi-million selling smash hit "Walk It Out". In 2011, Juice Black directed the music video for "Get Low" by the legendary North Carolina rapper, Petey Pablo. The music video was unreleased. Special Consultant & Advisor - In 2012, his work as a Special Consultant saw Juice advise for and oversee A&R operations for Adixtion Music. It was during that period he worked with cross-genre artists such as Xzike Zolani (an Zimbabwean singer, songwriter and music producer), Ember Phoenix ( London rapper), Nico Tamburella (Italian rock guitarist) and many more. Juice also facilitated his trademark transatlantic style of working, by putting together a musical collaboration between Mitchellel, an Atlanta (USA) based singer signed to superstar rapper T.I.'s Hustle Gang record label and Ember Phoenix, a London based rapper. The song, "Dream Chaser" was produced by Xzike Zolani. Success As A Photographer - In addition to being a filmmaker, Juice Black has also found considerable success as a professional photographer, with select one-off prints from his various acclaimed photo-series' regularly selling for four figure amounts. Juice Black's photography artwork has also been featured in both the UK and the USA. Juice Black's most well known photo-series is the "Milk Series", featuring beautiful models laden in milk baths, Cleopatra style. Social Media - Juice Black has social media accounts on Twitter (@JuiceBlack), Instagram (@JuiceBlack), Youtube (www.youtube.com/directorjuiceblack), and Vimeo (www.vimeo.com/xlfilms).