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“ Country boy humble, big city hustle” is how our next HBCU Success Stories feature would describe himself. Stephen “ Dr” Love is an award-winning film producer who is the producer behind one the most popular films of the year, the Sci-Fi Comedy They Cloned Tyrone. Well on his way to becoming one of the best producers in the industry, here is the journey of Morehouse alum, Stephen Love.
From Farmhouse To Morehouse
Stephen Love grew up on a peach farm in York, South Carolina. His hard work began at the ripe age of four when he helped his grandfather sell produce from their farm. He always knew that he wanted to be a movie producer in Hollywood since he was in middle school even though where he grew up wasn’t necessarily the place to make those dreams a reality.
While in middle school he fell more in love with the idea of working in film through an after-school program. That program taught him how to use equipment such as handycams, as well as how to edit and upload content. Being in the program introduced him to the role of a producer. He told his teacher this was something he wanted to do just not in the classroom but in the real world.
Love always had his sights on attending Morehouse College. One of Love’s biggest influences and mentor, Spike Lee, is also an alumnus of Morehouse. But Spike wasn’t the only reason that he wanted to attend. He mentions that his older cousin attended and was receiving a lot of attention from their family because he attended Morehouse. So in true little cousin fashion, he decided that Morehouse was where he wanted to be as well.
While interviewing for the full-ride scholarship program he learned that Morehouse did not have a film program despite their many alumni in the film industry. A very determined Love managed to convince the dean during his interview to offer him the full ride and he would start the film program. Moving forward to his sophomore year, he met with the Dean of Humanities to discuss establishing the program. Although the dean was also interested in starting the program he believed that there wasn’t much interest from the students on campus.
Love knew that wasn’t the case and told the dean to give him six weeks to prove that there was interest not just from Morehouse students but from students in the AUC. That’s when he started a film club called the Morehouse Filmmakers Association (MFA). The MFA received a great deal of student involvement. It was also during this time that Love would connect with Spike Lee who would become his mentor as well as an advisor for the program.
With the data he collected Love returned to the dean with proof of interest for the program. Using that data Morehouse was able to build a team of faculty members to create the Cinema, Television, and Emerging Media Studies program (CTEMS). The program recently celebrated its 10th anniversary this past August.
Love graduated from Morehouse in 2012. He also graduated from the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts in 2014.
They Cloned Tyrone
They Cloned Tyrone was the movie to watch this summer. The film starring John Boyega, Teyonah Parris, and Jamie Foxx follows the trio as they uncover a government cloning conspiracy in their neighborhood. The film instantly became a fan favorite as it received an outpour of support from viewers especially on social media. The film takes a modern twist on the subgenre of blaxploitation films made popular during the 1970s.
Love who is a producer for the film first learned about the story back in 2017. The inspiration behind the film came from the unfortunate situation of a friend of the writer and director of the film, Juel Taylor. In the case of being at the wrong place at the wrong time, Taylor’s friend lost everything due to the actions of someone else which resulted in him falling into a deep depression as well as becoming a full-on conspiracy theorist. From that situation, Taylor created the concept ofThey Cloned Tyrone. Love and Taylor were classmates at USC along with the film’s co-writer Tony Rettenmaier, so when he learned the film’s concept Love was all in.
“ He told me this story about these three people in the neighborhood who realize that the government is doing mind control experiments and had been forever. They had to peel that onion back like a ghetto Scooby-Doo movie. I was like yes please, let’s do that!”
Once they began pitching the film around Hollywood, every studio wanted to put in their bid. They eventually sold the film to MACRO Studios and film producer Charles King. Working with MACRO allowed Love and the rest of the team to have full creative control over the film.
After the film was finalized, They Cloned Tyrone entered another bidding war and was eventually sold to Netflix. Love had hopes that the film would be something the culture would embrace. He wanted the film to be something for people to enjoy while also being thought-provoking. The film did just that.
Love says the film met any expectations that he initially had due to the enormous amount of support the film received from the Black community. They Cloned Tyrone was the hot topic on social media for weeks after its initial debut, sparking conversations about conspiracy theories that possibly take place, especially within the Black community.
What exceeded Love’s expectations was that film critics and thought leaders within the film community also embraced the film. Although he was glad that film critics enjoyed the film he says that it wasn’t their primary focus. The Black community embracing the film was their main goal. The film received a 95% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and ranked in the top 10 in 17 countries when it debuted back in July.
Dreams Really Do Come True
Growing up in rural South, Carolina, Love didn’t have any representing of the film industry let alone Black producers or producers at all for that matter. But he was certain about his dreams and did what was needed to make those dreams a reality. Before producing They Cloned Tyrone, Love has produced several projects including The Land, Instant Crush and, aTypical Wednesday. He is also set to produce the upcoming film Shadow Force starring Kerry Washington and Omar Sy.
Outside of producing films Love also produces award-winning advertising campaigns. He has won multiple awards for his advertising campaigns including AdAge Campaign of the year for his T-Mobile’s Boost Your Voice campaign and an Emmy for Outstanding Commercial for P&G’s “The Talk.”
Love founded his production company Made With Love Media back in 2018. Made With Love Media recently partnered with everyone’s favorite internet auntie, Tabitha Brown, and her company Do You Believe Enterprises.
Stephen “Dr” Love’s journey shows us that no dream is too big and that we must be stubborn with our dream regardless of what goes on around us. His success also shows that we can’t always wait for our opportunities, sometimes we have take charge and create them on our own. When asked if he had any advice for anyone looking to work in the film industry this is what he had to say:
“ This applies to every role working in the industry but the best thing you do in pursuing entertainment is to do the thing you want to do. I know it sounds simple but what I mean is, instead of let me try these three other things that I think may hopefully lead me to producing or directing etc. Just do the thing.”
They Cloned Tyrone is now streaming on Netflix.
