George Tillman Jr. on his career evolution and ‘The Hate U Give’

The 2017 novel ‘The Hate U Give’--about a black teen who splits her time between her mostly white high school and her mostly black neighborhood--stayed on the New York Times young adult best seller list for 50 weeks. When director George Tillman Jr. decided to make the movie version of the book, he knew some people might be turned off by the YA label, but he wasn’t daunted. He tells us how he worked to make the movie relevant to adults young and old, and about having to convince Fox that the film wouldn’t be too anti-cop. He also tells that his career--he directed ‘Soul Food’ and ‘Men of Honor,’ and produced the ‘Barbershop’ movies--all began with a love of soap operas.