Before Spike Lee made his mark, Michael Schultz was the most prolific African American filmmaker since Oscar Micheaux, directing around 12 feature films between 1970 and 1990 (and much more if I included TV movies and serials).
For the current generation of young filmmakers, his name may not at all be familiar, despite his work being an inspiration to popular directors who came after him, and who are working today, like John Singleton, who has said that Schultz’s "Cooley High" (1975) was a major influence on him.
From that now-classic 1975 teen comedy and "Car Wash" (1976), to 1991’s comedy/farce "Livin’ Large!" (a film that was one of the last features he…
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