Paul Coy Allen is a

filmmaker Filmmaking or film production is the process by which a Film, motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, beginning with an initial story, idea, or commission. Production then continues through screen ...

television director A television director is in charge of the activities involved in making a television program or section of a program. They are generally responsible for decisions about the editorial content and creative style of a program, and ensuring the prod ...

television producer A television producer is a person who oversees one or more aspects of a television show, television program. Some producers take more of an executive role, in that they conceive new programs and pitch them to the television networks, but upon acce ...

, and

music video director A music video director is the head, overseer or facilitator of music video production. The director conceives of videos' artistic and dramatic aspects while instructing the musical act, technical crew, actors, models, and dancers. They may or ...

Early life

Born in Chicago, Illinois, Paul Coy Allen grew up an avid movie fan.

Career

Allen began his career in 1998 at

Tollin/Robbins Productions Tollin Productions (commonly known as TP and formerly known as Tollin/Robbins Productions and then Marquee/Tollin/Robbins) is an American film and television production company founded by Mike Tollin and Brian Robbins in 1994. Joe Davola was al ...

. His first job in the industry was on

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...

's ''

Kenan & Kel ''Kenan & Kel'' is an American sitcom created by Kim Bass that originally aired on Nickelodeon from August 17, 1996, to May 3, 2000. Set in Chicago, the series follows mischievous Kenan Rockmore (Kenan Thompson) and his happy-go-lucky best frien ...

''. He has worked for several television networks, including

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American Cable television in the United States, cable television channel, channel owned by Paramount Global through its Paramount Media Networks, network division's Paramount Media Networks#MTV Entertainment Group, MTV Ente ...

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

, Nickelodeon, and

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

. In January 2007, Allen directed a 19-minute video montage for the

Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

-winning producer's stage performance during

Justin Timberlake Justin Randall Timberlake (born January 31, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, actor, record producer, and dancer. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Prince of Pop", ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' honored him as the b ...

's FutureSex/LoveSound tour. The production has been acknowledged and summarized in various press and media columns including the March 2007 issue of '' GQ''. Later that year, MTV's ''

Total Request Live ''Total Request Live'' (commonly abbreviated as ''TRL'') is an American television program that premiered on MTV on September 14, 1998. The early version of ''TRL'' featured popular music videos played during its countdown and was also used as ...

'' featured Timbaland's " Give It to Me" music video, directed by Allen. The song went on to top music charts in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

and

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, and retained #1 spots in the U.S.,

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. "Give It To Me" was named one of the "Top 10 hottest music videos for the summer of 2007" by MTV. In Spring 2008, Allen directed two back to back music videos for Russian artist

Emin Agalarov Emin Aras oghlu Agalarov (, ), also known as Emin Arazovich Agalarov, is a developer and President of Agalarov Development as well as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Azerbaijan-Russia Business Council. Along with business projects, ...

. The first video "Make The World", was shot in

Palm Springs, California Palm Springs (Cahuilla language, Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Rivers ...

at the Morongo Casino. The second video "Stick Together", was shot in

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

and featured Agalarov's wife, Layla, daughter of

Ilham Aliyev Ilham Heydar Oghlu Aliyev (born 24 December 1961) is an Azerbaijani politician who has been the fourth president of Azerbaijan since 2003. He is also the leader of the New Azerbaijan Party since 2005. The son and second child of former Aze ...

. Allen formed Ten 2 One Entertainment with partners, Marcus Spence, and Phil Thornton based in Los Angeles, California. In November 2009 Allen directed the music video for the first single off

Timbaland Timothy Zachery Mosley (born March 10, 1972), known professionally as Timbaland, is an American record producer and rapper. Born and raised in Norfolk, Virginia, he is widely acclaimed for his distinctive production work and "stuttering" rhythm ...

's '' Shock Value II'' album, "

Morning After Dark "Morning After Dark" is a song by American record producer Timbaland, taken from his third studio album, '' Shock Value II''. The song features French singer SoShy and was released as the first single from the album on October 26, 2009. The int ...

" featuring Soshy &

Nelly Furtado Nelly Kim Furtado ( , ; born December 2, 1978) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. She has sold over 45 million records, including 35 million in album sales worldwide, making her one of the most successful Canadian artists. Critics have noted ...

. The concept was inspired by the film ''

Twilight Twilight is daylight illumination produced by diffuse sky radiation when the Sun is below the horizon as sunlight from the upper atmosphere is scattered in a way that illuminates both the Earth's lower atmosphere and also the Earth's surf ...

'' and the HBO series ''

True Blood ''True Blood'' is an American fantasy Horror fiction, horror Drama (film and television), drama television series produced and created by Alan Ball (screenwriter), Alan Ball. It is based on ''The Southern Vampire Mysteries'', a series of novels ...

''. In December 2009, Allen went on to direct the music video for " Say Something" feat.

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals and creatures * A male duck * Drake (mythology), a term related to and often synonymous with dragon People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family ...

, and at the top of 2010 "

If We Ever Meet Again "If We Ever Meet Again" is a song by American producer Timbaland. It was released on December 1, 2009, as the fourth single from his third studio album '' Shock Value II'' (2009). The song features singer Katy Perry and served as the album's s ...

" feat.

Katy Perry Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson (born October 25, 1984), known professionally as Katy Perry, is an American singer, songwriter, and television personality. She is one of the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling music artists in hist ...

both from Timbaland's '' Shock Value II'' album. Allen became Executive Producer of the TV One network's R&B Divas starring

Faith Evans Faith Renée Evans (born June 10, 1973) is an American R&B singer, songwriter, and actress. Born in Lakeland, Florida, and raised in New Jersey, she relocated to Los Angeles in 1991 in pursuit of a recording career. Evans initially performed as ...

Nicci Gilbert Nicci Gilbert is an American R&B singer. She is mainly known for being the lead vocalist of an American female R&B girl-group Brownstone who rose to fame in the mid 1990s best known for their 1995 hit single " If You Love Me", which was nominat ...

Syleena Johnson Syleena Johnson ( Thompson; born September 2, 1976) is an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter and actress. She is best known for her guest appearance on Kanye West's 2004 single " All Falls Down," which peaked at number seven on the ''Bi ...

Keke Wyatt Ke'Tara Shavon "Keke" Wyatt (born March 10, 1980) is an American singer-songwriter and TV personality. After performing in a number of girl bands and working as a songwriter during her teenage years, in 2000 she garnered national attention after ...

, and

Monifah Monifa Carter (born January 28, 1972), also known as Monifah, is an American R&B singer. She is best known for her association with the late rapper Heavy D and her music from the mid-1990s, including "I Miss You (Come Back Home)", "You" and " ...

. The series is being produced by Think Factory Media Directed episode #19 #PeezyB of Nickelodeon's

Sam & Cat ''Sam & Cat'' is an American teen sitcom created by Dan Schneider that aired on Nickelodeon from June 8, 2013, to July 17, 2014. It is a spin-off of ''iCarly'' and ''Victorious'', two TV shows that Schneider also created. The series stars Jenne ...

starring

Ariana Grande Ariana Grande-Butera ( ; born June 26, 1993) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Regarded as a pop icon and an influential figure in popular music, Grande is known for her four-octave vocal range, which extends into the whistle re ...

and

Jennette McCurdy Jennette McCurdy (born June 26, 1992) is an American writer, filmmaker, former actress, and singer. Her breakthrough role as Sam Puckett in the Nickelodeon sitcom ''iCarly'' (2007–2012) won her four Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards. She repri ...

. In 2019, he directed the music video of

Westlife Westlife are an Irish pop group formed in Dublin in 1998. The group consists of members Nicky Byrne, Shane Filan, Kian Egan and Mark Feehily. Brian McFadden was a member before leaving in March 2004. The group disbanded in 2012 and later reun ...

band's single "

Dynamite Dynamite is an explosive made of nitroglycerin, sorbents (such as powdered shells or clay), and Stabilizer (chemistry), stabilizers. It was invented by the Swedish people, Swedish chemist and engineer Alfred Nobel in Geesthacht, Northern German ...

References

Behind the scenes "Morning After Dark"Behind the scenes of the "Say Something" Music Video
*'' Sister 2 Sister'', March 2008, pg 90.
Lovetoknow.com InterviewPaul Coy Allen on TMZ

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Paul Coy 1977 births American music video directors Living people Businesspeople from Chicago