Timothy A. Chey is an American film producer, writer and director. Among his films are '' Fakin' da Funk'', ''Gone'', ''Impact: The Passion of the Christ'', '' Suing the Devil'', '' The Genius Club'', ''Live Fast, Die Young'', ''Final the Rapture'', ''Epic Journey'', ''Freedom'', ''David and Goliath'', '' The Firing Squad'', and '' Slamma Jamma''.

Biography

Chey was educated at

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which p ...

and

Boston University School of Law The Boston University School of Law (BU Law) is the law school of Boston University, a private research university in Boston. Established in 1872, it is the third-oldest law school in New England, after Harvard Law School and Yale Law School. Ap ...

doing a joint J.D./

M.B.A. A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...

He earlier attended the

American Academy of Dramatic Arts The American Academy of Dramatic Arts (AADA) is a Private college, private drama school with two locations, one in New York City and one in Los Angeles. The academy offers an associate degree in occupational studies and teaches drama and related ...

, and then got accepted to USC Film School as an undergrad. Chey has been interviewed on Fox Morning News,

NBC News NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Media Group, a division of NBCUniversal, which is itself a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's various operations r ...

, TBN, ''

Entertainment Tonight ''Entertainment Tonight'' (or simply ''ET'') is an American Broadcast syndication, first-run syndicated news broadcasting news magazine, newsmagazine program that is distributed by CBS Media Ventures throughout the United States and owned by Par ...

'', Lamb and Lions, Good News TV. His work has been reviewed in ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

'', the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'', VIBE TV,

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 ...

, ''

Daily Variety ''Variety'' is an American trade magazine owned by Penske Media Corporation. It was founded by Sime Silverman in New York City in 1905 as a weekly newspaper reporting on theater and vaudeville. In 1933, ''Daily Variety'' was launched, based in ...

'', ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'',

TNT Troponin T (shortened TnT or TropT) is a part of the troponin complex, which are proteins integral to the contraction of skeletal and heart muscles. They are expressed in skeletal and cardiac myocytes. Troponin T binds to tropomyosin and helps ...

USA Networks IAC Inc. is an American holding company that owns brands across 100 countries, mostly in media and Internet. The company originated in 1996 as HSN Inc. as the holding company of Home Shopping Network and USA Network before changing its name to ...

, the Dove Awards, ''

MovieGuide Millard Robert E. Theodore Baehr (born 1946) is an American media critic and chairman of the Christian Film and Television Commission, a division of Good News Communications, Inc. He is publisher and editor-in-chief of ''Movieguide'', a website ...

'' Awards, ''

People The term "the people" refers to the public or Common people, common mass of people of a polity. As such it is a concept of human rights law, international law as well as constitutional law, particularly used for claims of popular sovereignty. I ...

'', and ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''.

Personal life

Chey is a devout

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

. When not making films, Chey is active in helping with the prison ministries,

nursing home A nursing home is a facility for the residential care of older people, senior citizens, or disabled people. Nursing homes may also be referred to as care homes, skilled nursing facilities (SNF), or long-term care facilities. Often, these terms ...

ministries, and speaking at colleges, churches, and film festivals. Chey worked as a

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

before pursuing film full-time and still does

pro bono ( English: 'for the public good'), usually shortened to , is a Latin phrase for professional work undertaken voluntarily and without payment. The term traditionally referred to provision of legal services by legal professionals for people who a ...

law for

charities A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definition of a cha ...

like the

Union Rescue Mission The Union Rescue Mission, commonly abbreviated as the URM, is a Christian homeless shelter in the Skid Row neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It is the oldest in the city and the largest private homeless shelter in the United States. The o ...

. He and his wife have two children and divide their time between

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

and

Honolulu Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...

Films

In 1997, he wrote and directed ''Fakin' da Funk'' about a Chinese boy growing up in an

African-American neighborhood African-American neighborhoods or black neighborhoods are types of ethnic enclaves found in many cities in the United States. Generally, an African American neighborhood is one where the majority of the people who live there are African American ...

, starring among others

Pam Grier Pamela Suzette Grier (born May 26, 1949) is an American actress, singer, and martial artist. Described by Quentin Tarantino as cinema's first female action star, she achieved fame for her starring roles in a string of 1970s action, blaxploitati ...

Bo Jackson Vincent Edward "Bo" Jackson (born November 30, 1962) is an American former professional baseball and American football, football player. He is the only professional athlete in history to be named an All-star#Sports, All-Star in Major professio ...

, and

Nell Carter Nell Carter (born Nell Ruth Hardy; September 13, 1948 – January 23, 2003) was an American actress and singer. Carter began her career in 1970, singing in the theater, and later began work on television. She was best known for her role as Nell ...

for USA Networks. The film was nominated for the Golden Starfish Award at the 1997

Hamptons International Film Festival The Hamptons International Film Festival (HIFF) is an international film festival founded in 1992, by Joyce Robinson. The festival has since taken place every year in East Hampton, New York. It is usually an annual five-day event in mid-October ...

and won the Audience Award at the 1997 Urbanworld Film Festival. The film was the highest-rated movie on

in 2000. In 2002, Chey finished the feature film ''Gone'', a movie about three lawyers who deal with the

Rapture The Rapture is an Christian eschatology, eschatological position held by some Christians, particularly those of American evangelicalism, consisting of an end-time event when all dead Christian believers will be resurrected and, joined with Chr ...

. While working with films at

USC USC may refer to: Education United States * Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, Santurce, Puerto Rico * University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina ** University of South Carolina System, a state university system of South Carolina * ...

, Chey was the recipient of the prestigious "Spirit of the Independent" award for Best Director. In 2004, Chey flew around the world to make the feature documentary ''Impact: The Passion of the Christ'' that looked at the impact of the movie ''

The Passion of the Christ ''The Passion of the Christ'' is a 2004 American epic biblical drama film co-produced and directed by Mel Gibson from a screenplay he wrote with Benedict Fitzgerald. It stars Jim Caviezel as Jesus of Nazareth, Maia Morgenstern as the Bl ...

'' around the world. "Impact" had its debut in

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

at the American Film Renaissance festival. In 2006, he finished writing and directing '' The Genius Club''. starring

Stephen Baldwin Stephen Andrew Baldwin (born May 12, 1966) is an American actor. He has appeared in the films ''Born on the Fourth of July (film), Born on the Fourth of July'' (1989), ''Posse (1993 film), Posse'' (1993), ''8 Seconds'' (1994), ''Threesome (1994 ...

Tom Sizemore Thomas Edward Sizemore Jr. (; November 29, 1961 – March 3, 2023) was an American actor. Born in Detroit, he started his career with supporting appearances in '' Born on the Fourth of July'' (1989), '' Lock Up'' (1989), and '' Blue Steel'' (19 ...

, Jack Scalia, and

Paula Jai Parker Paula Jai Parker (born August 19, 1969) is an American actress. She is best known for her supporting roles in the films ''Friday'' (1995), '' Sprung'' (1997), '' Why Do Fools Fall in Love'' (1998), ''Phone Booth'' (2002), ''Hustle & Flow'' (2005), ...

. In 2008, he finished his fifth film, ''Live Fast, Die Young'', about an A-list star who dies at a Hollywood party and a group of 10 Hollywood insiders seeking redemption in the aftermath. In 2010, he wrote and directed ''Suing the Devil'' (starring

Malcolm McDowell Malcolm McDowell (born Malcolm John Taylor; 13 June 1943) is an English actor. He first became known for portraying Mick Travis in Lindsay Anderson's ''if....'' (1968), a role he later reprised in ''O Lucky Man!'' (1973) and ''Britannia Hospital ...

, Rebecca St. James) about a guy who sues the devil for $8 trillion. The film was awarded the 5 Star Dove Award. The film was one of the most illegally downloaded indie movies in history. In 2012, Chey wrote and directed ''Final the Rapture'' in four countries. In 2012, Chey embarked on a 31-country (including Japan, Brazil, Argentina, China, United Kingdom, Egypt, Dubai, Peru, Hong Kong, et al.) journey for ''The Epic Journey'', a film that shows people whose lives were changed by

God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

. The film premiered on prime-time television on Daystar TV reaching over 80 million households. The film was submitted to Guinness World Records for most countries filmed in a movie. In 2013, Chey also wrote and produced ''Freedom'', based on the early life of

John Newton John Newton (; – 21 December 1807) was an English evangelical Anglican cleric and slavery Abolitionism, abolitionist. He had previously been a captain of slave ships and an investor in the slave trade. He served as a sailor in the Royal Nav ...

. The film stars Cuba Gooding Jr., William Sadler, and Sharon Leal. The film premiered on Showtime Network to 55 million homes on prime-time. In 2014, Chey wrote, produced and directed ''David and Goliath'' that was shot in North Africa and finished in studios in London. In 2016, Chey produced and directed "Slamma Jamma" that was released nationwide in theaters in 281 cities on March 24, 2017. The film was the third-widest release in the nation. The film stars 5-time slam-dunk champion Chris Staples, Michael Irvin,

Jose Canseco José Canseco Capas Jr. (born July 2, 1964) is a Cuban-American former professional baseball outfielder and designated hitter who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). During his time with the Oakland Athletics, he established hims ...

, et al. The film is about a man who finds God in prison and wins the national slam dunk competition against all odds. In 2017, Chey is producing and directing "The Islands" which is the biggest movie on Hawaii history and is based on the incredible true stories of Hawaii's beginnings from Captain Cook's arrival to King Kamehameha's unification wars through the chaotic last months of the monarchy of Queen Liliʻuokalani. The film was scheduled to release on 3,000 theaters in November 2018, but that release date has been repeatedly pushed back and is now slotted for September 2019. On August 2, 2024, ''The Firing Squad'', written and directed by Chey, was released. Produced by Epoch Studios, the film starred Kevin Sorbo and Cuba Gooding Jr. in leading roles. Chey wrote, produced and directed ''20 Minutes'', a film set during the

2018 Hawaii false missile alert On the morning of January 13, 2018, an alert was accidentally issued via the Emergency Alert System and Wireless Emergency Alerts, Wireless Emergency Alert System over television, radio, and cellular networks in the U.S. state of Hawaii, instruc ...

. First set to be released in 202

it was finally released in 2023. The film tells the story of twelve people's reactions to the text alert sent, in error, by the state, warning of an imminent nuclear strike.

Awards

* 5 Star Dove Award for '' The Genius Club'' (starring Trica Helfer, Stephen Baldwin, Tom Sizemore). * 5 Star Dove Award for '' Suing the Devil'' (starring Malcolm McDowell, Tom Sizemore, Corbin Bernsen). * 4 Star Dove Award for ''Freedom'' (starring Cuba Gooding, Jr., William Sadler, Sharon Leal).

Filmography

References

External links

*
Tim Chey Official Website

10 Questions for Tim Chey

Tim Chey filmography at Spout.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chey, Timothy A Living people American male screenwriters Film directors from Los Angeles Film producers from California Boston University School of Law alumni Harvard Law School alumni USC School of Cinematic Arts alumni Year of birth missing (living people)