Tate Taylor

Tate Taylor is an American actor, screenwriter, film producer and director. He was born and raised in Jackson, Mississippi.

He debuted as a feature film director in Pretty Ugly People. He also directed the film The Help, based on Kathryn Stockett's novel The Help. She gave him rights to make the film adaptation in June 2008, before the book was published.

Stockett and Taylor have been friends since they were kindergartners in Jackson. As teenagers, they borrowed Taylors grandmothers car and took a joyride to New Orleans. As young adults, they shared a rent-controlled apartment in New Yorks East Village. When The Help became a best seller, Stockett decided her friend should write and direct the movie. Still, the two never dreamed they would land a deal at a major studio, let alone Steven Spielbergs. His triumph often gets spun as a fairy tale of overnight success, but Taylor has been working for more than fifteen years in New York and Los Angeles. He got started as a comedian with the Groundlings, the improv group that counts Will Ferrell and Lisa Kudrow as alums. He acted in commercials. He fetched golden retriever puppies and chocolate chip cookies for J.Crew photo shoots. He once drove to Bakersfield, a dusty city northwest of Los Angeles, to film wild turkeys for the director of a commercial. Taylor did serious work, too. His short, Chicken Party, and his first feature, Pretty Ugly People, thrived at film festivals.