Craig Brewer (born December 6, 1971) is an American filmmaker. His 2005 movie Hustle & Flow won the Audience Award at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival and achieved commercial success, along with an Academy Award for Best Original Song, "It's Hard out Here for a Pimp". He is also known for directing the 2011 remake of Footloose, the 2019 film Dolemite Is My Name and the 2021 film Coming 2 America; the latter two starring Academy Award-nominee Eddie Murphy.
Brewer is the son of Gail, a teacher, and Walter D. Brewer, an executive who worked for Matson Navigation Co. He is of Irish, English, and Spanish descent. He was born in Newport News, Virginia, where his father was stationed in the Army, and grew up in Vallejo, California.
Hustle & Flow was financed by filmmaker John Singleton, also produced by Stephanie Allain, Preston Holmes and executive produced by Dwight Williams. Singleton was impressed by Brewer's first feature, The Poor & Hungry, shot in Memphis, Tennessee. Ten years after the release of Hustle & Flow, Brewer re-teamed with Terrence Howard and Taraji P. Henson on their acclaimed television series, Empire. The episode he directed, "Fires of Heaven", aired October 7, 2015.

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