A high-profile manager, producer, multi-instrumentalist, screenwriter, and director,
Chris Stokes guided
Immature/
IMx and
B2K, two of the most successful R&B groups of the '90s and early 2000s (respectively). He also produced material by
Bell Biv DeVoe,
Shanice, and
Debelah Morgan, and was part of the group Wataz (which released a 1998 album, Natural High), but he helped build something of an empire with the members of the groups he managed, parlaying their successes into screenwriting and directing. House Party 4, You Got Served, and Somebody Help Me each featured the likes of
Omarion,
Marques Houston, and other members of
Stokes' groups. In 2012,
Stokes and Houston paired together again for the
Stokes-directed dramatic film Battlefield America about underground dance competitions. ~ Andy Kellman