Hardy shot his first substantive video on camcorder, G-Man, while a high school senior at the George School. He shot his first work on film, Chocolate City, while at Florida A&M University, for which he earned the University's Bernard Hendricks Student Leadership Award. The success of Chocolate City helped Hardy and his film partner Will Packer launch Rainforest Films. Hardy's next film, the erotic thrillerTrois, saw him as director, co-writer, and self-distributor. Trois became the fastest Independent African-American film to pass the mark. A critically acclaimed sequel, ', followed. In 2003, Hardy produced his first film, Motives, followed by the third in the Trois franchise, the direct-to-video'. Hardy then wrote and directed the spiritually-themed drama The Gospel, and produced the companion concert filmThe Gospel Live. He then was the executive producer on Mekhi Phifer's directorial film debut Puff, Puff, Pass, followed by Stomp The Yard, which held the No. 1 position at the box office for two weekends in January 2007 and was named Best Movie at the 2007 BET Hip Hop Awards. Subsequent projects included and Think Like a Man. Hardy and Packer mutually dissolved Rainforest Films in June 2014. They were subsequently sued by business partner Bernard Bronner for mismanagement and misappropriation of corporate assets. In March 2015, Hardy launched Rainforest Entertainment. He announced that the new production company will focus on developing scripted and non-scripted content for film, television and digital platforms. Hardy hired Mitzi Miller to serve as Head of Development for the film, television and digital media production company and her offices will be based in Los Angeles.
Television career
Since his 2008 dive into TV directing with ER, Hardy has worked on a variety of hit TV shows like Bones, Criminal Minds, The Vampire Diaries, 90210, The Game and The Flash and has begun directing commercial projects for clients, including CNN, TBS, American Honda, Coca-Cola, Georgia Lottery and The National Cancer Institute. Along with Andrew Young, Martin Luther King III, and Rainforest Films partner Will Packer, Hardy is co-founder of Bounce TV, a United States television network airing on digital terrestrial television stations. Promoted as "the first 24/7 digital multicast broadcast network created exclusively for African Americans," Bounce TV launched on September 26, 2011 and features programming geared toward blacks and African Americans in the 25–54 age range. Hardy was nominated on January 9, 2014 for the 45th NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Directing in a Dramatic Series for his work on Criminal Minds.
Personal life
Hardy grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He graduated from George School in 1991. Hardy resides in Atlanta, Georgia with his wife, Shaun, and their sons. Hardy dedicated his 2000 film Trois to his father, Robert, an investor in the movie and Rainforest Films, who died on Labor Day 1999 before the completion of the film. Hardy is a graduate of Florida A&M University and is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. Hardy has completed studies at the New York Film Academy and has earned many nominations and accolades, including the Bernard Hendricks Student Leadership Award from FAMU, which is the highest honor bestowed on a student; the Meritorious Achievement Award from FAMU, which is the highest honor bestowed on an alumnus and the inaugural Woody Strode/Paul Robeson Award of Excellence from his fraternity, Alpha Phi Alpha.
