Craigh Barboza

Craigh Barboza is a senior editor at USA Weekend Magazine, where he covers entertainment, pop culture, technology, race and sports. His stories have appeared in leading publications such as Entertainment Weekly, The Village Voice, The Source, Premiere, Vibe and The New York Times. He recently edited John Singleton: Interviews (University Press of Mississippi, 2009), a collection of features and profiles on the Academy Award-nominated director of Boyz N the Hood.
Background
Barboza is a second generation Cape Verdean-American and the youngest of eight boys. He was born in New Bedford, Mass. His father, Anthony, is a retired Fuller Brush salesman; his mother, Lillian, died when he was 4. As a kid, he helped start a neighborhood magazine, Uniworld Sports, with his brother David, who is now the Shanghai bureau chief for The New York Times.
Education
Barboza attended Newbury College and SUNY New Paltz before transferring to New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, where he majored in film. While at NYU, he wrote and directed six 16mm short films, one of which was shot by Todd Phillips (The Hangover); another starred former MTV vj Idalis. Barboza also worked as a director of photography on two of actress Joie Lee's student films.
To earn money, between classes, he started freelance writing about music and film for magazines like Rap Sheet, Rages Pages, XXL, One World and Brooklyn Bridge.
Career
Barboza began his career with the Los Angeles-based hip hop newspaper Rap Sheet, contributing monthly film columns and music profiles. His 2001 USA Weekend Black History Month special issue, which he conceived and edited, helped redefine the way we look at African American success. The magazine, featuring cultural icons like Pulitzer Prize-winning playwrigt August Wilson, director Spike Lee and music mogul Quincy Jones, along with their handpicked leaders of tomorrow, was the largest print-celebration of Black History Month ever. At the time of publication, he was featured on CNN and MSNBC.
The following year, Barboza edited a USA Weekend cover story on African American reparations, written by Harvard Law School professor Charles J. Ogletree Jr.
Since he began writing in 1995, he has interviewed directors (Steven Spielberg, Spike Lee, John Singleton, Gordon Parks, Melvin Van Peebles, Woody Allen), actors (Matt Damon, Scarlett Johansson, Megan Fox, Seth Rogen), athletes (Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan), comics (Dave Chappelle, Chris Rock), intellectuals (Henry Louis Gates Jr., Cornel West) and musicians (Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter, Kanye West, Sean “Diddy” Combs, Michael Jackson, the Notorious B.I.G., Janet Jackson).
Articles

2009 Summer Movie Preview with Seth Rogen and Megan Fox
USA Weekend, April, 26, 2009
http://www.usaweekend.com/09_issues/090426/090426rogen-fox-interview.html
Kobe Bryant Q&A
USA Weekend, April 12, 2009
http://www.usaweekend.com/09_issues/090412/090412kobe-bryant.html
Cover profile on War of the Worlds’ director Steven Spielberg.
USA Weekend Magazine, June 19, 2005
http://www.usaweekend.com/05_issues/050619/050619spielberg.html
Black History Month special issue
USA Weekend Magazine, February 11, 2001
http://www.usaweekend.com/01_issues/010211/010211black_history.html
Cover story on rapper Jay-Z
USA Weeked, January 28, 2001
http://www.usaweekend.com/01_issues/010128/010128jayz.html
The new video game LittleBigPlanet lets you rule the virtual world like never before.
USA Weekend, November 16, 2008
http://www.usaweekend.com/08_issues/081116/081116gaming-littlebigplanet.html
Ivy League-scholar cuts a rap album Cornel West
USA Weekend
http://www.usaweekend.com/01_issues/011118/011118music.html
DVD Insider (“The Office”)
USA Weekend, September 17, 2006
http://www.usaweekend.com/06_issues/060917/060917dvds.html
Cover story on actor Matt Damon
USA Weekend, November 5, 2000
http://www.usaweekend.com/00_issues/001105/001105damon.html
“A Growing Number of Black Stars Are Shinning in Hollywood”
New York Times, Sunday, October 20, 1996
Blog Posts
A profile on Todd Phillips, director of this year’s breakout hit comedy, The Hangover.
USA Weekend Who’s News Blog, June 5, 2009
http://blogs.usaweekend.com/whos_news/2009/06/the-hangover-director-talks-about-vegas.html
Land of the Lost director Brad Silberling talks about his new Will Ferrell comedy.
USA Weekend Who’s News Blog, June 5, 2009
http://blogs.usaweekend.com/whos_news/2009/06/will-ferrells-land-of-the-lost-.html
DirecTV iPhone app
USA Weekend Who’s News Blog, May 12, 2009
http://blogs.usaweekend.com/whos_news/2009/05/new-phone-app-for-the-memory-challenged.html
Spike Lee’s new sports documentary Kobe Doin’ Work
USA Weekend Who’s News Blog, April 24, 2009
http://blogs.usaweekend.com/whos_news/2009/04/kobe-bryant-documentary-debuts-at-ny-film-fest-.html
A behind-the-scenes look at Mike Tyson’s cameo The Hangover
USA Weekend Who’s News Blog, May 8, 2009
http://blogs.usaweekend.com/whos_news/2009/05/mike-tyson-has-cool-cameo-in-the-hangover.html
John Singleton: Interviews book announcement
USA Weekend Who’s News Blog, January 19, 2009
http://blogs.usaweekend.com/whos_news/2009/01/new-john-single.html
An interview with the son of Biggie Smalls, CJ Wallace, who plays his dad in the new bio-pic Notorious.
USA Weekend Who’s News Blog, January 15, 2009
http://blogs.usaweekend.com/whos_news/2009/01/meet-little-not.html
My trip to NYC for the Notorious movie premiere
USA Weekend Who’s News Blog, January 12, 2009
http://blogs.usaweekend.com/whos_news/2009/01/a-notorious-nig.html

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