These days, Carter is best known as an Emmy-winning TV director ("Don King: Only in America") who scored a big-screen breakthough in 2001 with "Save the Last Dance," another teen-themed drama with a strong follow-your-heart message.
Before director Thomas Carter moved behind the camera (for a career that includes the worthy Save the Last Dance and Don King: Only in America), he acted in the '70s tube classic The White Shadow.