Paul "Coy" Allen may not be a familiar name to many, but soon he will be. The passionate director of the popular music video for Timbaland's hit single "Give It to Me," featuring Nelly Furtado and Justin Timberlake, is expanding his repertoire to the big screen.

I was lucky enough to sit down for lunch with the man himself to discuss his work, lifestyle, and general approach and attitude toward filming and living. Currently on the menu for Allen are three short films he's directing: The Long Night, a suspense, Headshots Inc., a comedy, and Brothers Grimm, a drama. Directing music videos, he said, has been a way of paying his dues en route to his dream of directing full-length films. He's had this dream almost as long as he can remember – ever since age 7, when his mother started taking him to the drive-in to see movies of all shapes and forms. He was not short-changed on graphic violence or adult content, either. "She showed me everything!" he says. "R-rated...I saw lots of stuff I shouldn't have, but I love my Mom for it!" Allen soon developed an affinity for horror films, and claims to have watched the majority of scary movies produced in the 1980's. He has never been limited to or solely focused on one genre, however, as evidenced by his current work on the three separately classified films.

Getting lost in the fantastic or far-away world of a movie is one of Allen's favorite elements of the profession, and something he has always loved. He sees the cast and set like an artist views his or her canvas, relishing the flexibility and freedom he is afforded by the camera.

Allen says he was a quiet kid growing up, going to school and then exploring his true love and interests at home. With such a strong sense of what he wanted to do, he was able to get an early start in the entertainment industry, landing a job with Tollin Robbins Productions ("Smallville", "One Tree Hill", Varsity Blues, Norbit) at age 21. He admits he started out doing some dirty work as an intern, but quickly learned about the business and began to make connections with those higher up. It was with Tollin Robbins that he got started making music videos, under the guidance and experience of director Marty Callner. He also admires director David Fincher and French writer-director Luc Besson.

One of the figures Allen met and befriended was Timbaland, whom he says shares his focused, disciplined, business-first mindset. Timbaland has praised his work on both music videos and VH1's upcoming reality show about the rapper, Camp Timbaland. Despite my incessant eggings-on, Allen insists that both he and Timbaland are accustomed to putting in long hours of hard work and getting their sleep at night, and are not big Hollywood socialite partier types. I was convinced that he truly appreciates the finer things in life.