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Ernest Dickerson

Ernest Roscoe Dickerson (born June 25, 1951) is an American director, cinematographer, and screenwriter of film, television, and music videos.

As a cinematographer, Dickerson is known for his frequent collaborations with Spike Lee ever since they were classmates at the Tisch School of the Arts and worked together on Lee's 1983 master's degree thesis student film, Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads, which ultimately won a Student Academy Award. Dickerson went on to shoot the Lee-directed films She's Gotta Have It (1986), School Daze (1988), Do the Right Thing (1989), Mo' Better Blues (1990), Jungle Fever (1991), and Malcolm X (1992).

As a director, Dickerson is known for crime thriller and horror films such as Juice (1992), Demon Knight (1995), Bulletproof (1996), Bones (2001) and Never Die Alone (2004). He has also directed several episodes of acclaimed television series, including Once Upon a Time, The Wire, Dexter, The Walking Dead, and Godfather of Harlem.

Early life

Dickerson was born in Newark, New Jersey.[1] He studied architecture at Howard University,[2] but also took a film class with Haile Gerima as he already was interested in movies.[3] He later relocated to New York City to attend New York University's film program at the Tisch School of the Arts, where he met fellow student Spike Lee. His first feature film as director of photography was also Lee's first film, Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads (1983), filmed while both of them were still students. Lee kept Dickerson in mind and he returned to work on a few more films as Spike Lee's cinematographer.

Career

After graduating, Dickerson began his career as cinematographer on music videos for Bruce Springsteen, Anita Baker, and Miles Davis, and went on to film John Sayles' Brother from Another Planet (1984), his first professional film as a director of photography.

While working on the first two seasons of George Romero’s television series Tales from the Darkside, Dickerson was a cameraman on John Jopson's concert film One Night with Blue Note (1985) and was later contacted by Spike Lee,[4] who had found the budget to shoot his movie She's Gotta Have It (1986). Dickerson continued his collaboration with Lee on five more films, including Do the Right Thing (1989). Their last collaboration was on Malcolm X in 1992, the same year Dickerson made his directing debut with the crime drama Juice. He also served as second unit director, cinematographer, and camera operator on Lee's 2008 war film Miracle at St Anna (2008).

For television, Dickerson has directed several episodes of acclaimed shows such as Once Upon a Time, Dexter, The Walking Dead and Treme. A long time horror movie fan, he has also worked with Mick Garris on both Masters of Horror and Fear Itself and directed Demon Knight and Bones (2001).

Dickerson has always wanted to make films, and being a director himself has always been a dream of his. In an interview with The New York Times, he says: "I love to shoot, but directing is all about telling stories," he says. "And there are so many stories out there I want to tell."[5]

The Wire

Dickerson joined the crew of the HBO drama The Wire as a director for the series' second season in 2003.[6] He directed the episode "Bad Dreams".[7][8] Reviewers drew comparisons between Spike Lee's films and The Wire even before Dickerson joined the crew.[9] "Bad Dreams" was submitted to the American Film Institute for consideration in their TV programs of the year award and the show subsequently won the award.[10] Following this success Dickerson returned as a director for the third season in 2004.[11] He directed the episode "Hamsterdam"[12][13] and the season finale "Mission Accomplished".[14][15] In 2006 he contributed a further two episodes to the show's fourth season:[16] "Misgivings"[17][18] and the season finale "Final Grades".[19][20] The fourth season received a second AFI Award and Dickerson attended the ceremony to collect the award.[21] Showrunner David Simon has said that Dickerson is the show's directorial work horse and that he knows the show as well as the producers; Simon has praised Dickerson's directing saying that he "delivers each time".[22]

Dickerson returned for the series' fifth and final season in 2008 and directed the episode "Unconfirmed Reports".[23][24]

Later work

He would later work with David Simon again, directing several episodes of the New Orleans–based drama Treme, including the season 2 finale "Do Watcha Wanna", which won Dickerson a NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Directing in a Dramatic Series.[25]

Dickerson also worked with Executive Producer and writer Eric Overmyer on both The Wire and Treme. Dickerson directed the episode "Fugazi" for Overmyer's series Bosch in 2014.

Filmography

Cinematographer

Film

TV movie

TV series

Director

Film

TV movies

TV series

References

  1. ^ NJ.com, Amy Kuperinsky | NJ Advance Media for (15 July 2023). "'Juice' director Ernest R. Dickerson on Newark, Tupac and prequel series as hip-hop turns 50". nj. Retrieved 25 February 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ "Profile on Ernest Dickerson, ASC". DPTV. Retrieved 1 March 2012.
  3. ^ A. Obenson, Tambay (2013-03-04). "Interview: Award-Winning Cinematographer, Writer & Director Ernest Dickerson, Reintroduced". Shadow and Act/Indiewire.com. Archived from the original on 11 April 2016. Retrieved 7 March 2013.
  4. ^ Kaufman, Lloyd. "The Importance Of Being "Ernest"". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2014-06-27. Retrieved 1 March 2012.
  5. ^ Ravo, Nick (April 18, 1993). "Ernest Dickerson Would Rather Be Called Director". The New York Times. p. H14. Retrieved May 1, 2020.
  6. ^ "Season 2 crew". HBO. 2007. Archived from the original on 12 October 2007. Retrieved 14 October 2007.
  7. ^ a b David Simon, George P. Pelecanos (2003-08-17). "Bad Dreams". The Wire. Season 2. Episode 11. HBO.
  8. ^ a b "Episode guide – episode 24 Bad Dreams". HBO. 2004. Archived from the original on 9 January 2010. Retrieved 24 August 2006.
  9. ^ Jeff Shannon. "The Wire Complete First Season on DVD". Amazon.com.
  10. ^ "AFI TV programs of the year – official selections (2003)". American Film Institute. 2003. Retrieved 17 October 2007.
  11. ^ "Season 3 crew". HBO. 2007. Archived from the original on 12 October 2007. Retrieved 14 October 2007.
  12. ^ a b David Simon, George P. Pelecanos (2004-10-10). "Hamsterdam". The Wire. Season 3. Episode 4. HBO.
  13. ^ a b "Episode guide – episode 29 Hamsterdam". HBO. 2004. Retrieved 24 August 2006.
  14. ^ a b David Simon, Ed Burns (2004-12-19). "Mission Accomplished". The Wire. Season 3. Episode 12. HBO.
  15. ^ a b "Episode guide – episode 37 Mission Accomplished". HBO. 2004. Retrieved 24 August 2006.
  16. ^ "Season 4 crew". HBO. 2007. Archived from the original on 12 October 2007. Retrieved 14 October 2007.
  17. ^ a b Ed Burns, Eric Overmyer (directors), Ed Burns, Eric Overmyer (writers) (2004-11-19). "Misgivings". The Wire. Season 4. Episode 10. HBO.
  18. ^ a b "Episode guide – episode 47 Misgivings". HBO. 2006. Archived from the original on 14 March 2007. Retrieved 29 March 2007.
  19. ^ a b Ernest Dickerson (director), David Simon (story and teleplay), Ed Burns (story) (2004-12-10). "Final Grades". The Wire. Season 4. Episode 13. HBO.
  20. ^ a b "The Wire episode guide – episode 50 Final Grades". HBO. 2006. Archived from the original on 12 October 2007. Retrieved 17 October 2007.
  21. ^ "AFI Awards 2006 salutes film and television (2006)" (PDF). American Film Institute. 2007. Retrieved 17 October 2007.
  22. ^ Jim King (2003). "3rd Exclusive David Simon interview". The Wire at AOL. Retrieved 5 November 2007. Page 5
  23. ^ a b Ernest Dickerson (director), William F. Zorzi (story and teleplay), David Simon (story) (2008-01-13). "Unconfirmed Reports". The Wire. Season 5. Episode 2. HBO.
  24. ^ a b "The Wire episode guide – episode 52 Uncomfirmed Reports". HBO. 2008. Archived from the original on 17 January 2008. Retrieved 22 January 2008.
  25. ^ Walker, Dave. "'Treme' wins 2 NAACP Image Awards". nola.com. Retrieved 20 March 2012.
  26. ^ "Felix de Rooy Curriculum-vitae". Kunstforum.be. Archived from the original on 26 July 2012. Retrieved 29 February 2012.
  27. ^ "Awards for Our America (2002) (TV)". Imdb.com. Retrieved 6 March 2013.
  28. ^ HBO. "Treme episode "Do Watcha Wanna" synopsis". Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 7 July 2011.
  29. ^ AMC. "The Walking Dead episode "Wildfire" details". Retrieved 3 February 2012.
  30. ^ AMC. "The Walking Dead episode "What Lies Ahead" credits". Retrieved 3 February 2012.
  31. ^ Mazzara, Glen (2012-11-07). "Ernest Dickerson will direct the @WalkingDead_AMC finale #316". Twitter. Retrieved 24 November 2012.

External links