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Ernest Roscoe Dickerson (born June 25, 1951) is an American director, cinematographer, and screenwriter of film, television, and music videos.
Ernest Dickerson | |
|---|---|
| Born | Ernest Roscoe Dickerson June 25, 1951 Newark, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Other names | Ernest R. Dickerson |
| Occupation(s) | Film director, cinematographer |
| Years active | 1983–present |
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.
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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.
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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 A. 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 an 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.
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Cinematographer
Film
| Year | Title | Director | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads | Spike Lee | |
| 1984 | The Brother from Another Planet | John Sayles | |
| Desiree | Felix de Rooy | Shot on 16 mm film[26] | |
| 1985 | One Night with Blue Note | John Jopson | |
| Krush Groove | Michael Schultz | ||
| 1986 | She's Gotta Have It | Spike Lee | Also acted as Dog #8 |
| Almacita di desolato | Felix de Rooy | ||
| 1987 | Enemy Territory | Peter Manoogian | |
| Eddie Murphy Raw | Robert Townsend | ||
| 1988 | The Laser Man | Peter Wang | |
| Negatives | Tony Smith | ||
| School Daze | Spike Lee | ||
| 1989 | Do the Right Thing | Spike Lee | |
| 1990 | Def by Temptation | James Bond III | |
| Mo' Better Blues | Spike Lee | ||
| Ava & Gabriel: Un historia di amor | Felix de Rooy | ||
| 1991 | Jungle Fever | Spike Lee | |
| Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll | John McNaughton | ||
| 1992 | Cousin Bobby | Jonathan Demme | Documentary |
| Malcolm X | Spike Lee | ||
TV movie
| Year | Title | Director | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Our America | Himself | Daytime Emmy Award for "Outstanding Single Camera Photography (Film or Electronic)".[27] |
TV series
| Year | Title | Director | Episode |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1984–1986 | Tales from the Darkside | Armand Mastroianni | "Pain Killer" |
| James Steven Sadwith | "The Odds" | ||
| Michael Gornick | "Slippage" | ||
| "The Word Processor of the Gods" | |||
| Armand Mastroianni | "If the Shoes Fit..." | ||
| Warner Shook | "Grandma's Last Wish" | ||
| Richard Friedman | "Parlour Floor Front " | ||
| Gerald Cotts | "A Choice of Dreams" | ||
| 1990–1991 | Law & Order | John Whitesell | "Prescription for Death" |
| E. W. Swackhamer | "Subterranean Homeboy Blues" | ||
| Charles Correll | "Kiss the Girls and Make Them Die" | ||
| Martin Davidson | "By Hooker, By Crook" | ||
| Michael Fresco | "Prisoner of Love" | ||
| Gwen Arner | "A Death in the Family" | ||
Director
Film
- Juice (1992) (Also writer)
- Surviving the Game (1994)
- Demon Knight (1995)
- Bulletproof (1996)
- Ambushed (1998)
- Blind Faith (1998)
- Bones (2001)
- Never Die Alone (2004)
- Double Play (2017)
TV movies
- Futuresport (1998)
- Strange Justice (1999)
- Our America (2002)
- Monday Night Mayhem (2002)
- Big Shot: Confessions of a Campus Bookie (2002)
- Good Fences (2004)
- For One Night (2006)
- Last Man Standing (2011)
TV series
| Year | Title | Episode(s) | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Great Performances | "Spike & Co.: Do It Acapella" | |
| 2001 | Night Visions | "My So-Called Life and Death" | |
| "Still Life" | |||
| 2003-2008 | The Wire | "Bad Dreams" | [7][8] |
| "Hamsterdam" | [12][13] | ||
| "Mission Accomplished" | [14][15] | ||
| "Misgivings" | [17][18] | ||
| "Final Grades" | [19][20] | ||
| "Unconfirmed Reports" | [23][24] | ||
| 2004 | Third Watch | "Greatest Detectives in the World" | |
| 2005 | Miracle's Boys | "In the Game of Life" | |
| The L Word | "Luminous" | ||
| Crossing Jordan | "Total Recall" | ||
| Criminal Minds | "L.D.S.K." | ||
| Invasion | "The Cradle" | ||
| 2005–2006 | ER | "Middleman" | |
| "You Are Here" | |||
| "Reason to Believe" | |||
| 2006 | CSI: Miami | "Silencer" | |
| The Evidence | "And the Envelope Please" | ||
| Heroes | "Collision" | ||
| Masters Of Horror | "The V Word" | ||
| 2007 | The 4400 | "The Wrath of Graham" | |
| Tell Me You Love Me | "Episode 1.6" | ||
| Weeds | "Release the Hounds" | ||
| "The Dark Time" | |||
| 2007-2009 | Lincoln Heights | "No Way Back" | |
| "The Day Before Tomorrow" | |||
| "Trash" | |||
| "Relative Unknown" | |||
| 2008-2012 | Dexter | "Sì Se Puede" | |
| "Road Kill" | |||
| "Sin of Omission" | |||
| "Talk to the Hand" | |||
| "Swim Deep" | |||
| 2008 | Eureka | "Show Me the Mummy" | |
| 2009 | Fear Itself | "Something with Bite" | |
| Medium | "Truth Be Told" | ||
| Law & Order | "Exchange" | ||
| In Plain Sight | "A Frond in Need" | ||
| Burn Notice | "Truth and Reconciliation" | ||
| "Shot in the Dark" | |||
| The Vampire Diaries | "Haunted" | ||
| Stargate Universe | "Earth" | ||
| 2010–2012 | Treme | "Right Place, Wrong Time" | |
| "Can I Change My Mind?" | |||
| "Do Watcha Wanna" | [28] | ||
| "The Greatest Love" | |||
| "Don't you Leave me Here" | |||
| 2010-2014 | The Walking Dead | "Wildfire" | [29] |
| "What Lies Ahead" (with Gwyneth Horder-Payton) | [30] | ||
| "Bloodletting" | |||
| "18 Miles Out" | |||
| "Beside the Dying Fire" | |||
| "Seed" | |||
| "Welcome to the Tombs" | [31] | ||
| "Too Far Gone" | |||
| "Alone" | |||
| "Self Help" | |||
| "Coda" | |||
| 2014 | Once Upon a Time | "The Jolly Roger" | |
| Under the Dome | "Infestation" | ||
| 2015-2020 | Bosch | "Chapter Four: Fugazi" | |
| "Chapter Five: Mama's Boy" | |||
| "Gone" | |||
| "Birdland" | |||
| "Aya Papi" | |||
| "The Sea King" | |||
| "Dark Sky" | |||
| "Book of the Unclaimed Dead" | |||
| "Salvation Mountain" | |||
| "Creep Signed His Kill" | |||
| "Copy Cat" | |||
| "Some Measure of Justice" | |||
| 2018 | Seven Seconds | "Until It Do" | |
| Unsolved | "The Mack" | ||
| I'm Dying Up Here | "Bete Noire" | ||
| Strange Angel | "Sacrament of the Ancestors" | ||
| The Man in the High Castle | "Senso Koi" | ||
| The Purge | "A Nation Reborn" | ||
| "I Will Participate" | |||
| House of Cards | "Chapter 69" | ||
| 2019 | Godfather of Harlem | "Rent Strike Blues" | |
| "How I Got Over" | |||
| 2020 | Interrogation | "Det Dave Russell vs. Eric Fisher 1983" | |
| "L.A. County Psychologist Majorie Thompson vs. Eric Fisher 1984" | |||
| "Henry Fisher vs Eric Fisher 1992" | |||
| "Det Carol Young & Det Brian Chen vs. Melanie Pruitt 2005" | |||
| "P.I. Charlie Shannon vs. Eric Fisher 1996" | |||
| "I.A. Sgt. Ian Lynch & Det. Brian Chen vs. Trey Cerano 2003" | |||
| 2022 | Raised By Wolves | "Seven" | |
| "The Collective" | |||
| DMZ | "Advent" | ||
| "The Good Name" | |||
| "Home" | |||
| 2022–2023 | Bosch: Legacy | "Bloodline" | |
| 2023-2024 | The Irrational | "Point and Shoot" | |
| "Recripocity" | |||
| "A Kick in the Teeth" | |||
| 2024 | Parish | "Kumba" |
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