Ernest Roscoe Dickerson (born June 25, 1951) is an American director, cinematographer, and screenwriter of film, television, and music videos. As a cinematographer, he is known for his frequent collaborations with

Spike Lee Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee (born March 20, 1957) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. His production company, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, has produced more than 35 films since 1983. He made his directorial debut ...

ever since they were classmates at the Tisch School of the Arts and worked together on Lee's 1983

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

thesis A thesis ( : theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144 ...

student film, '' Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads'', which ultimately won a Student Academy Award. As a director, he is known for action and

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, ap ...

s such as '' Juice'', '' Demon Knight'', ''

Bulletproof Bulletproofing is the process of making an object capable of stopping a bullet or similar high velocity projectiles (e.g. shrapnel). The term bullet resistance is often preferred because few, if any, practical materials provide complete protecti ...

'', '' Bones'' and '' Never Die Alone''. He has also directed several episodes of acclaimed television series, including '' Once Upon a Time'', '' The Wire'', ''

Dexter Dexter may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Dexter, the main character of the American animated series '' Dexter's Laboratory'' that aired from 1996 to 2003 * Dexter, a fictional character in the British web series ''Diary of a Bad Man'' * Dext ...

'', ''The Walking Dead'', and '' Godfather of Harlem''.

Early life

Dickerson was born in Newark,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delawa ...

. He studied

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing buildings ...

at Howard University, but also took a film class with

Haile Gerima Haile Gerima (born March 4, 1946) is an Ethiopian filmmaker who lives and works in the United States. He is a leading member of the L.A. Rebellion film movement, also known as the Los Angeles School of Black Filmmakers. His films have receiv ...

as he already was interested in movies. He later relocated to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

to attend

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

's film program at the Tisch School of the Arts, where he met fellow student

. 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 video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing devic ...

s for

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He has released 21 studio albums, most of which feature his backing band, the E Street Band. Originally from the Jersey Shore, he is an originato ...

, Anita Baker, and

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of music ...

, 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 John Charles Jopson (born 1954) is a film director and screenwriter best known for the 2014 feature film ''Terroir'', the jazz film '' One Night with Blue Note'' and his music videos from the 1980s. Biography John Jopson began his film caree ...

's concert film ''

One Night with Blue Note ''One Night with Blue Note'' is a 1985 feature length jazz film directed by John Charles Jopson. To celebrate record executive Bruce Lundvall having relaunched the defunct Blue Note Records label in 1985 under the parent label EMI Manhattan Rec ...

'' (1985) and was later contacted by Spike Lee, 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 ''Do the Right Thing'' is a 1989 American comedy-drama film produced, written, and directed by Spike Lee. It stars Lee, Danny Aiello, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Richard Edson, Giancarlo Esposito, Bill Nunn, John Turturro, and Samuel L. Jackso ...

'' (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 worked as a 2nd unit director on Lee's '' 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."

''The Wire''

Dickerson joined the crew of the HBO drama '' The Wire'' as a director for the series' second season in 2003. He directed the episode " Bad Dreams". Reviewers drew comparisons between

's films and ''The Wire'' even before Dickerson joined the crew. "Bad Dreams" was submitted to the

American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees. Lead ...

for consideration in their TV programs of the year award and the show subsequently won the award. Following this success Dickerson returned as a director for the third season in 2004. He directed the episode " Hamsterdam" and the season finale " Mission Accomplished". In 2006 he contributed a further two episodes to the show's fourth season: " Misgivings" and the season finale " Final Grades". The fourth season received a second AFI Award and Dickerson attended the ceremony to collect the award. 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". Page 5 Dickerson returned as a director for the series' fifth and final season in 2008 and helmed the episode "

Unconfirmed Reports "Unconfirmed Reports" is the second episode of the fifth season of the HBO original series ''The Wire''. The episode was written by William F. Zorzi from a story by David Simon & William F. Zorzi and was directed by Ernest Dickerson. It originall ...

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 The NAACP Image Awards is an annual awards ceremony presented by the U.S.-based National Association for the Advancement of Colored People ( NAACP) to honor outstanding performances in film, television, theatre, music, and literature. Similar to ...

for Outstanding Directing in a Dramatic Series. 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

Television

Director

Cinematographer

Film

Director

Cinematographer

References

External links

*
Ernest Dickerson
interview about ''Mo' Better Blues.'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Dickerson, Ernest 1951 births Living people African-American film directors African-American television directors American cinematographers American film directors American television directors Horror film directors Howard University alumni Artists from Newark, New Jersey Tisch School of the Arts alumni African-American cinematographers