Ernest Dickerson facts for kids

Ernest Roscoe Dickerson (born June 25, 1951) is an American director, cinematographer, and screenwriter. He works on movies, TV shows, and music videos.

As a cinematographer, Ernest Dickerson is like the "camera boss" who decides how a movie looks. He often worked with director Spike Lee. They met in film school at the Tisch School of the Arts. They first worked together on Spike Lee's student film, Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads (1983). This film even won an award!

Dickerson helped create the look of many famous Spike Lee movies. These include She's Gotta Have It (1986), Do the Right Thing (1989), and Malcolm X (1992).

Later, Ernest Dickerson became a director himself. He is known for directing exciting crime and horror movies like Juice (1992) and Demon Knight (1995). He has also directed many episodes of popular TV shows. Some of these are Once Upon a Time, The Wire, Dexter, and The Walking Dead.

Early life and learning

Ernest Dickerson was born in Newark, New Jersey. When he was younger, he studied architecture at Howard University. But he was always very interested in movies. So, he also took a film class there.

Later, he moved to New York City to study film at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. This is where he met another student who would become a famous director, Spike Lee. Dickerson's first big job as a cinematographer was on Spike Lee's first film, Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads (1983). They were still students when they made this movie!

Career highlights

After finishing school, Dickerson started working as a cinematographer. He filmed music videos for famous artists like Bruce Springsteen and Miles Davis. His first professional movie as a cinematographer was Brother from Another Planet (1984).

He also worked on a TV show called Tales from the Darkside. While doing this, Spike Lee asked him to work on his next movie, She's Gotta Have It (1986). Dickerson continued to work with Lee on five more movies, including the well-known Do the Right Thing (1989). Their last movie together as cinematographer and director was Malcolm X in 1992.

In the same year, Ernest Dickerson directed his very first movie, a crime drama called Juice. Besides movies, he has directed many episodes for popular TV shows. These include Once Upon a Time, Dexter, and The Walking Dead. He is a big fan of horror movies. He directed horror films like Demon Knight and Bones (2001).

Ernest Dickerson always dreamed of being a director. He once said that he loves filming, but directing is all about telling stories. He wants to tell many different kinds of stories.

Working on The Wire

In 2003, Ernest Dickerson joined the team of the popular TV show The Wire. He directed an episode called "Bad Dreams" for the second season. Many people thought this episode was very good.

He came back to direct more episodes for the third season in 2004. He directed "Hamsterdam" and the season finale, "Mission Accomplished". He also directed two episodes for the fourth season in 2006, including the finale "Final Grades". The show's creator, David Simon, said that Dickerson is a very strong director for the show. He said Dickerson knows the show very well and always does a great job.

Dickerson also directed an episode for the fifth and final season of The Wire in 2008.

Later directing work

After The Wire, Ernest Dickerson worked again with David Simon on another TV show called Treme. This show was about New Orleans. He directed several episodes, including the season two finale, "Do Watcha Wanna". For this episode, he won an award for his directing.

He also directed an episode for the TV series Bosch in 2014.

Selected filmography

Here are some of the movies and TV shows Ernest Dickerson has worked on:

As a cinematographer

Film

TV series

As a director

Film

• Juice (1992) (He also helped write this one!)
• Surviving the Game (1994)
• Demon Knight (1995)
• Bulletproof (1996)
• Bones (2001)
• Never Die Alone (2004)

TV movies

• Our America (2002)
• Good Fences (2004)

TV series

Images for kids

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  A robot friend, like a character in a movie!

See also

A robot friend, like a character in a movie!

In Spanish: Ernest Dickerson para niños