Podcast Episode 184 :: Deep Focus with Filmmaker ERNEST DICKERSON

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If you listen to this show with any regularity, you know that 1) we are comic book fans, 2) we are art nerds, and 3) we are huge pop culture junkies with an unending fascination for TV and movies. So, of course, a conversation with filmmaker Ernest Dickerson was right up our alley. 

Ernest made his name as a respected cinematographer for years before finally planting himself down in the director’s chair. Brother From Another Planet, Krush Groove and several of Spike Lee’s first feature films (Do the Right Thing, Mo’ Better Blues, Malcolm X) all bear his lush but tasteful style. Dickerson and Lee actually met as students at NYU film school where they became friends and eventual collaborators. 

Ever since his 1992 directorial debut, Juice, which starred then unknowns Omar Epps and Tupac Shakur, Ernest has been “calling his own shots”. And over the last eight years, his presence as a director and storyteller have been felt exclusively on television shows like The Wire, Heroes and Dexter, and more recently on HBO’s Treme and AMC’s The Walking Dead.

Adrian and I chatted with Dickerson at length about his craft, choices, the business as a whole, and the kinds of projects that he would like to produce. And it was like that.

-SWAiN

**Our sincere thanks to Ernest for coming on the show with us. He was awesome! Also, many thanks to his manager Jennifer Levine and storyboard artist Warren Drummond (BFAM) for making this interview happen.

And check for the Easter Egg at the end. We play some "Either Or" with our guest and it ends with a surpising Hollywood horror story.

Comments

[Paul]

Hey Guys,

I really enjoyed your interview with Ernest Dickerson. He's make some of my favorite all time movies (Juice, Surviving the Game) and I have also enjoyed his countless ventures outside of film as well (he wrote a really good episode of "Burn Notice" that I was had hoped would be mentioned, but no worries). It was great to hear his thought about film making and the encouragement of science fiction and horror stories from African American writers as well. The Easter eggs at the end were an unexpected treasure as well; from all of your thought on the various films to Ernest story about what really happened with the Blade films. On the Blade issue, its a shame that things like that are still happening. I hope we all get a chance to see Dickerson's original vision of this character someday.

Keep up the excellent work, guys.

Peace.

Paul.