Never Die Alone : About The Filmmakers


ERNEST DICKERSON (Director)
Ernest Dickerson’s directorial debut was the box office hit drama JUICE, starring Omar Epps and the late Tupac Shakur. It was followed by the action thriller SURVIVING THE GAME, starring Ice-T; the horror film TALES FROM THE CRYPT: DEMON KNIGHT starring Billy Zane and Jada Pinkett; and BULLETPROOF, starring Damon Wayans and Adam Sandler. In 2001, Dickerson directed New Line Cinema’s BONES, a gothic horror story starring multi-platinum recording artist Snoop Dogg, Pam Grier and Michael T. Weiss. He recently directed GOOD FENCES, a Showtime original picture starring Whoopi Goldberg and Danny Glover.

Dickerson also directed HBO’s “Ambushed;” “Blind Faith,” which was well-received at the Sundance Film Festival, the Pan-African Films and Arts Festival; “Future Sport,” starring Dean Cain, Wesley Snipes and Vanessa Williams; “Strange Justice,” for which he received critical acclaim and the prestigious Peabody Award; the TNT Original Film, “Monday Night Mayhem;” “Confessions of a Campus Bookie;” “Our America,” for which he received an Emmy Award for cinematography and the film received a 2003 Humanitas Award.
Previously Dickerson served as cinematographer on seven of Spike Lee’s early films including SHE’S GOTTA HAVE IT, MO’ BETTER BLUES, JUNGLE FEVER MALCOLM X and DO THE RIGHT THING, for which he received the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Cinematographer and one of the first Gotham Awards honoring filmmaking excellence in New York.

Dickerson began his film career by collaborating with fellow student Spike Lee while earning a graduate degree from New York University’s Institute of Film and Television at the Tisch School of Arts. He served as cinematographer for Lee’s short film SARAH and Lee’s thesis film JOE’S BED-STUY BARBERSHOP: WE CUT HEADS, which earned a student Academy Award® from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. Dickerson’s work on the film caught the attention of John Sayles who hired him to shoot the science fiction fantasy THE BROTHER FROM ANOTHER PLANET.

Dickerson’s additional credits as a cinematographer include KRUSH GROOVE SCHOOL DAZE.
For many years, Dickerson was one of the youngest members of the American Society of Cinematographers and the only prominent African-American cinematographer in Hollywood. Over the past 10 years, he has also directed commercials for General Motors, Pontiac and a series of spots for Reebok with Shaquille O’Neal.



JAMES GIBSON (Writer)
NEVER DIE ALONE is James Gibson’s first produced screenplay. A graduate of Columbia University in New York, Gibson worked for several years as a development executive at Tri-Star Pictures and Caravan Pictures before turning to screenwriting. Among his credits are SED, a horror script in development at Silver Pictures / Warner Bros. and LAZARUS, which originally had its genesis as a re-invention of the CROW franchise tailored specifically for DMX, also currently in development for Edward R. Pressman Film Corp. / Warner Bros.



ALESSANDRO CAMON (Producer)
Alessandro Camon is ContentFilm’s Head of Production, Los Angeles. Prior to his current position he worked as Senior Vice President, Production at the Edward R. Pressman Film Corp, as Vice President, Creative affairs for Penta Pictures, and as a programming executive at Milan’s Mediaset. A former film critic and scholar, Camon has had a number of books on such filmmakers as Francis Ford Coppola, John Milius and David Lynch published in both the US and Italy. At ContentFilm, Camon Executive Produced THE COOLER, starring William H. Macy and Alec Baldwin, LOVE OBJECT, starring Desmond Harrington and Melissa Sagemiller, and the recently wrapped UNDERTOW, directed by David Gordon Green and starring Jamie Bell, Josh Lucas and Dermot Mulroney. At Pressman Film Corp., Camon was involved in producing such films as AMERICAN PSYCHO and OWNING MAHONEY, starring Philip Seymour Hoffman. Camon graduated from UCLA with a Master of Arts in film and television on a Fulbright Grant.



EDWARD R. PRESSMAN, JOHN SCHMIDT (Executive Producers)
Founded by Edward R. Pressman and John Schmidt in September of 2001, ContentFilm is a fully financed production and distribution company based in New York. ContentFilm’s mandate is to finance and produce an initial slate of 12 to 15 director-driven feature films that take advantage of new technology to keep budgets low. ContentFilm’s numerous recent productions include THE GUYS, the film version of Anne Nelson’s acclaimed post-9/11 play of the same title starring Sigourney Weaver and Anthony LaPaglia; THE COOLER, the acclaimed romance starring William H. Macy and Alec Baldwin; PARTY MONSTER, starring Macaulay Culkin and Seth Green; and “The Hebrew Hammer.”



MARC GERALD (Executive Producer)
Marc Gerald currently runs Los Bravos, a literary management and production company, whose publishing clients include many notables from the world of popular music (Tim McGraw and 50 Cent), sports and fitness (Jeremy McGrath, Mark Jenkins, And 1’s Streetball), and popular culture (Strangers in Paradise, Suicide Girls, Gearhead Magazine).
Gerald started his career as associate and eventually managing editor at “True Detective Magazine,” before spending four years as a writer/producer at “America’s Most Wanted.” While there, he conceived and produced the show’s re-creations as well as countless full-length TV specials for Fox.

Gerald went on to head up ABA Award winning Old School Books, an imprint of WW Norton books, that is widely credited with starting a resurgence in interest in urban black literature, as well as mainstream interest in Donald Goines. After publishing close to 25 books with Old School, as well as co-writing and co-producing the Stratosphere release of Six Ways to Sunday (based upon one of its titles) Gerald moved on to form The Syndicate with Wesley Snipes and Def Jam. Determined to bring literature and a love of reading to a young, urban and primarily black audience, Gerald commissioned novellas from some of hip hop’s brightest stars and sold them with CD’s supplied by Def Jam. Eventually, Gerald’s interest in germinating original ideas and packaging innovative concepts led him to representation and the formation of Los Bravos.



DION FEARON (Executive Producer)
Dion Fearon makes her debut as a producer with NEVER DIE ALONE. The film went into production four years after she first read the novel and, determined to make it into a film, optioned the rights. She faithfully renewed every year, until she was introduced to Jim Gibson’s spec script by Marc Gerald. Fearon began work in the industry first as an aspiring actress, including background work on “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air,” then later she worked as a club promoter and on the distribution side of the music business.



MATTHEW LIBATIQUE (Cinematographer)
Matthew Libatique made his mark collaborating with director Darren Aronofsky on the breakthrough film PI and then, later, on Aronofsky’s award-winning film REQUIEM FOR A DREAM. Starring Ellen Burstyn, who was honored with an Academy Award nomination for her work in the film, REQUIEM FOR A DREAM also brought Libatique an IFP Spirit Award.
He has since collaborated twice with director Joel Schumacher, first on Colin Farrell’s breakout film TIGERLAND, then on PHONE BOOTH, also starring Farrell. Libatique’s other credits include: SATURN, JOSIE & THE PUSSYCATS, and the recent dramatic thriller ABANDON, starring Katie Holmes. His most recent film is the horror-thriller GOTHIKA, starring Halle Berry, for director Matthieu Kassovitz. He is currently in pre-production for Darren Aronofsky’s THE FOUNTAIN.