DEVON DICKSON
Director
Devon Dickson was born in Los Angeles into a celebrated film family but has lived in London for all his adult life. His grandfather was Head Costumer at Warner Brothers through the golden era of Hollywood (1930's-1960's) where his credits included Casablanca and The Maltese Falcon, while his father is a influential special effects cinematographer, whose credits include 2001 a Space Odyssey, Close Encounters and Blade Runner.
Devon has been directing commercials since 1995 and has a wealth of directorial experience and his many credits include commercials for Prudential, Bank of Scotland, Clairol, Toyota. Devon is best known for his award winning Stakis Hotel commercials for the Morgan Partnership and a series of Hilton International spots starring Jeff Goldblum.
Most recently Devon has been shooting global campaigns for Johnson and Johnson and Pampers. He has revolutionised the way in which babies and toddlers are being photographed, creating a distinctive technique that captures touching performances and expressions never seen before. These enchanting commercials have connected with parents and have raised the standard of the genre.
Devon's first love has always been performance, his talent with actors is well documented. He has a strong sense of visual style and cinematic dynamism. A background as a cinematographer finds him regularly picking up the camera himself to capture beautifully rich and vibrant images. But such is his versatility and history that Devon feels equally at home with post-intensive effects productions.
Devon's introduction to the film industry saw him working as a special effects animator on the Disney film Tron while still in high school. He went on to work with his father as a camera assistant. Devon was schooled in groundbreaking special effects techniques like the 70mm Showscan and his father's invention Circlevison (Circlevsion has be recently used on Matrix Reloaded and Spiderman 2).
In 1992 Devon received a BA in Film from the University of California. While there he directed six plays at the Nixon Theatre. His sold out production of Sam Sheppard's "Killer's Head" acquired national interest as it was first staging of play since 1969.
He then went on to win a place at the Royal College of Art in London with his award winning short "DMZ". He graduated with an MA(RCA) in Directing for Film and Television in 1994.
In 1996 he was commissioned by Channel 4 and British Screen to direct one of five Short and Curlies - 'A Martial Kind of Men', broadcast on Channel 4. The film was chosen to open the 1997 London Film Festival and received rave reviews in the National Press, making Pick Of The Week in the Times, Telegraph & Independent. "This film carries more of a punch than many a work padded out to fill a two hour spot...outstanding" - Daily Telegraph.
Devon lives in London.