J. D. Dillard

JD Dillard (born 26 December 1987) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter best known for his work on Sleight (2016), Sweetheart (2019), and Devotion (2022).

JD Dillard
Dillard in 2022
Born (1987-12-26) 26 December 1987
NationalityAmerican
Occupations
  • Film director
  • Producer
  • Screenwriter
Years active2013–present
Notable work

Early life

Dillard was raised as a Navy brat, the son of Bruce and Geri Dillard. His father was a Naval flight officer and the second African-American selected to fly for the Blue Angels.[1]

Career

In March 2013, Dillard directed a trailer for Empire of the Sun's second album Ice on the Dune.[2][3] In 2016, he directed the science fiction crime drama film Sleight, for Blumhouse Tilt.[4] According to a /Film interview in 2017 with Dillard, a plan of remaking David Cronenberg's The Fly was at its early phase of negotiations. Dillard disclosed in the interview that he might work with Alex Theurer, the co-writer of the movie Sleight, for the remake: "For me – and this would be about The Fly, but this is also about Alex and my approach to remakes because post-Sleight that has been the conversation for what a lot of big flashy studio gigs are – no matter what, we want to start with character".[5] In January 2019, he wrote and directed the horror film Sweetheart, starring Kiersey Clemons.[6] In February 2019, Legendary Entertainment won a bidding war for Mastering Your Past, which was written by Dillard.[7] In September 2019, he directed an episode of The CW series Two Sentence Horror Stories.[8] In December 2019, he cameoed as Stormtrooper FN-1226 in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.[9][10]

In 2020, he directed an episode of the HBO miniseries The Outsider.[11] In February 2020, Dillard was in negotiations to direct The Return of the Rocketeer, a sequel to the 1991 film The Rocketeer, which will be released on Disney's streaming service, Disney+ and was attached to the project for several years.[12] In the same month, Variety and Deadline Hollywood reported that Dillard and Luke Cage writer Matt Owens were developing a Star Wars film, though Disney and Lucasfilm never officially made an announcement.[13][14] In June 2020, Dillard directed an episode of the CBS All Access series The Twilight Zone.[15] In September 2020, he directed an episode of the Amazon Prime Video series Utopia.[16] In February 2021, he directed the action war film Devotion, starring Jonathan Majors.[17] In May 2021, he was in discussions to direct an untitled Superman reboot for DC Films.[18] In November 2022, Dillard announced he was not attached to make films based on Star Wars, Rocketeer, and Superman.[12]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Director Writer Producer Ref.
2016 Sleight Yes Yes No [4]
2019 Sweetheart Yes Yes Yes [19]
2022 Devotion Yes No Executive [17]

Television

Year Title Episode Ref.
2019 Two Sentence Horror Stories "Trilogy: Guilt Trip" [8]
2020 The Outsider "Foxhead" [11]
The Twilight Zone "Downtime" [15]
Utopia "Talking Hurts" [16]

Accolades

In January 2016, Dillard was nominated at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival Awards, in the category "Best of Next!", for his work on Sleight.[20] In February 2018, Dillard received two nominations at the Black Reel Awards of 2018, in the categories "Best Emerging Filmmaker" and "Best First Screenplay", also for his work on Sleight.[21]

References
  1. "Lt Bruce Dillard, No. 8". Intruder Association. Archived from the original on October 1, 2022. Retrieved July 21, 2023.
  2. Minsker, Evan (March 11, 2013). "Empire of the Sun Announce New LP, Share Epic Album Trailer". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on July 20, 2021. Retrieved July 20, 2021.
  3. Locker, Melissa. "11 Best Music Videos of 2013 (So Far)". Time. ISSN 0040-781X. Archived from the original on July 22, 2021. Retrieved July 20, 2021.
  4. Lang, Brent (January 28, 2016). "WWE, Blumhouse Buy Magician Thriller 'Sleight'". Variety. Archived from the original on December 13, 2016. Retrieved July 20, 2021.
  5. Sciretta, Peter (May 5, 2017). "'The Fly' Remake: J.D. Dillard Wants To Bring Some Real Emotion To The Blockbuster Re-Do". /Film. Archived from the original on July 20, 2021. Retrieved July 20, 2021.
  6. Kroll, Justin (February 2, 2017). "Kiersey Clemons to Star in Horror Film From Blumhouse and 'Sleight' Team". Variety. Archived from the original on July 20, 2021. Retrieved July 20, 2021.
  7. Galuppo, Mia (February 12, 2019). "Legendary Wins Bidding War for J.D. Dillard Thriller 'Mastering Your Past' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on October 28, 2021. Retrieved November 23, 2021.
  8. "Two Sentence Horror Stories Anthology Series Coming This Halloween". Archived from the original on July 20, 2021. Retrieved July 20, 2021.
  9. Breznican, Anthony; Robinson, Joanna (December 20, 2019). "25 Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Cameos You Might Have Missed". Vanity Fair. Archived from the original on December 1, 2020. Retrieved July 20, 2021.
  10. Alex, Susannah; Tanswell, Adam (July 28, 2020). "The Boys and Star Trek star Karl Urban had secret Rise of Skywalker cameo". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on July 29, 2020. Retrieved July 20, 2021.
  11. "For my friends watching The Outsider: next week is the episode I directed and it's called 'Foxhead'!". Archived from the original on July 20, 2021. Retrieved July 20, 2021.
  12. Taylor, Drew (November 8, 2022). "'Devotion' Filmmaker J.D. Dillard No Longer Developing 'Star Wars' Movie for Lucasfilm (Exclusive)". TheWrap. Archived from the original on November 8, 2022. Retrieved November 8, 2022.
  13. Vary, Adam B. (February 21, 2020). "New 'Star Wars' Movie in Development With 'Sleight' Director, 'Luke Cage' Writer". Variety. Archived from the original on October 6, 2020. Retrieved July 20, 2021.
  14. Vary, Adam B. (February 21, 2020). "New 'Star Wars' Movie in Development With 'Sleight' Director, 'Luke Cage' Writer". Variety. Archived from the original on October 6, 2020. Retrieved May 23, 2023.
  15. Al-Ghamdi, Abdullah (June 27, 2020). "The Twilight Zone: Downtime Ending Explained". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on July 20, 2021. Retrieved July 20, 2021.
  16. "I directed the penultimate episode of Gillian Flynn's wonderfully insane Utopia with the incredible Shawn Kim shooting and it's out now on Amazon Prime!". Archived from the original on July 20, 2021. Retrieved July 20, 2021.
  17. Kroll, Justin (February 4, 2021). "Serinda Swan To Play Elizabeth Taylor In Black Label Media's Korean War Pic 'Devotion'". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on November 24, 2022. Retrieved July 20, 2021.
  18. Siegel, Tatiana; Kit, Borys (May 5, 2021). "Behind Warner Bros.' Search for a Black Superman". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on May 5, 2021. Retrieved July 20, 2021.
  19. Kroll, Justin (April 3, 2017). "Emory Cohen to Co-Star With Kiersey Clemons in Blumhouse's Sweetheart (Exclusive)". Variety. Archived from the original on July 2, 2021. Retrieved July 20, 2021.
  20. "2016 Sundance Film Festival Awards Ceremony". Archived from the original on July 24, 2021. Retrieved July 24, 2021.
  21. "Get Out Dominates The Black Reel Awards". Archived from the original on December 19, 2017. Retrieved July 20, 2021.
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