When Dr. Walter M. Kimbrough became president of Dillard University in 2012, Professor Keith Morris invited him to visit one of the classes in the film program. Kimbrough did not walk into a lecture hall full of seated students, but onto a dynamic film set filled with students working with cameras, editing footage and engaging with famous movie stars.
“I walk into this house, and I see Dillard students basically crewing the entire movie,” he recalled. “They’re doing everything.”
The film program at this New Orleans historically Black institution is mostly the brainchild of Morris, an independent filmmaker who developed his skills working in New York City. He has also taught in film schools across the country, which allowed him to hone his teaching methods. His commitment to making Dillard’s program a holistic experience immediately caught Kimbrough’s attention. Today, it is one of the university’s two most prominent programs.
“What Keith has been able to do is create synergy,” said Kimbrough. “Students work with people when directors bring movies to town. It’s not a theoretical program.”
Morris arrived at Dillard in 2010, two years before Kimbrough, and immediately began to leverage the tax incentives offered to filmmakers by the state of Louisiana. The state can issue up to 40 percent in tax credits for projects, depending on the location of the film set and whether Louisiana residents provide the labor. These incentives have attracted an abundance of prominent directors and producers to the state, which ensures that Dillard students are never short on guest lecturers as well as film sets that serve as classrooms.
The program currently has about 60 students. As of 2015, the students have worked on 12 movies, interacting with stars like Denzel Washington, Wendell Pierce and Forest Whitaker on the sets of films such as The Magnificent Seven and The Butler. Denzel Washington, who has spoken at Dillard’s commencement, funds a full scholarship for film students. This type of support for students, who are often from underprivileged backgrounds, allows the program to thrive.
Morris says the once dormant film program especially came to life when Spike Lee shot his 2013 film Old Boy in New Orleans. Lee allowed Morris to assign his students to important roles on the film crew. After filming for Old Boy was over, Lee offered to hire several students to work with him in New York and South America. Although the students declined so they could finish their degrees before entering the profession, the Dillard program has formed a partnership with Lee, and the director is expected to return to New Orleans for a movie he is producing.
