J. D. Dillard

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]

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]

In a 2017 interview with /Film Dillard disclosed that he was in early negotiations to direct a remake of David Cronenberg's The Fly. Dillard stated that he might work with Alex Theurer, the co-writer of Sleight, on it and that the two of them "want to start with character" when making the film.^[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 April 2019, he wrote the supernatural noir film Stray.^[8] In September 2019, he directed an episode of The CW series Two Sentence Horror Stories.^[9] In December 2019, he cameoed as Stormtrooper FN-1226 in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.^[10][11]

In February 2020, it was reported that Dillard was developing an untitled Star Wars film,^[12][13] and was in talks to direct The Return of the Rocketeer, a sequel to the 1991 film The Rocketeer.^[14] In November 2022, Dillard announced he was not attached to either Star Wars or Rocketeer projects.^[14]

In 2020, he directed an episode of the HBO miniseries The Outsider.^[15] In June 2020, Dillard directed an episode of the CBS All Access series The Twilight Zone.^[16] In September 2020, he directed an episode of the Amazon Prime Video series Utopia.^[17]

In February 2021, he directed the action war film Devotion, starring Jonathan Majors as Jesse L. Brown.^[18] Dillard stated that his father's real life service as a Naval flight officer partly inspired his handling of the film.^[19] During filming, Dillard's parents visited the set, and his father acted as a Navy pilot tech consultant for the film.^[20]

In February 2024, he served as showrunner, creator, and executive producer on the Apple TV+ series Neuromancer, based on the book of the same name.^[21]

Film

Television