Julius Ramsay

{{Infobox person

| name = Julius Ramsay

| image = JuliusRamsay5.jpg

| caption = Julius and Alston Ramsay

| birth_place = Asheboro, North Carolina

| alma_mater = Dartmouth College

| occupation ={{hlist|Director|Producer|Editor}}

| years_active = 2005–present

}}

Julius Ramsay is an American film director, editor, and producer. He is known for directing two feature films and episodes of The Walking Dead, The Purge, and other television series. Ramsay has received multiple Emmy nominations.{{cite web |url=https://www.dreadcentral.com/news/238146/exclusive-director-julius-ramsay-talks-midnighters/ |title=Exclusive: Director Julius Ramsay Talks Midnighters |last=Wilson |first=Stacy |publisher=Dread Central |date=March 3, 2018 |website=Dread Central |access-date=March 3, 2018}} Ramsay's film debut Midnighters{{cite web|last1=Sheck|first1=Frank|title='Midnighters': Film Review|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/midnighters-1089953|publisher=Hollywood Reporter|accessdate=3 March 2018}} holds an 81% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.{{cite web|title='Midnighters': Film Reviews|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/midnighters/|publisher=Rotten Tomatoes}} His second film, The Current Occupant, is a tech-noir horror film about the President of the United States.{{cite web |last1=Barta |first1=Preston |title=‘CURRENT OCCUPANT’ director ventures ‘into the dark’ corners of our mind in psychological thriller |url=https://freshfiction.tv/current-occupant-director-ventures-into-the-dark-corners-of-our-mind-in-psychological-thriller/ |website=Fresh Fiction |publisher=Fresh Fiction |accessdate=30 August 2020}} The film was produced by Blumhouse for the Into the Dark anthology series and released on Hulu in July 2020.{{Cite web|last=Squires|first=John|date=2020-07-02|title=The President Ends Up in the Psych Ward in Hulu’s "Into the Dark: The Current Occupant" [Trailer]|url=https://bloody-disgusting.com/tv/3622272/president-ends-psych-ward-hulus-dark-current-occupant-trailer/|access-date=2020-07-03|website=Bloody Disgusting!|language=en-US}}

Early life and education

Ramsay grew up in the small town of Asheboro North Carolina where his family worked in medical textiles. He began making short films at the age of 12 before attending Dartmouth College. During his sophomore year, he worked as a White House Intern in the Clinton Administration. He graduated with a B.A. in history with a focus on revolutionary movements in developing nations.{{cite web|last1=Womick|first1=Chip|title=Asheboro Brother bring thriller to big screen|url=https://www.courier-tribune.com/news/20180406/asheboro-brothers-bring-thriller-to-big-screen|accessdate=9 April 2018|archive-date=7 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180407054249/http://www.courier-tribune.com/news/20180406/asheboro-brothers-bring-thriller-to-big-screen|url-status=dead}} He frequently works with his younger brother, writer/producer Alston Ramsay, who was a speechwriter and senior Pentagon communications official in the Bush and Obama administrations.{{Cite web|last=Breuninger|first=Kevin|date=2018-03-03|title=How a former Pentagon speechwriter made the switch to the independent film business|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/02/former-pentagon-speechwriter-now-a-filmmaker.html|access-date=2020-07-03|website=CNBC|language=en}}

Career

Ramsay started his career as an editor on documentary shows, such as VH1's Behind the Music and ESPN's SportsCentury and moved into reality television, like American Idol, The Bachelor and its spin-off The Bachelorette.{{cite web|url=https://www.juliusramsay.com| publisher=Julius Ramsay |title= www.juliusramsay.com }} In 2006, he began editing serials, such as Alias, Battlestar Galactica and FlashForward. From 2010 to 2015, he edited 23 episodes of The Walking Dead. His work as an editor has earned him three Emmy nominations, once for The Contender and twice for Battlestar Galactica ("He That Believeth in Me" and "Daybreak, Part 2").{{cite web|url=http://www.emmys.com/bios/julius-ramsay |title=Emmy Bio: Julius Ramsay|website=emmys.com|accessdate=May 9, 2016}}

Ramsay began his professional directing career by directing episodes of The Walking Dead. Ramsay directed episodes of other television series including The Purge, Scream, Outcast, and Krypton.{{cite web |url=https://www.dreadcentral.com/news/238146/exclusive-director-julius-ramsay-talks-midnighters/ |title=Exclusive: Director Julius Ramsay Talks Midnighters |last=Wilson |first=Stacy |publisher=Dread Central |date=March 3, 2018 |website=Dread Central |access-date=March 3, 2018}} In 2018, he directed and produced the feature film Midnighters,{{cite web|last1=Sheck|first1=Frank|title='Midnighters': Film Review|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/midnighters-1089953|publisher=Hollywood Reporter|accessdate=3 March 2018}} a noir thriller written by his brother Alston. Midnighters premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival and was purchased for theatrical and digital distribution by IFC Films. It currently holds an 81% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.{{cite web|title='Midnighters': Film Reviews|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/midnighters/|publisher=Rotten Tomatoes}}

Ramsay's second feature, The Current Occupant, is a psychedelic institutional horror film based on the Ramsay brothers' experiences working in politics. Actor Barry Watson stars as a patient in a mental asylum who believes that he is the President of the United States. The script was written by Alston Ramsay and produced by Blumhouse as a Hulu Original for Hulu. Julius and Alston worked as Executive Producers on the film. The Current Occupant is the Independence Day-themed installment of Hulu's anthology film series Into the Dark. Filming was completed two weeks before the COVID-19 pandemic suspended film production in the United States. Ramsay completed all of his post-production work on the film remotely and the release was delayed two weeks. A trailer was released on July 2, 2020{{Cite web|last=ghermanns|date=2020-07-02|title=Into the Dark's The Current Occupant Trailer from Julius & Alston Ramsay|url=https://www.comingsoon.net/tv/trailers/1140503-into-the-darks-the-current-occupant-trailer-from-julius-alston-ramsay|access-date=2020-07-03|website=ComingSoon.net|language=en-US}} and the film premiered on Hulu on July 17, 2020, to favorable reviews.{{cite web |last1=Anderson |first1=John |title=‘Into the Dark: The Current Occupant’ Review: A Curious Claim to the Oval Office |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/into-the-dark-the-current-occupant-review-a-curious-claim-to-the-oval-office-11594931449 |website=The Wall Street Journal |publisher=The Wall Street Journal |accessdate=30 August 2020}}{{cite web |last1=Serba |first1=John |title=Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Into the Dark: Current Occupant’ on Hulu, a Hyper-political Thriller About a Probably Insane President |url=https://decider.com/2020/07/17/into-the-dark-current-occupant-on-hulu-stream-it-or-skip-it/ |website=Decider |publisher=Decider |accessdate=30 August 2020}}{{cite web |last1=Levinson |first1=Paul |title=Into the Dark: The Current Occupant |url=https://vocal.media/horror/into-the-dark-the-current-occupant |website=Vocal |publisher=Vocal.media |accessdate=30 August 2020}}

On August 21, 2021, Amazon Studios announced that it was developing Infinite Thread, a television series created and written by Julius and Alston Ramsay. The series is a co-production between Amazon and Universal Television. It will be produced by the Ramsay brothers, Byron Balasco, and Justin Lin through his company Perfect Storm Entertainment. Deadline Hollywood describes Infinite Thread as a series that "blends true crime and science fiction in its depiction of one man’s epic investigation into a crime that breaks the boundaries of time and space."{{Cite web|last=Petski|first=Denise|date=2021-08-26|title=Amazon Lands ‘Infinite Thread’ Drama From Justin Lin, Ramsay Brothers, Byron Balasco & Universal TV|url=https://deadline.com/2021/08/amazon-infinite-thread-drama-justin-lin-ramsay-brothers-byron-balasco-1234822721/|access-date=2022-02-07|website=Deadline|language=en-US}}