Ramsey Denison
{{Short description|American filmmaker}}
{{Infobox person
| image =
| image_size =
| caption =
| name = Ramsey Denison
| birth_name = Ramsey G. Denison
| birth_date =
| birth_place = Bellingham, Washington, U.S.
| death_date =
| death_place =
| nationality = American
| alma_mater =
| occupation = Filmmaker, director, producer, editor
| notable_works = What Happened in Vegas
| spouse =
| children =
| parents = Tom Denison
Carolyn Denison
| years_active = 2005-present
}}
Ramsey Denison is a director, producer, editor and documentary filmmaker who is best known for his critically acclaimed documentary What Happened in Vegas, which went to #1 on iTunes documentary charts in June 2018.
Early life and education
Denison was born in Bellingham, Washington, to parents Tom Denison, a shop teacher, and Carolyn Denison, an educator. He grew up in Satellite Beach, Florida,{{Cite web|url=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1774444/bio|title=Ramsey Denison|website=IMDb|accessdate=Feb 15, 2020}} and graduated with the class of 1997 from Satellite High School.{{Cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/25681912/shs1997_graduates_part_a/|title=SHS-1997 Graduates -- Part A|date=May 13, 1997|newspaper=Florida Today|via=newspapers.com|pages=51|accessdate=Feb 15, 2020}} He received a journalism degree from Eastern Washington University.{{Cite web|url=https://www.inlander.com/spokane/indie-auteurs-unite/Content?oid=2173441|title=Indie Auteurs Unite|author=Palpant, Andrea|date=February 12, 2001|newspaper=Inlander|accessdate=Feb 29, 2020}}
Career
At 18, Denison went to work for WBCC-TV in Cocoa, Florida. By 2004, he moved to Los Angeles, and the following year was hired as an assistant editor on TV documentaries and reality shows,{{Cite web|url=https://www.laweekly.com/movies/what-happened-in-vegas-8903336|title=Movies - What Happened in Vegas|date=Nov 30, 2017|newspaper=LA Weekly}} including Catfish: The TV Show, The Hills Have Eyes, High School Musical 2, Sky High and The Family Stone.
A short film Somewhere in the City, written, directed and produced by Denison, screened at over 30 film festivals and won awards at Vail Film Festival, San Fernando Valley International Film Festival, and Berkeley Film and Video Festival.{{Cite web|url=http://www.ccartscouncil.org/realtoreel/real2007.htm|title=Real to Reel 2007|website=www.ccartscouncil.org|accessdate=Feb 15, 2020}}
In 2013, Denison and a friend, Rhett Nielson, a former SWAT team videographer in Las Vegas,{{Cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/what-happened-vegas-1063194|last=DeFore|first=John|title=What Happened in Vegas: Film Review|newspaper=The Hollywood Reporter|date=30 November 2017 |accessdate=Feb 15, 2020}} traveled to Nevada on vacation. While there, Denison witnessed what he told the media was two officers being rough with a suspect. He placed a call to 911 asking that a supervisor respond to the scene. Instead, Denison was himself arrested and spent three days in the Clark County Detention Center.{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-capsule-what-happened-in-vegas-review-20171130-story.html|title=Review: Documentary 'What Happened in Vegas' blows the whistle on local police|date=Nov 30, 2017|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|accessdate=Feb 15, 2020}}
The arrest led to Denison developing the story into a documentary about police brutality. It resulted in his directorial debut of the full-length documentary, What Happened in Vegas, with its first screening at the 2017 Cinequest Film Festival.{{Cite web|url=https://www.indiewire.com/2017/03/what-happened-in-vegas-trailer-documentary-police-corruption-brutality-1201789052/|title=What Happened in Vegas Exclusive Trailer: Incendiary Documentary Explores Police Corruption and Brutality in Sin City — Watch|first=Kate|last=Erbland|date=Mar 2, 2017|magazine=IndieWire|accessdate=Feb 15, 2020}}
Los Angeles Times reviewer Michael Rechtshaffen wrote that What Happened in Vegas "blows the whistle on a disturbing pattern of excessive force and corruption within its ranks."{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-capsule-what-happened-in-vegas-review-20171130-story.html|last=Rechtshaffen|first=Michael|title=Review: Documentary 'What Happened in Vegas' blows the whistle on local police|date=Nov 30, 2017|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|accessdate=Feb 15, 2020}} The Village Voice opined that issues Denison uncovers within the police department "serve as a warning to all Americans."{{Cite web|url=https://www.villagevoice.com/2017/11/22/a-filmmaker-reported-police-brutality-in-las-vegas-so-the-cops-arrested-him/|last=Rowland|first=Daphne|title=A Filmmaker Reported Police Brutality in Las Vegas. So the Cops Arrested Him|newspaper=Village Voice|date=22 November 2017 |accessdate=Feb 15, 2020}} Daphne Howland in LA Weekly' noted that "What Happened in Vegas is more than a revenge project. He unveils a pattern of police malfeasance, including coverups and lies, through disturbing stories of unjustified deaths. It’s a damning takedown of the city’s powers that be."{{Cite web|url=https://www.laweekly.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/113017-229125.pdf|date=December 1, 2017|title=Reporting Police Brutality Spurred Director to Make WHat Happened In Vegas|newspaper=LA Weekly}}
The film also screened at the FreedomFest conference at the Paris Las Vegas hotel-casino in July 2017{{Cite web|url=https://www.reviewjournal.com/crime/mother-of-man-who-died-in-police-custody-speaks-at-film-screening/|title=Mother of man who died in police custody speaks at film screening|date=Jul 22, 2017|newspaper=Las Vegas Review-Journal|first=Wesley|last=Juhl|accessdate=Feb 15, 2020}} where it won the Grand Jury Prize and went to #1 on iTunes documentary chart in June 2018.
Denison and another filmmaker, Charlie Minn, each accused the Eclipse Theater in Las Vegas of failing to screen their movies because their films are critical of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.{{Cite web|url=https://www.fox5vegas.com/news/eclipse-theater-pulls-two-las-vegas-shooting-documentaries-away-from/article_accb7f2e-20db-5608-bed3-4bdc002f173f.html|last1=Herbets|first1=Adam|title=Eclipse Theater pulls two Las Vegas shooting documentaries away from lineup|website=FOX5 Las Vegas|accessdate=Feb 15, 2020}}
What Happened in Vegas prompted Denison's probe into the 2017 mass shooting at the Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas, where 59 people were killed,{{Cite web|url=http://filmschoolradio.com/december-1-2017-what-happened-vegas-director-ramsey-denison/|title=What Happened in Vegas, Director Ramsey Denison - Film School Radio hosted by Mike Kaspar|date=December 2017 |accessdate=Feb 15, 2020}} for a second documentary. It is titled Money Machine, with screenings at American Documentary and Animation Film Festival in March 2020 and Cleveland International Film Festival.{{Cite web|url=https://www.amdocfilmfest.com/2020-films-i-m|title=2020 FILMS I-M|accessdate=Feb 25, 2020|website=www.amdocfilmfest.com}}
Awards
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.ramdenison.com/ Filmmaker's official website]
- {{IMDb name|1774444}}
- {{Rotten-tomatoes-person|ramsey_denison}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Denison, Ramsey}}
Category:American documentary film directors
Category:American film editors
Category:Filmmakers from Florida
Category:Filmmakers from California
Category:Filmmakers from Washington (state)