Bowie State Filmmaker Eager to Add Voice to Film Landscape

Dallas Hanson Hopes to Add Diversity to Black Stories in Film

 

MEDIA CONTACT: Jonathan Saxon, jsaxon@bowiestate.edu, 301-860-3607

(BOWIE, Md.) – Bowie State University senior Dallas Hanson closed the book on a three-year journey when he wrapped up shooting “Redline”, last December. “Redline” is Hanson’s first feature-length film that he wrote and directed and was screened at the Los Angeles Film Awards in April, where it finished as semifinalist in the web series category.

“It was bittersweet,” said Hanson, a senior majoring in visual communication and digital media arts with a concentration in digital cinema and time-based media. “It’s great we were selected and advanced that far. But unfortunately, we didn’t win. But it was great overall.”

Hanson credits the relationships he built at Bowie State with allowing him to finish “Redline”, a film that follows a family as they struggle to survive in the wake of a viral outbreak that is spreading in the poorer areas of the fictional city of Grantland. The project was far cry from making home movies with his friends on weekends.

“That was the most amount of people I worked with ever,” said Hanson, who initially started shooting “Redline” as a web series in 2020. “We had over 12 locations that we shot at. That was the biggest story I told.” Hanson’s longest project before then was a twenty-minute short film.

Hanson has higher hopes as a filmmaker and wants to leave a unique mark on cinema with his style of storytelling. He wants to create movies that stay with his audience through stories that are inspired by historic social issues, such as redlining or the Flint water crisis.

“That’s what I’m trying to fight for,” said Hanson. “Having diversity with the Black voice and film.”

Hanson has loved movies all his life, but he didn’t discover filmmaking until leaving Bowie State University in 2017. While Hanson was trying to figure out his next move, he spent most of his free time watching movies with his cousin. One day, while watching a film, an idea raced across Hanson’s mind.

“I’m like, ‘Man, we could write a movie,’” said Hanson. “I was able to find information on screenwriting that wasn’t completely overwhelming. It still took me a year to write a script.”

From there, Hanson studied filmmaking and started making short films with friends to post on YouTube. After one of his collaborators moved away, Hanson decided that he could use more formal filmmaking training and education to bolster his amateur experience, so he came back to Bowie State in 2022.

“The good thing about Bowie State and the VCDMA program is it teaches you to be a jack-of-all-trades,” said Hanson. “It teaches you to have an entrepreneurial spirit. It also taught me the importance of community, developing relationships and networking.”

Hanson is still shopping “Redline” around for more showcase opportunities, but he’s already thinking of what he wants to tackle next. He says his main goal is directing a studio-level science fiction movie, but Hanson is also looking to help pull other budding filmmakers up as he moves on in his journey.

“I didn’t see anybody making films,” he said. “I didn’t think it was a possibility. Now, I have my little sister coming to me with ideas. That will be my next step, helping other people.”

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About Bowie State University
Bowie State University (BSU) is an important higher education access portal for qualified persons from diverse academic and socioeconomic backgrounds, seeking a high-quality and affordable public comprehensive university. The university places special emphasis on the science, technology, cybersecurity, teacher education, business and nursing disciplines within the context of a liberal arts education. For more information about BSU, visit bowiestate.edu.