OH FREEDOM AFTER WHILE
Steven John Ross Biography

STEVEN JOHN ROSS Steven John Ross is a writer-producer-director and professor in the department of communications at The University of Memphis. His previous film, the award- winning BLACK DIAMONDS, BLUES CITY: STORIES OF THE MEMPHIS RED SOX was seen on most PBS stations in America. Narrated by Samuel L. Jackson, it was also featured at several film festivals. In collaboration with David Appleby and Allison Graham, Ross made AT THE RIVER I STAND, the 1993 documentary about the last crusade of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, for which he recieved national EMMY and NAACP Image award nominations. The film was aired nationwide on PBS and won the Erik Barnouw Award given by the Organization of American Historians for the outstanding American history documentary of 1993.

Ross's films also include the literary adaptations THE OLD FOREST (from the story by Peter Taylor) and A GAME OF CATCH (from the story by Richard Wilbur) and the documentary / drama SEARCHING FOR WORDIN AVENUE. These have also won several awards at major film festivals and have been televised nationwide on The Arts and Entertainment Network as well as PBS.

Ross has authored many successful grant applications, and has served as a film production grants panelist for the National Endowment for the Humanities and The Southern Humanities Media Fund. He is a past president of The University Film and Video Association, and a recent recipient of a Southern Arts Federation fellowship at The American Academy in Rome. Ross currently serves on the National Advisory Board for the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival, and is a member of the Kodak Educational Advisory Group.