News of acclaimed writer-director Spike Lee coming to Omaha as Film Streams’ Feature9 special guest on Dec. 7 has made waves. His buzz-worthy narrative features (“Do the Right Thing”), documentaries (“When the Levees Broke”), and commercials (for Nike, Capital One, American Express) put him among select filmmakers with household name recognition.
A fall Film Streams retrospective showcased his aesthetic range and pop culture reach.
“Attendance was incredibly robust,” said strategic director of programs and experience Amanda Kephart, including a well-attended “Malcolm X” screening-panel.
The subject of that 1992 movie has deep resonance with Omaha, where the Malcolm X Memorial Foundation (MXMF) preserves the historic human rights advocate’s legacy. However, few know of another local connection in former key Lee collaborator and Omaha native Monty Ross. No discussion of Lee’s career is complete without exploring their shared past.
Ross and Lee first intersected through HBCU Morehouse College in Atlanta. The 1975 Omaha North High graduate later starred in Lee’s New York University student thesis film, “Joe’s Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads.” Their college experiences were immortalized in Lee’s “School Daze.”
Ross went on to co-found with Lee Forty Acres and a Mule Filmworks, serving as chief of production when Lee broke through as a vital new voice in an industry that long denied Black artists a place at the table. MXMF executive director JoAnna LeFlore-Ejike said Lee’s in a historical line of Black filmmakers, from Oscar Micheaux to Melvin van Peebles to John Singleton, whose work “incites change and critical thought.”
“Spike Lee’s career has shaped an entire generation of filmmakers in the same way Malcolm X shaped an entire generation of activists,” she said.
What’s escaped most Nebraskans is that one of their own partnered in the dynamic, Oscar-winning artist’s rise. The name Monty Ross is right there in the credits – as production supervisor on “She’s Gotta Have It” (also appears as Dog #1), producer on “Malcolm X,” co-producer on “School Daze,” “Do the Right Thing,” “Mo’ Better Blues,” “Jungle Fever,” “Crooklyn” and executive producer on “Clockers.” The last credit Ross shared with Lee is on “Inside Man” (2006) as “additional crew.” But the two men have long since gone their separate ways. Without context, there’s nothing to connect them to Omaha. Until now.
The odds were long that a man with humble Omaha origins would hook up with a cinema supernova. But together they helped usher in the indie film movement. His story should be better known in Nebraska. But due to a low profile and fraught relationship with his hometown, Ross has been overshadowed by other Nebraskans in film such as Alexander Payne.
Ross, 68, is neither the first nor last Black Omaha creative to make a mark in cinema. In the silent era, brothers George and Noble Johnson founded America’s first Black film production outfit, the Lincoln Motion Picture Company. More recently, John Beasley became a go-to character actor on the big and small screen. Gabrielle Union has forged a major acting career. Actor-writer-director Randy Goodwin has his own film production company, Fallen Giant Films.
University of Iowa history assistant professor of history and African American Studies Ashley Howard said the Johnsons were key figures in “the emergence of Black film,” adding there’s “a long lineage of artists, actors, and creators that hail from this community.”
In addition to Beasley, Union and Goodwin, others include actors Michael Beasley (John’s son) and Kelcey Watson, writer-director-actors Jade Jenise Dixon and Yolonda Ross, and producers Chanelle Elaine and Timothy Christian. Amber Ruffin has conquered the small screen as a writer-performer.
Industry insiders appreciate what Monty Ross accomplished with 40 Acres.
“The blood and sweat he pumped into that company often goes unnoticed,” film producer Lashan Browning said. “But he was the heart of it all.”
In a Moviemaker Magazine piece Lee himself acknowledged the impact Ross made.
“He was very important … People may have read about Spike Lee, but it wasn’t just me, it was Monty Ross, Ernest Dickerson (cinematography), Wynn Thomas (production design), Barry Brown (editing), Ruth Carter (costume design) and ‘my father’ the late jazz musician Bill Lee (scoring). This is a team we have.”
MXMF hosted a talk by Lee composer Terrence Blanchard earlier in the fall.
Ross can sometimes hardly believe he joined Lee in breaking barriers and opening doors.
“I’ve just been amazed all the way that it happened to me,” Ross said. “I thank my lucky stars every day because it could have gone so many different directions. It’s humbling.”
Ross may be the only creative from the state to have produced a big-budget film on a Nebraska icon (“Malcolm X”). He even appears as a Roseland Ballroom emcee. MXMF houses a collection belonging to Shorty Jarvis, the real-life friend of Malcolm X. Lee plays Jarvis in the film.
The Ross family lived at 2617 Blondo in North Omaha, mere blocks from the home of the former Malcolm Little, where MXMF is located. He noted how remarkable it is that “as a child of the ’60’s inspired by the movements of the decade that shaped America” he got “the opportunity to produce a major motion picture on a childhood hero.”
LeFlore-Ejike said she appreciates how Lee’s depiction of the civil rights leader “exposes the internal transformation Malcolm X went through, the path he took to become a global humanitarian, and the human dynamic of him as a family man, a friend, a brother and not just an iconic hero.”
Ross expressed frustration that despite helping bring the story to the screen, he’s “unknown” in his hometown. Ross has been honored as a Viking of Distinction by his alma mater, North High. Gene Haynes was North’s principal when the school inducted Ross into its hall of fame in 2016.
“The recognition was well deserved. We’re very proud of him and what he’s accomplished,” Haynes said.
The Haynes and Ross families attended Salem Baptist Church. Haynes remembers the late Ross family matriarch, Gladys M. Ross, a social worker, as “an outstanding member.” Monty Ross traces his independence and resilience to her.
“My mom, who raised two children as a single mother, hated all forms of welfare. She never accepted government assistance and taught us to be self-sufficient before the conservative Black Republicans held center stage,” Ross recalled.
Gladys let him and his sister Deborah frequent the now long gone Ritz Theatre on North 24th Street. He remembers seeing there everything from “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner,” “In the Heat of the Night,” “Shaft,” “Lady Sings the Blues,” “Claudine” and “Sounder” to “Superfly” to “The Godfather I and II.”
Another passion he shares with Lee is basketball. Ross frequented the courts at the Bryant Center at North 24th Street. He struggled academically until finding a home in school theater productions. Harboring a dream to be an actor and to escape the “limited horizons” Omaha offered young Blacks, he went South. He studied theater and film production.
“It took me five years to complete my formal education. I attended Morehouse, Bishop College and Clark College (now Clark Atlanta University),” he said.
At Morehouse, he acted in plays with future Lee repertory player Samuel L. Jackson. At Clark he worked with the Atlanta Street Theatre. His life changed when he met Lee, a spindly, bespectacled cinephile from Brooklyn and Morehouse grad with ambitions to take the film world by storm. Lee was often in Atlanta visiting his grandmother.
“It began pretty much just hanging out at his grandmother’s house and just sitting there talking about how one day we’d like to make a movie together,” Ross said.
On one of those visits Ross decided to throw in with Lee.
“At 21 I married, supported a stepson and a daughter as an actor, spoken word artist, and public speaker,” he said. “I quit jobs every summer to make movies with an unknown filmmaker pursuing his dream of becoming a director. I went to Brooklyn to star in his thesis film. It received a student Academy Award.”
Lee’s first feature was meant to be “The Messenger” with Laurence Fishburne. Weeks before production was to start Lee had a falling out with his production manager, who, Ross said, told Lee he’d never amount to anything. The project was disbanded.
“I told Spike, ‘Man, you don’t have to go through that. Next time, let me be the production manager.’ He said, ‘Well, what about the acting?’ I said, ‘Duty calls. It’s something you need and we don’t have to go outside ourselves. We’ll just make it work.’ Spike wrote ‘She’s Gotta Have It,’ sent the script to me and, as they say, the rest is history,” Ross recalled. “I gave up acting and went to work as its production supervisor. I micromanaged the production with limited resources.”
The film, financed in part by maxed-out credit cards, was completed in 12 days. The two were bound and determined to make it by any means necessary.
“The Teamsters had sent a driver to Manhattan. We were stuck – we had to pay him and he had to drive the van, not me,” Ross noted. “I told Spike, and he shook his fist in the air and took a stance, ‘Nothing is stopping this film from getting made.’ Needless to say it worked out. Something awoke in Spike that day that has remained: ‘I’m not taking no for an answer.’ I like that he found his inner strength to push through when obstacles are present.”
“She’s Gotta Have It” proved an unexpected indie hit.
“It received a lucky boost from a music producer, who advanced $450,000 and spent $2,500,000 for marketing and advertising on an unknown film featuring an unknown cast, filmed in black and white by an unknown director and production supervisor,” Ross said. “Despite the odds, the film generated nearly $7 million.”
For the project, Ross stayed in Lee’s cramped 250-square-foot apartment. After the film’s success they moved to a proper production office and more spacious apartments. With New York as his new home base, Ross became the first producer and vice-president of production for 40 Acres, overseeing daily operations of a growing brand.
“During my tenure we cranked out nine major motion pictures in a span of 12 years that still garner some attention from movie fans years later. That was a huge part of my young career.”
Ross said those Spike Lee “joints” got made “with the assistance of studio executives who risked losing their careers to support an ambitious (upstart and Black) film company.”
“For my first venture separate from the filmmaker I had worked with since college,” Ross said, “I produced the Showtime movie, ‘Keep The Faith, Baby,’ on Adam Clayton Powell, the first African American elected to the U.S. Congress. I thought Powell was a missing link in the civil rights lineage from Marcus Garvey to A. Philip Randolph to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to Malcolm X. He had demonstrations and sit-ins. He was a lone wolf in Congress. Despite being controversial he got legislation passed that became the background and foundation for the War on Poverty and for a lot of the social change that Martin and Malcolm and other leaders talked about. He was the man of the hour others sought out. He was making things happen.”
After an extended leave of absence to make his own projects, Ross returned to the 40 Acres fold as special projects director. He also headed the multi-media company’s internship program
“I made my first short film – ‘1-900-Date Lucy,'” he said. “It became the basis of the (Lee directed) movie ‘Girl 6.’ I was told if I wanted to direct romantic comedies like ‘1-900-Date Lucy’ for the company, that wouldn’t be acceptable under any circumstance. It’s either do the projects provided or leave.”
Ross left. Memories of his time with Lee are warm.
“Sure, he’s made great work. But he thinks it’s the films that mattered most to me,” Ross said. “Nah, it wasn’t that. It was the moment I saw him say, ‘No more, we’re going to make this happen.’ I’m happy for Spike, not the filmmaker, but the person. As a person Spike has managed to work through limitations and define the lifestyle that best suits his perspective of the world.”
By the time Ross moved on, jobless but with an impressive resume, he relocated to Los Angeles with his second wife, Carol Ross, to start anew.
“Over the next 21 years I would live and work in Amherst, Massachusetts, Charlottesville, Norfolk, and Richmond, Virginia,” he said.
He survived on film grants, managed a 100-year-old restored theater and taught African-American cinema as an adjunct instructor “making peanuts.”
“I managed to make ends meet with the occasional film project here and there,” he said.
Ross served as president of operations for Soulidifly Productions and as filmmaker-in-residence at Ours Studios LLC, in Decatur, Georgia. He’s been a lecturer and guest speaker at universities, including VCU, Old Dominion, Clark Atlanta, and Florida A&M. Today, he’s Filmmaker-In-Residence at Prince George’s County Community Development Corporation in New York.
His dramatic feature film “Scandalous Moves” (previously titled “The Opera Game”) explores the real life story of Paul Morphy, a New Orleans native of Creole descent who emerged a prodigy chess master in the antebellum South. It’s just the latest Ross endeavor shedding light on hidden Black figures of distinction.
No matter where fault, if any, may lie in him not giving his flowers back home, Ross was part of a seismic shift in American film. Some observers say there was a Black cinema before and another after Lee burst on the scene with his brash, energetic, multilayered work. Ross was there for it all. MXMF’S LeFlore-Ejike suggested Lee creates films “the Black family watches together, satirically pointing out issues we face or we don’t want to face as a community. I really appreciate his authenticity in revealing to the rest of the country what the Black family is processing on a day to day basis.”
“The Chi’s” Yolonda Ross (no relation to Monty) said his work was “influential” by “showing Black characters lead a film, talking about ‘life’ things that allowed us to see ourselves in a very fresh way.”
“We were doing something different and thinking a lot different than our predecessors,” Monty Ross said. “We were onto something. A core of us took Spike’s vision and then made it happen in a way that’s visually stimulating and pleasing. It was work that had never been seen before from a Black filmmaker with its sense of being independent and commercial at the same time.”
Said Film Streams’ Kephart, “Lee has brought more than normalization to Blackness in film, he has helped open space for the full realm of artistic expression of the Black experience to be shown in film. Lee has ensured the culture of Black America is unapologetically evident and purposefully presented in every production he has had a part in crafting,”
Educator Ashley Howard uses Lee films in the classroom. A standout is “Do the Right Thing.”
“It is a film that resonates deeply for students,” Howard said. “Through watching it they have a sense of an average day on the block that turns momentous. They see the everyday slights and violence as well as joy and community. In so doing, it breaks out of the Black-white binary we have been conditioned to see in that fraught era to also consider the relationships between Black people and other minorities groups as well as intra-racial relationships. Students have also deeply connected with ‘Black KKKlansmen’ as it challenged many of their stereotypes of Black agency. Lee has such a knack of capturing Black humanity in some of the most deeply harrowing moments.”
Yolonda Ross feels Lee’s influence is visible everywhere.
“I see the impact of Spike’s work though all the filmmakers coming from diverse backgrounds making films that showcase their voice, their vision, and the world they come from,” she said.
Film Streams programming manager Elijah Hoefer said Lee’s “body of work exists as a touchstone of Black experiences throughout American history, trailblazing new senses of style and form within the craft all while possessing a distinct love for his home, the great city of New York.”
Lee’s later films, from “He Got Game” to “Summer of Sam” to “Inside Man” to “The Black Klansman” to “Da Five Bloods” to “Highest 2 Lowest” have cemented his reputation.
“To me, Lee is essential to all American filmmaking,” Hoefer said. “One of the key signifiers of a Spike film is his keen sense of tone. Across his films there is a staggering ability to turn tone on a dial, like a master of evoking emotion quite unparalleled among other contemporaries.”
On Dec. 7 Lee will be the latest Film Streams Feature guest. Debra Winger, Laura Dern, Jane Fonda, David O. Russell, Bruce Dern, Steven Soderbergh, Julianne Moore and Paul Giamatti preceded him. This is the first Feature since the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Our organization really wanted to make the return of Feature a special event for all involved, so we knew the caliber of guest had to be remarkable,” Hoefer said. “Spike is truly a dream guest.”
Apart from Lee, Monty Ross has worked inside and outside the industry’s margins. His dramatic narrative works include executive producing “1 Angry Black Man,” producing “Keep the Faith, Baby,” directing “Reasons” (1996) and “The Book” (2008), and co-directing “The Opera Game,” aka “Scandalous Moves,”) winner of the Filmmakers Choice award at the 2019 San Diego Black Film Festival. He’s also directed-produced two nationally televised syndicated documentaries for SI Communications: Welfare to Work hosted by Nia Long and After Affirmative Action hosted by Malcolm Jamal Warner.
His latest film as a director is the documentary “Let Me Put a Bug in Your Ear: The John Peterburg Matthews Story,” whose titular subject is a beloved Washington DC community organizer and entrepreneur.
Ross feels once his nearly two-decade run with Lee ended, he didn’t get much love from peers.
“During this time, so-called friends in the film industry become major Hollywood figures,” Monty Ross said. “That is a world I gave up believing in after years of rejection. I had to risk the consequences of losing myself, believing that one day these people who I helped become major players in the world of film and television would support at least one project I presented to them. So to put a stop to the Hollywood nonsense, I decided to be content with lesser known projects. However, the past has a way of staying present in my life.”
Ross can sound bitter that his post-Lee career has been obscured. Even in his hometown, Lee’s getting the glory, not him. He insisted there’s no hard feelings.
“Nah, this is Spike’s moment of celebration,” Ross said. “The contribution of a kid from Omaha who was there from the beginning doesn’t sell tickets or register with this generation. I have my self-published book near completion. I’ll share my story as best I can and let God handle the rest.”
Ross seems content with the time he had with Lee. It’s a past he’s both proud of and distanced from.
“My thoughts center around the nostalgia of what happened,” he said. “I don’t know the new shiny Spike Lee. I’m not in those circles. I never made the cut to be honest. High society has its place and I was never in that position. I don’t hear much directly from my friend Spike Lee. I don’t know why. Life happens and continues to change.”
Ross and his first wife Jeanette Roberts-Ross raised two children together. The couple later divorced.
“I remained supportive, had moments of doubt, but moved on,” Ross said.
Years later the couple suffered the death of their oldest child, Niema Simone Ross-Ferguson, at age 47.
“We lost our rambunctious, spirited daughter who gave birth to three beautiful children,” he said. “Life would never be the same.”
Ross has never forgotten lessons he learned working with Lee, such as doing more with less and not letting anything stand in the way. He admires how Lee is an ever-present observer and documenter who’s shown the way for other storytellers.
“He’s a journalist … forever writing notes to himself in his date book,” Ross said. “He probably has a million of those date books with notes that chronicle his past, present and future. That’s just some of the stuff I value about him as a human being who has come to teach us that no matter the circumstances, find a way to push through and make it happen.
“It was those types of moments that bonded a friendship that produced a working relationship that made cinema history.”
For Feature9 ticket info, visit filmstreams.org.