Nathaniel B. Grant Jr., a pioneering icon in the Chicago film and television industry, died on Jan. 6, 2025.
In an era where access to directing opportunities in commercials and feature films were scarce for African Americans, Grant, who was known as Nate, formed Lake Shore Film and Television Productions where he carved a path showcasing Black stories like “Blacks In Advertising, The Cotton Club Revue”and the independent comedy “Butterscotch and Chocolate,” while also creating an ecosystem of hiring crews of color.
“Nate Grant’s groundbreaking Lake Shore Film and Television Company introduced many Black Chicago performing artists to the industry and ironically was located in the same South Michigan Avenue area where August Wilson’s groundbreaking play ‘Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,’ takes place,” said Chuck Smith, Goodman Theatre resident director. “He is already missed.”
He traveled and worked throughout the Caribbean and was proud to have visited 32 African countries out of 54.
“My dad talked about how there were so many African nations that were just a couple decades out of colonialism and their leaders were looking for opportunities to showcase their culture,” said Laurens Grant, Nate’s daughter, a three-time Emmy and Peabody award winning documentary filmmaker based in Los Angeles.
“They needed filmmakers. There was a sense of pride in finding Black filmmakers from the United States,” she said. “My father couldn’t wait to go. He would always come home with exciting stories, especially seeing Black culture, Black empowerment and Black people speaking different languages. He always told me and my brothers that we had to see the world and learn a different language. I studied French and Spanish.”
“When Nate was in the room, there was a presence about him,” said Kenneth Lyles, who does camera and replays for sports and entertainment. “I was traveling with Nate and I’ll never forget being surrounded by like 20 cases of equipment” back in the day when you had large cameras and gear. “We were in an airport in Frankfurt, Germany. The guards passed by, then they came back with drug sniffing dogs. I thought ‘Oh no, what’s going to happen here?’ But they wanted to make sure that we stayed with the equipment. It was always an adventure.”
Grant’s documentary “What Shall I Tell My Children Who Are Black”won Best Film/Video by a Black filmmaker at the Black International Cinema Berlin Film Awards in 2009. The documentary was based on the children’s book of the same name that was written by Dr. Margaret Burroughs, the artist and co-founder of Chicago’s DuSable Museum of African American History.
A music fan and jazz aficionado, Grant also worked with Duke Ellington’s granddaughter, Mercedes Ellington, on a performance showcasing Ellington’s lesser known but well-loved “sacred concerts.” Ellington called them “the most important thing I have ever done” and critics praised the songs as the Cotton Club blended with the church.
Grant directed projects with various luminaries including Stevie Wonder, basketball legend Michael Jordan, soul singer and retired politician Jerry Butler, Jesse Jackson, Gwendolyn Brooks, Jim Brown, Philip Michael Thomas of “Miami Vice” fame, African American action legend Fred “the Hammer” Williamson, Oscar Brown Jr., former Chicago Mayor Harold Washington, activist Stokely Carmichael and many others.
He also taught communications at Chicago State University and directed the Miss Black Chicago pageant.
Grant is survived by his sisters Barbara Jean Cathey and Mildred Gale; his three children Laurens, Nathan and Nelson; six grandchildren and many nieces, nephews and cousins. His wife Joyce (Robinson) of nearly 60 years and a retired school teacher, died soon after his passing. His sister Gwendolyn Banks is deceased.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be sent to the Nate Grant Future Filmmakers Program Endowment at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.