Emmy Award-winning commercial film director, Ringling College of Art and Design alum, and member of the College’s Board of Trustees, Ray Dillman, will serve as the keynote speaker for the Spring 2026 Commencement Ceremony. Dillman will address the College’s 382 graduating students from 13 majors.
Dillman’s career traces an arc that began at Ringling College, where he studied before embarking on a decades-long journey through global advertising and film industries. After rising through Tampa Bay agencies as Art Director and Associate Creative Director, he was recruited to The Leo Burnett Company in Chicago, where he worked on major accounts including Oldsmobile, Tropicana, and Philip Morris.
From 1987 to 1991, Dillman led creative teams across Frankfurt, London, Paris, and Tokyo as part of Burnett’s International Task Force, overseeing cultural adaptations of campaigns and producing work on location in Morocco, Algeria, and Los Angeles.
In 1991, Dillman transitioned to commercial film directing, ultimately earning an Emmy Award for Commercial of the Year in 1999. In 2005, he joined the prestigious roster at MJZ Film Productions in Los Angeles. He co-founded Confiscated Film with his wife in 1993, producing award-winning documentary work, including Getting to The Nutcracker (2014), which earned a Grand Jury Prize and two Best Documentary Feature awards. His most recent project, Black on the Bike, a documentary about African American cyclists, featuring USA Cycling Olympians and Tour de France stage winner Biniam Girmay, is currently in post-production.
Dillman was appointed to Ringling’s Board of Trustees in 2021.
The Spring 2026 Commencement Ceremony will be held on Thursday, May 7, 2026, at Robarts Arena.
