JTC 26: The Bard, the Brand and the Business

OXFORD, Miss. – Award-winning documentary filmmaker. Businesswoman. Mississippian. Almost-Ole Miss alumna. Lilly Ross has made her mark during her time at the University of Mississippi while exemplifying all these roles. 

The Madison native graduates in May with a degree in integrated marketing communications from the School of Journalism and New Media.  

“Lilly is exceptional in every sense of the word,” said Caitlyn Moak, formerly with the UM Center of Innovation and Entrepreneurship and now assistant director of marketing for Vanderbilt University’s College of Connected Computing.  

“She is a dedicated student worker, a small business owner, fantastic photographer and videographer, involved around campus, and a great person on top of all of that. I have no idea how she manages to do all of this, but she does it with a mastery previously unknown to mankind. I’m continuously inspired by her dedication.” 

Ross' dedication over the last year has been influenced by modern bard Bob Dylan. 

Her film, “Tangled Up in the South,” is a student perspective of Bob Dylan's ties to the South and the first Dylan and South class at Ole Miss. Ross created it as a class project and since entered into several film festivals, including Spillit Film Festival Memphis and the Oxford Film Festival, where she won for best student film. 

“I was working on a paper recently and laughed when I realized that 100% of film festivals accepted my film,” Ross said. 

“The Oxford Film Festival was amazing; it was so cool, and very eye-opening to see my film on the big screen because it made me see what changes needed to be made,” she said. “So, I made changes after the film festival, but not before I won a Princess Hoka beautiful sculpture for the best student film.” 

Ross was happy to learn the skills required to create such a documentary. 

“But then to see that other people really enjoyed it enough to award me; it was very grounding and humbling,” she said. 

Not stopping with this year’s film festivals, Ross has plans to continue sharing Dylan’s influence and is working on a project reflecting on the previous year. 

“’My Year With Bob’ is what I'm calling it,” she said. “It's a recap of all the things that happened that were Bob-related.” 

Her plans also include creating a limited podcast series titled “The Bard and the Bob,” as well as documentaries about Dylan’s performances at Tad Smith Coliseum and at Humphrey Coliseum in Starkville. 

“He (Dylan)'s influenced a lot of how I see everything,” Ross said. “I'm taking a Shakespeare class right now, to know more about one of Bob Dylan's source material people because he pulled a lot from everywhere, including Shakespeare.” 

While Dylan has been ever-present during her last year, a larger fixture during her time at Ole Miss has been Ole Miss Sports Productions and her business.  

A wireless camera operator for the interior venue live stream since her senior year of high school, she has also created film segments for episodes of "The Season" and social media channels for a variety of sports. 

“You can do so much creatively with a small sport with more niche eyes,” she said. 

She has also been able to get creative with her business, BOLT – a videography-forward marketing firm that provides services to clients ranging from music groups to small businesses. 

"If somebody's trying to get their small business off the ground, then I help them, not only with video, but with photos, for their website, and I also can help with website design and production, as well as build their logo and create their tone of voice.” 

All skills she learned and honed in her Ole Miss classes. But it is hard to believe that Ross, a SJNM ambassador and Talbert fellow, did not originally want to attend Ole Miss; she wanted to go far away. 

 “I had this very incorrect notion that wherever I went to college was where I was going to stay,” she said. 

“But being at Ole Miss has really opened my eyes to the beauty of Mississippi, and it's made me fall in love with Mississippi again.” 

With that love, she is returning to her old stomping grounds in central Mississippi, where she plans to continue her business. 

“I will be continuing work with my business in Jackson and have some exciting opportunities I am looking forward to.”  

Moak hopes Ross pauses to look back on her accomplishments. 

“We can be so easily swept away by the day-to-day routine that we are blinded by how far we come,” Moak said. “She has done so many amazing things, big and small, and it is important that she remembers that.” 

Even though Ross is not much older than prospective students visiting campus, she looks back on her years here with fondness and wants to pass that on. 

“I think it has been an incredible journey, and when I see a tour group coming through, I think to myself: ‘Look at you. The cycle continues,’” Ross said.  

“And I hope Ole Miss treats everybody just as good as it treated me.” 

Lilly Ross, an integrated marketing communications senior from Madison, won best student film at the Oxford Film Festival for her Bob Dylan documentary, 'Tangled Up in the South,' while also running her own videography and marketing firm, BOLT, and working as a camera operator for Ole Miss Sports Productions. Photo by Srijita Chattopadhyay/Ole Miss Digital Imaging Services