Norwood Cheek

Norwood J. Cheek, Jr., aka Norwood Cheek, is an American director, producer, and editor of film and television. He is known for his music videos and his work with Super 8 film.

Background Cheek is from Eden, North Carolina and graduated from Morehead High School. He graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1990 with a degree in French.

After graduation, he continued living in Chapel Hill, playing music with the band Sex Police. Cheek said, “In 1991 I had a lot of black-and-white Super 8 film but didn't have an idea for a short. So I asked Superchunk if they wanted to do a music video—I was hooked ever since.” In 1997, Cheek secured an agent and moved to Los Angeles, California to pursue opportunities in the film industry.

Film In the early 1990s, Cheek began filming music videos for local bands, many of who were on the Chapel Hill-based indie labels Mammoth Records and Merge Records. He says, "I was one of the few people in town who had a 16mm camera. Of course, I was really into approaching these bands and saying, 'Let me make your video for you.'" He also directed a documentary on the Chapel Hill music scene called Young Rock/Chapel Hill (VHS, Mammouth,1994). The film featured 17 bands, including Archers of Loaf, Dillon Fence, Five Eight, Flat Duo Jets, Southern Culture on the Skids, Superchunk, and The Veldt. Cheek said, "I set out to do videos for basically every band in Chapel Hill." In 1997, it won Best Experimental Film at the Carolina Film and Video Festival.

Cheek's acting credits include voicing several guest characters in the King of the Hill and being commercials for IBM, Sony, and Volkswagen.

In November 1999, the Best of Flicker Chapel Hill went on a tour of nine cities, including Asheville, NC; Atlanta, GA; Athens, GA; Beaufort, SC; Charleston, SC; Columbia, SC; Savannah, GA; Wilmington, NC; and Winston-Salem, NC. In 1990, the Chapel Hill, North Carolina band won the national Snickers New Music Search, beating out the Gin Blossoms. In its first five years, Sex Police played 500 shows. Cheek said, "We thought it would be sort of nice thing to be able to drive down the highway and have a sign to say Sex Police. It's also a good idea to clean up the highways.'

The Sex Police issued three albums before breaking up in 1995: Medallion (1991), Second String (1992), and Science (1994). Their instrumental song "Tilting Scale" is featured in the movie Ant-Man and the Wasp.

Discography

Sex Police

1991 – Medallion (Battered Breath Productions) 1992 – Second String (Scuff Cakes) 1994 – Science (Scuff Cakes) 2015 – Tilter