I've had an idea.
Well, to be honest, about a million a day, but one thing the brain gerbils run on regularly is how people become directors. And specifically, how people get their first chance to direct an episode of television.
The most common path into television directing after already being a feature director is to be someone affiliated with a long-running show for a long time. Actors. Writers. Editors. Directors of Photography. Camera Ops. Assistant Directors.
And there's the rub. I don't have any money, and I don't have any seriously powerful connections, and there's the assistant directing option, floating out there. In fact, the feeling I get when researching the DGA Training Program for assistant directors is that becoming AD is what I'm supposed to do, even as a volume of lip service is paid to the fact that becoming an AD is absolutely not a direct line to directing. The message clearly seems to be that if you are not rich or connected, then you would be wise and lucky to spend a decade or so assistant directing on the slim hope that maybe, just maybe, someday you might be able to make the jump.
Don't get me wrong. It's an important program, and I'm glad it's there. And I'm a good assistant director with no qualms about starting at the bottom and only a few qualms about taking the uberlong road if that's what it's going to take. It would get me on set. And last month I realized that if there's anything, possibly anything, more important to me than becoming a director, it is simply being on set. Working in production. That is a truth that I cannot deny.
It's like this guy, who spoke out against Bill Cosby and said that it wasn't fair that poor people are expected to be more fiscally responsible than rich people. Well, I mean, DUH. Welcome to the real world. Are you going to stomp your feet and cry, or are you going to take whatever positive actions you can to make your world change?
So no matter who I could be if I had money or if I had connections, I simply don't. So my path is harder and significantly longer. Welcome to the real world.
How bad do you want it? I think the answer to that is clear.
But here's the thing. There's my current reality and how I choose to navigate it at any point. And then there's me trying to think of how things could change. My journey in L.A. has been very much about organizations and programs. My opportunities have come from Women in Film for the most part, and from that also the generosity of individuals who have been willing to share their time or open their set to me. And television, along with most of the industry, does have a tradition of mentorship to a certain extent. It is a craft-driven industry.
But how do you encourage television productions to hire a first time director like me?
The problem is, I have a reel with a few shorts, and a commercial, and I have some shadowing experiences, but they don't know me from Adam, and they have A LOT on the line every single week. And as much as every show hires directors they think are weak, they are at least hiring a known quantity. If I could extensively shadow a show that might actually hire me, I might get in, but the dayjob makes that impossible. If I could write something and attach myself, I might get in, but the dayjob makes that near impossible.
How do you help aspiring directors with no money and no connections? And not just with the type of opportunities I've found so far, as valuable and important as they are. How do you take the next step and get them IN?
I'VE HAD AN IDEA.
I was thinking about how at my dayjob our established supervising sound editors sometimes supervise an up-and-coming supervisor on a show. The up-and-coming supervisor gets the credit, and they are accepted by the client because the established supervisor oversees the show. The client also saves a lot of money.
And I've been thinking a lot about the DGA, and how they figure in. On one hand, their primary function is to serve their members, and their members are not served by an influx of new directors. Hence all the eggs in the assistant directing basket. On the other hand, they are in the strongest position to drive programs to cultivate new directors, and I believe that the film and television industry can only be served and improved by the increase in competition, which, in turn, serves the DGA and its members. At least, the ones who don't suck.
So, the brain gerbils have been spinning, spinning and today, here's what I've got.
What if the DGA sponsored a completely voluntary program to encourage the hiring of first time directors on television shows? An apprentice program. Aspiring directors would be eligible for their first five episodes and they would have to find a willing television director to apprentice them. The potential exists for some sort of application process, or perhaps a mentorship program similar to the one at Women in Film as a first tier to connecting aspiring directors and established directors.
The encouragement to the television production would be this. The established director would take DGA scale for the episode (I believe this would be a savings on at least some shows) and either no or a new credit. "Mentor Director" or some such. They would be there everyday in a mentor capacity. They would have the power to step in at their or the producer's discretion. The apprentice director would direct the episode and would receive no pay for the episode and would receive directing credit for the episode.
The benefit to the established director, beyond the recognized personal value of mentoring a newcomer, could potentially be entrance into a new production with new connections if the mentee ended up connecting with a particular production for the opportunity and then bringing the mentor into a show they might not normally direct. And you know what, it would be fun, too. There's something to be said for that, really. Good energy.
Even without setting up an application process or a mentorship program, the DGA could simply create this as a contract option. They would also have to create a way to deal with aspiring directors who have perhaps done this a couple times, but made no money to join the guild with. The payment of guild dues would still have to occur when one gets their first paid job.
And yes, this would benefit anyone who could make a connection with a director and find a production to do it. And be able to spend fourish weeks not being paid for a clearly fabulous opportunity. The fact is, it's hard for just about everyone on every level to get in, and this initiative would be about facilitating and encouraging opportunities for whoever could find a way to work it.
Is it a good, viable idea? I'm not really sure. Would established directors do it? Would productions be open to it? I'm honestly not knowledgeable enough about all the inner workings to know. Basically, it's the first idea I've had that doesn't obviously suck (at least to me), so there it is. Personally, I sense that the DGA isn't really interested in reaching out and finding new directors and really helping them. I mean, the ABC/DGA program is fabulous (albeit somewhat mysterious), but it isn't enough, and I think it's driven firstly by ABC. And perhaps that makes sense, because the networks and the shows are the ones who directly benefit from new blood and increased competition. So perhaps if they got behind an idea like this, it would motivate some established directors to lay it on the line for a new person.
You know, I believe in competition and opportunity. I want to find ways to reach into the masses and pull out talent that this industry currently shuts out. I mean, there's paying dues and then there's just waste. I want to find ways to help even one new person a year, you know? Crack that door and see if we can start a wave.
tag: television directing, DGA
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