My Approach To Directing

My approach to directing has always been to communicate effectively with the actors, stay faithful to the material, and to convey my vision of the story as a whole as clearly as possible to the cast, crew and audience.

I find it important to develop trust with the actors in order for them to do their best and give to me what is needed from them. Being open-minded is also something I strive for. Many truly gifted actors have a lot to bring to a role or performance, but you have to be willing to listen to their thoughts and ideas or else everyone could lose out.

It is also important to me to remain faithful to the material. A director has creativity involved over how they interpret the script or story, but I believe that directors have a responsibility to remain true to the story. I believe a director must have a certain level of commitment to the text when it comes to interpreting a script.

I feel that it is the director’s responsibility to make sure that everyone involved has a clear view of what is the creative vision, and that everyone is on the same page. This is especially important not only to the cast, but to the crew as well. Being specific about different parts of a production is helpful in terms of staying on schedule and causing less frustration between everyone involved. Having a sense of unity on a project helps to convey and execute the project and helps things to flow smoothly with the shoot. It makes people feel as if it is their personal project, as well.

One last little tid-bit, like the icing on the cake. It is very important that everyone have fun on the set. Joy, love and camaraderie makes the day go quicker, the set feels like the best place to be and everyone, cast & crew, tend to give their all when laughter is a common noise.