On June 26, the DGA Special Projects Committee presented the fifth installment in its "Directing for Professionals" series with Directors & Actors: Getting the Performance You Both Want in the Los Angeles Headquarters Boardroom.
"This series is designed to provide practical 'how to' skills and techniques for directors to work productively with their creative teams, and to encourage new members to learn their craft from more experienced directors and become active in the Guild," said DGA Past President/Special Projects Directing for Professionals sub-committee co-chair Gene Reynolds (
M*A*S*H), who served as moderator. "This session will include a discussion on how to achieve the best results between actor and director through communication and mutual understanding."
The panel featured director Howard Deutch (Pretty in Pink), who also teaches at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute; NAACP Image Award-winning director Karen Gaviola (Lost); director Mark Rydell (On Golden Pond), the artistic director of The Actors Studio; and DGA and Emmy Award-winning director Joseph Sargent (Warm Springs). The last 45 minutes of the seminar was devoted to a Q&A where audience members could ask questions about how to elicit the best performances.
Upcoming sessions in this series are slated to feature discussions on what directors need to know about virtual sets and editing.