From left: Dewey Nicks, Mark Pellington, Jeremiah Chechik, Howard Deutch and Tom Dey. Click picture for larger view

With about 60 commercials directors in attendance, a two-hour discussion covered issues of aesthetics, storytelling and other challenges that directors face in shifting to features. Lending thoughtful advice was a panel of four directors who have made the switch: Jeremiah Chechik (Benny and Joon, The Avengers), Howard Deutch (Pretty in Pink, The Replacements), Tom Dey (Shanghai Noon, Showtime) and Mark Pellington (Arlington Road, The Mothman Prophecies). Dewey Nicks (Slackers) moderated. Some excerpts follow:

ON GETTING STARTED

• Jeremiah Chechick (JC): When I made the transition, the kind of real emotive storytelling in commercials had given way to a more kinetic, fast-cutting style, which I was very involved in. They said, "Great, he can shoot and frame, but can he work with actors?" I really had to focus to become known as an actor's director. But if you're a pure visual filmmaker now, or a "shooter" – you have a good eye, can stage well, but don't really know about acting – I think you have a very solid shot at big movies with big stars. The jump is easier.
  
• Tom Dey (TD): As a commercials director you're sent the worst scripts that are out there. Try to look past the language and all the awful things you see; if you can find the kernel of something interesting that you can develop, go for it.
  
• Howard Deutch (HD): I prepare hard for studio story meetings because if I really want the film, I have to know how to rewrite the movie and how to shoot it – and not just directorially. I'll take the script out and go from page one, showing them exactly what in the story or characters isn't working. If they know you can help them that much, they think, "Maybe we should get this guy."
  

ON STORYBOARDING:

• Mark Pellington (MP): I write a detailed "emotional manifesto" including shot lists, references and images – something I can give to a gaffer or a costume designer and say, "This is the movie in my head." There's also the question of aesthetics. You might be thinking of a car crash like in the movie Blue, and a stunt coordinator might be thinking Smoky and the Bandit.
  
• JC: For emotion, storyboarding can be very stilted, and for effects it's almost the only way to go. But when it's just you and the words and the actors, being able to go with your instincts is a great feeling. Two people talking to each other, with nothing else, is the big brass ring in directing.
  
• TD: In a movie, you have all these departments who want to see your boards because they're thinking weeks, sometimes months, in advance. I hate doing storyboards, but often some good ideas will come out of it. On the other hand, I once did 40 pages of storyboards for a Jackie Chan fight and he looked down at it and said, "Uh, you dialogue, me action!"
  

ON BRINGING CREW FROM COMMERCIALS TO FEATURES:

• JC: It's a very different world. Hairstylists and makeup artists are often brilliant on a commercial, but on a movie, where there are continuity issues and dealings with movie stars, they're more of a liability. Wardrobe people are used to selling to clients, but on a movie it's about building a character. ADs also have different skillsets: on movies, the pieces are always moving, while on a short commercial shoot, they're locked.
  
• HD: I brought one DP over from commercials. He did beautiful work, but the schedule of a movie wasn't something that he was used to. DPs in commercials are hired to make beautiful pictures, not to get it done in an exact time.
  
• MP: When I did my first movie, I was told, "Get a movie AD, don't bring a commercial AD." I took the advice, and sure enough on the set, the AD was telling me, "You're not gonna use this scene." Then we'd reshoot, and he'd say, "I'm telling you again, I don't know why you're reshooting." Well, the first cut of my movie was 3 hours and 15 minutes, and snip snip snip, out it came. He had been right. Stuff like that was the biggest thing to learn in making the jump. In commercials you think so much about one piece and not the whole arc. These are rookie mistakes; by the second movie, I wasn't making 80% of them.
  

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