Todd Holland welcomed fellow directors and the nation's television critics attending the Television Critics Association (TCA) winter press tour to the annual "Meet the Directors" reception, this year held at the Renaissance Hotel in Hollywood. In addition to a change of venue for the TCA, the theme of the directors' evening also sported a new look — a focus on Episodic Television Pilot Directors.
In his opening remarks, Holland (Malcolm in the Middle) said that directors of pilots, "are too often overlooked," yet their efforts, "touch and shape every element that sells a series."
"A pilot is such a game," said David Semel, who's pilots include Going to California and American Dreams. The "most frustrating thing is that (in most instances) only a handful of executives will ever see it." Irrespective of who eventually sees it, Semel feels that, "when you do a pilot you think about grabbing audience attention. You must remember that audiences still want to be told a story."
Thomas Schlamme, responsible for such pilots as The West Wing, Boston Public and Sports Night, revealed that directing a pilot still, "scares me to death, but it frees me to dig deeper."
Randall Miller admitted that with his style and take on things, "I'm always going to be different." With pilots such as Dead Last and series credits including Northern Exposure and thirtysomething, Miller believes that, "you have to push, to take a chance, to be unique — to stand out from the others."
For some directors, still trying to establish their pilot credentials, there always appears to be unending pressure, not the least being a feeling that they've got to get it done on time or they won't be hired again. Even those well versed in the art find it fraught with problems, including the fact that, "the more they pay you, the more than feel they can control you," Schlamme said.
Another critical piece in the pilot is the crew. Schlamme said that while it isn't always possible, "I want to put people on whom I've worked with before. On a pilot, the crew works for you; on a series you work for them — you're the uninvited guest." No matter whether it's the pilot or a series, Schlamme also knows a director has to, "convince them you know what you want and they'll go to the ends of the earth for you. You don't have much time though; there's about a 24-hour window of sabotage."
Miller feels that even though "there's a definite case for having done pilots before, executive producers don't want directors to overpower them and there has to be a certain collaboration. If a show goes, you're only as important to it as the executive producer feels — the credit goes to the executive producer."
In these cost-conscious times, Semel was surprised that he actually got to shoot American Dreams in town. "We could have gone to Canada, but we're so much happier to be in the U.S. There are truly talented artists and craftsmen in L.A. I have faith that U.S. crews have incredible abilities and there are such able actors coming in who wouldn't be there if we were not in the U.S."
Despite the fact that TV entities are continually looking at how to, "bring in the highest numbers at the lowest cost," Semel also raised another plus for shooting in Los Angeles and environs — the media, which isn't available when cast and crew are north of the border. "It's easier to get them to the set or give them access to the actors," he said in full recognition of this vital process of selling the show to audiences.
Those involved in pilots have found new rays of hope, as Monk and The Shield have demonstrated on cable television.
Despite the preponderance of reality shows across the TV dial, seemingly threatening the very existence of traditional directors and associated talent, the overwhelming feeling among those directors in attendance was that while they may currently be satisfying certain "voyeuristic tendencies," the popularity of the reality genre is part of the cyclical nature of television and definitely a shrinking field.
