Directors Tell the Story: Master the Craft of Television and Film Directing

So you want to direct? The best advice we can give is to just do it.

That is, read our book first and take advantage of us sharing our secrets after over 25 years of directing. The job is immensely complex both in its craft and because it changes with every assignment due to the personalities involved. We have written down our knowledge of working with actors, blocking and shotlisting, understanding production design and editing. We have talked about the subtleties of playing the politics and the subtleties of breaking down a script. We have walked the reader through the entire process, from prep, through shoot, and ending in post-production. We also discuss the leadership qualities necessary to succeed. There s a lot of invaluable information here, very practical information that we learned on the job and want to share with you.

After you ve read the book, and you re fired up about directing because it s just an awesome, creative, fulfilling thing to do with your life, we suggest the following:

1. Read. Everything you can get your hands on.
2. Write. Explore the concept of telling a good story.
3. Travel. Learn. Become a citizen of the world, identify with humanity in all its situations.
4. Problem-solve. That is one of the primary jobs of a director, and you can practice it in your daily life--if not in reality, at least hypothetically.
5. Study psychology and communications. A director needs to get a large number of people to give their best individual efforts toward a common goal: creating the vision that the director has for the story. How do you get people to do that?
6. Pick up a camera. Shoot, shoot, shoot. Tell a simple story: Here is the situation. Something happens to mess it up. Here s how it gets resolved.
7. Edit what you shoot. Learn how to tell a story visually. Learn all the tiny details that help to smooth the final product into being a good story, well told.
8. Remember that this is not a race, there is no finish line. A director always continues to learn and hone his or her instincts and skills. Keep doing it. The best way to become a director is to be one.

We Wish You All the Best!

Bethany Rooney and Mary Lou Belli