First of all, this forum could really use a spellchecker.

Second, and this is a nit to pick, what kind of director? You probably mean acting director but there are art directors, directors of photography, lighting directors when there's no DP, costume directors, you name it. These are real directorial jobs with a certain mix of autonomy and collaboration.

Third, I've seen an awful lot of acting directors who don't seem to be at all focused on acting. As near as I can tell they've moved over from producing, shooting, writing, or PMing. Rarely acting even though the actors are the director's crew just as the camera, lighting, and grip teams are the DP's crew.

Now about assistant directors. This isn't a lowly job. The AD is the person who keeps eveything running on schedule. He or she cracks the whip. Along with the Production Manager and an army of others, these people are the producer's crew. These are very important jobs.

So how do you get to be a director? Get involved with actors. Get to know them. Take classes. Listen to their stories about directors. One thing they'll complain about is directors who make them do acting school excercises. Don't do that.

And then start being a producer/writer/director. Get a partner and start handing some of the producer work over. Concentrate on directing.

And finally, hire professional crew and learn from them. Hire a PM. Hire an AD. Hire a DP.

At some point you'll be able to hire yourself out as any combination of the three above. And a lot of people will know you too because you've been hiring the crews.

Rob Mack

Do NOT kiss anyone's ass, ever. They will see right through you. If you intend to pursue a career in film/video NEVER GET ASSOCIATED WITH THE X-RATED SCENE. If you are fortunate to become successful it will creep up and haunt you when you least expect it. Do study the work of all those you admire and study their lives as well. You may have to start with projects that seem insignificant at the moment but you must start somewhere so start directing as much as possible now and keep learning and practising.
Good luck.

I agree with Rob Mack. Directing is as much about understanding the craft of acting, as it is about understanding story telling. I was an actor for about seven years (in a former life as they say), and I can't tell you how much it sucks to work for a director who does NOT understand how to help an actor get the performance he/she is looking for. That said, the very best directors I've worked with seem to have these traits in common:

1. They understand how actors do what they do.
2. They are frighteningly well read.
3. They are GREAT communicators.
4. They are fantastic team players - able to stay in control while letting the cast and crew just do the job(s) they're paid to do.
5. They cut down on the stress of making a movie/play/industrial video by knowing what they are after and how to get it (without an unnecessary amount of yelling).

Like Rob said, get into acting classes, meet actors, ACT. If you're not a writer, meet writers. Do community theater, you'll meet (sometimes) very talented actors, makeup artists, costume designers, lighting/sound designers etc. Most of all though, you'll learn what the heck a director does. ;-) I know I'm leaving out a ton of stuff, but I hope this bit of information helps. Oh yeah, two more things, if you're serious go to film school I never met a director on a "big shoot" that didn't have a degree in film studies - and finally (probably most important), get out there and make some freaking films!

Peace,

Shawn

I'm an actor, and while I've only worked on one studio feature (the rest are student films and commercials of various shapes and sizes) ... I can tell you -- and am backed up by many friends in the business -- that most directors haven't got a clue about acting. And why should they? Nobody expects actors to understand lenses or lighting; that's the DP's job.

You don't have to understand acting to be a good director, though it certainly doesn't hurt. In my opinion, #3 on Shawn's list should be #1: the key to directing is COMMUNICATION SKILLS. You need to communicate with your actors what you want from the scene. The sign of an amateur director is that he/she will stop a scene and start to give the actors line readings. I can tell you from first-hand experience that nothing is more frustrating for an actor than to be told how to say a line -- it goes completely against the process of most actors and while you may get the line reading, it will be inorganic and your audience will see through it.

A good read on this subject is Judith Weston's book, "Directing Actors." She also offers seminars. I've not personally attended, but [repected] friends that have tell me she is really good.

Then, get organized, get a script, audition actors [DON'T use yor friends and family in front of the camera unless they are, in fact, actors -- you wouldn't let Grandma shoot your movie, would you?], and go make a movie. You have an advantage in that you're an editor, so I'm betting you'll be a very effective shooter and if your organizational and teamwork skills are good, you'll have really successful shots and the people that work with you will want to do it again.

Good luck. And if you want to make a movie in the Dallas area, I happen to know a few very good actors....

-- Jon McPhalen
-- Dallas, TX
-- http://members.aol.com/jonmcp

Thanx for all the good advise. I'm thinking of moving to Holywood, thats where all the actsion is right?

Others have said it but one more wouldn't hurt - take some acting lessons. Ok, the hard part is finding someone good. When I was sort of thrust into an acting class - actually it was a directing class taught by an actor - I was sort of "Wait - this is a directing class, why the heck do I want to act?!?!?!" but I will tell you - to this day some of the things that he said have stuck with me in real life. And when I have directed i have heard little comments about how 'deep' I get and I really wasn't thinking about it - but in the back of my mind were those acting/directing lessons. But than again - this was method acting. It wasn't your run of the mill "Pretend you see the grapefruit" it was more of "Pretend you ARE the grapefruit". Best I can say about it to explain is a simple thought - as you type on your keyboard how do you do it? Not the mechanical typing but the mental state you are in as you type - are you happy? Or are you pissed off? Your mood will dictate how your fingers touch the keys. Now add more onto that - are you typing out a love letter? or a hate letter? Or how about an angry letter to someone you love? How about someone you love that you just found out is having an affair with your best friend. See what i am saying? Good lord - using that thought process in a directing mode just opened up the entire world, as far as directing went, for me.

The hard part of course is tryng to direct *your* vision of a script to an actor who sees it different. And, if you have watched the new Project Greenlight on HBO see how hard it is to direct when the screenwriter is hanging out on the set. (IMO a very very bad move - what the hell were Ben and Matt and Mirimax execs thinking?!?!?! Good lord)

As for Hollywood - er, Hollywerid. To be blunt - what makes you the quaterback that every team wants? Hollywood is concieved as the place where the action is...and for good reason. Problem is that if you want to be the next big thing that may not happen for years and year...or never. If you set your aim at directing and you 'direct what you can get' you will have more chances of being happy...happy in the sense that you are actually directing and not driving a cab or working the night shift at a 7-11. Also there are other directors - second unit directors do very well. Like stunts? Aim towards stunt co-ordinator work up to second unit action directing and maybe get up to the Hal Needham point. Want to do it yourself so to speak? Learn how to shoot and become a top notch DP and Camera Op...become a visual director. Hell, maybe even become the next John Waters, Ed Wood, Roger Corman or David Prior. Some do it for art - some do it for money - some do it just to do it. (Wait - wasn't this a song from Shock Treatment?)

And the obvious thing you can do is just watch...watch everything you can. But just don't watch - look at everything you can. What makes it bad? What makes it good?
And how well do you handle stress? How well will you handle it when it is day 3 of a film shoot and the producer is telling you your are already 3 days BEHIND and you have to start cutting scenes? And on the 4th day when the actor who is costing the most sleeps for most of his day because you are moving too slow thusly on day 5 you are told you will be fired unless you really pick up the pace? Gonna keep cool?

A good director is about a lot of things - and sometimes you have to get paper cups and break down the set and drive out to Palmdale at 4 AM to drop the stunt co-ordinator off 2 hours before a massive earthquake wipes out the freeway you were just on...all of these things make you appreciate what the other people do a bit more, if nothing else. Does it make you a better director? Depends on what you are directing. I worked on a film, not directing, with Frank Stalone...Sylvestor's brother. We were shooting this scene in a bathroom and there were a few lines of dialog. He kept blowing the lines...so he says "Yuh know..dis dialog stuff...my brodder sez dis to me: 'Frank, you don't need dialog to move a scene forward. You just pull out a gun and shoot the mother****er!' and maybe I could just do that here because wouldn't that be my character anyway?" He didn't get his way - he had to still do the dialog, but the director shortened it a bit. I can't say the director was ever a "good" director as far as "acting" goes, but he could bring a film in on time and on budget...so he worked...a lot. The guys first film was shot on 3/4" video in 2 days in his attic with his brother as the star. His next film was shot on 35 mm and even he admits he didn't know what he was doing - "I just told the cameramqn where to point and called action" he says. Even though no one ever saw the film in the US it became one of the biggest grossing films in...Beruit! Scary huh?

So I go back to what others have said - take acting lessons and ask yourself what kind of films you want to make..and than explain what makes you the quaterback that everyone wants?

Having seen most of this year's crop of Hollywood hoped to be blockbusters, I got ask where ARE all the good directors?

As an actor, I'd like to offer these notes:

If you want to get a specific emotion out of them, it will help them and you to give them a reason (which the two of you should agree upon because of the script). To say "Okay, you're really pissed off in this scene..." is far too general -- and the performance will have no depth. WHY is the person pissed off, and more importantly, what is the character going to do to get out of that state (no person enjoys being in a negative state -- except actors!)?

My acting coach (Cliff Osmond -- www.cliffosmond.com) puts it this way: "Don't play the problem, play the solution." Another quip he'll toss out to actors is, "Don't suffer, solve." The reason for this very good advice is that we, the audience, go to watch winners (solvers) -- we don't plunk down $10 to watch a whiny loosers (sufferers).

And remember that the director's job goes way beyond the actors. Good rapport with you DP is an absolute must (good performances will not save a badly shot or lit film). You, your DP, and your gaffer must be on the same page. As many have pointed out, communication and "quarterbacking" skills are absolutely critical when dealing with the various disciplines and egos you will encounter.

If you do move to Los Angeles, or you happen to be near the bay area, look up Cliff. I think his classes are $200 a month -- and it will be well worth the investment. Those of us in Dallas only get to see him every eight weeks, and for one weekend. Most of us here drop everything to make sure we're free when he comes to town -- and more and more directors [with no interest in ever appearing on camera] are coming to class.

-- Jon McPhalen
-- Dallas, TX

Why do you want to direct? - Grazie

No. Move to Toronto. Unless of course you're a US citizen, in which case you're SOL with regards to working there.

Hollywood is dead. Thank you publicly owned studios lead by yes-men and pencil pushers. 80% of the film people I know are unemployed (no, not actors, they don't count), while the quality of all aspects of film is going to hell.

Do yourself a favor. Don't get into this godforsaken industry.

To Souza: Actually what is meant by "Hollywood" is a large section of Burbank several miles away (and Paramount which is in a pretty rough section of Hollywood). It helps to live there--in Burbank--if you're putting together your own film/video and need experienced crew and production people (though the same applies to other parts of California, NYC, and probably Toronto, Chicago and similar areas).

I think the future, such as remains, of the "creative" film business is in independent filmmakers who are learning how to work, and develop, film festivals and such odd venues (for the time being) as cable networks who specialize in certain types of subject matter. I know that sounds like wishful thinking but the Revolution (such as it is) began when an independent film called "The English Patient" won the Oscar a few years ago.

The big studios and their semi-captive big movie theaters are indeed mostly cranking out chewing gum for the brain, but the whole U.S. market is mainly skewed toward the moviegoing habits of 16-year-old boys (demographically and sales-wise). The "break" that directors, writers and such used to look for was a connection with a major studio. Today, it's more realistically a connection with a distributor at a film festival, who will fund the publicity and distribution of a film. Translation: Forget becoming a millionaire from Hollywood. However, consider making $50,000 to $200,000 on an indie film sold to Oxygen for TV release. This means profit if you use the latest technologies for making a "film" in-house. Low-cost films means you can make ten films for the price of one, sell a few, buy a nice house, set up a retirement plan, and get known a little. That's not an impossible goal if you pick (or write) the right scripts.

Not too many years from now, there will be another venue for films: What we now call the Internet/Broadband. The major studios have had their day (roughly 1900-1970, right, guys?) and in a way they are indeed "godforsaken," but they ain't dead. Their high-profile activity and media glitz stirs the pot for all the rest of us. Just make sure you have a way to make a living on the side. That's not cynicism--that's a fact of life for anyone in the arts in the United States.

LOCATION: Move to Los Angeles
SCHOOL: Barnes & Noble or any other book store.
HOMEWORK: Sponge everything you see and hear. Ask questions even if they seem silly or stupid. This is how you really learn!
HINT: Fib, A LITTLE, to get your feet in the door. But only if you are confident you can do the job.

ALSO: Don't spend tens of thousands of dollars attending prestigious schools like USC Film School, etc. Instead, take that money and buy every book you can on every subject that interests you in the industry. Then hook up with some USC students and get some hands on experience working on their projects (perferable thesis projects). Then take your hard EARNED cash and make a short or other reasonable project that will allow you to express your creative genius. You can then use this piece as a showcase. People are more interested in what you have done then in what you want to do. Let me repeat that for emphasis. PEOPLE ARE MORE INTERESTED IN WHAT YOU HAVE DONE THAN WHAT YOU WANT TO DO. SO MAKE FILMS .Otherwise you will end up doing something other than what you want to do. I ended up as a cameraman. Go figure. I wanted to Direct (who doesn't), but I never made a WORTHWHILE PROJECT. Instead I opted to learn everything about motion picture cameras and sacrificed acutally MAKING movies. I'm happy, but boy do I wish I could have put myself in a position to actually direct something (it's more creative).

SOMETHING TO SERIOUSLY THINK ABOUT: YOU ARE WHAT YOU DO, AND PEOPLE SEE YOU AS WHO YOU ARE...AND NOTHING ELSE In other words if you really want to direct, but spend your time plumbing clogs out of drains to get by, then you are not a director, you are a plumber. And people will see you as a plumber, regardless of anything else.

While the XXX rated scene isnt where you want to be if youre a serious director but then again theres a lot of money in that line of work. just dont go sending us spam in our emails :)

"Why do you want to direct? - Grazie"

As a director I could most fully express film ideas with maximum creative control. (no one has complete control of something as big as a film)

The challenge of coordinating the myriad technicians and artists that make up a crew is very inviting. When others say "There's just no way to do this!", I like to say, "All right then, how are we going to do this?". In other words, I'm in need of big challenges with big rewards, and I love filmmaking because of its complexity and its combination of theoretic, aesthetic, and artistic disciplines. <;)

I think the point some of us were trying to make was SURE, you'd like to be director. But that position is pretty much near the top of the totem pole. You can't just walk in somewhere and expect to be made a director. Pay your dues. Check back in 5-10 years and let us know how you did.

Oh wait a minute... maybe you can. We got a president installed by the supreme court when more people voted for the other guy who was mostly a cowboy who's daddy was a ex president. We got the Aronld that thinks he can be governor of the largest state and we had another guy, a peanut farmer that admitted he lusted in his heart and he became president too. Maybe becoming a director with no experience isn't that too big a leap. Ain't America wonderful?

"SURE, you'd like to be director. But that position is pretty much near the top of the totem pole."

I don't see it that way. 1. I find totem poles to be quite ugly. 2.When you get to direct you aren't finished and you're not at the top of the heap. When you get the chance to direct it's time to get to work with more resolve than ever.

My feeling about the replies was that some were talking to themselves about achieving their own success, which I think is really cool. What better way to advise others than to give them the same ideas you would apply yourself?(In some cases very interesting character traits were revealed. Don't you think so?)

Thanks.
(.)(.)
~~
\--/
______

>>>In other words, I'm in need of big challenges with big rewards,...<<<

Now there in lies the real root. As many have asked - in various ways - why do you want to direct and for you it is because you need "big challenges with big rewards." Well..now you should define to us, if you would like, what you mean by "big rewards" Just that my personal experience is that the newbies to the business mean, more times than not, "I want the fame and glory and the awards and the multi-million dollar budgets." That is why most people crash and burn after a few years when they don't get to direct a multi million dollar picture, or star in one for that matter. Same goes for all the Hollywood based musicians...ok, not *all* of them but you get the idea.

Call me silly and stupid and all of that but I was sort of hoping to read "because I have something to say." As video killed the radio star, these are the days of our lives...or something like that ;)

I just have always felt, and still do, that it is best if someone goes into the business because they *need* to, not because they want to get laid or make lots of money. It is really not all it is made out to be - and this lyric just popped into my head. "We're all whores in this town. You'd live here if you could and be one of us." A very great underated song from the Go-Go's about life in Hollywood.

The reward of finishing a fine piece of work! The reward of knowing my work has entertained and inspired many. The reward of having others consider my work truly special and something to be learned from just like I have learned from, been inspired by, and in awe of those who came before me.



"because I have something to say."

I thought that would be obvious....no?

People here sure like to jump to a lot of negative conclusions.... O.K. Who'll find the next fault? ;)

Its a silly thead in the WRONG forum, what did you expect? We're just having a little fun with it. Ask questions relative to Vegas and video edting and you'll get more serious answers.

Now I'd like to fly in the Space Shuttle, bat clean-up for the Yankees next time they're in a world series, and sleep in the Lincoln bedroom. Who can help me?

"Now I'd like to fly in the Space Shuttle, bat clean-up for the Yankees next time they're in a world series, and sleep in the Lincoln bedroom. Who can help me?"

I think you're beyond help. Why don't you get real? Too scary?

I think the problem is nobody here seems to know how to take your posts.
You make it seem like it's that easy and that your the first to say "I'll move to Hollywood and direct."
You're kinda taking away from the directors who have struggled/studied/ moved up the ladder to become well known/not so well known directors.
Someone already mentioned doing commercials and such. The consensus(sp) seems to be that you need to work your way up. If you can't accept that as fact, in ANY profession, then so be it. I hope your wake-up call isn't too harsh.
Good luck!

M

I wish people would stop putting words in my mouth. I never said it would be easy. I said it would be "a big challenge".
How many directors of feature films do you know of who started with commercials or porn????
Of course a person has to work their way up to whatever they want to do. However, one of the main obstacles preventing most from achieving their desire (after lack of talent) is the lack of a positive attitude and the belief and faith in the true possibility of success.