What do you think about the state of TV these days and the challenges of not only bringing your vision to life, but standing out in the crowded TV marketplace? What film or TV series do you watch over and over, which moved you and inspired you as an artist?
These were some of the questions answered by four of today’s top TV directors when they joined Gold Derby’s special “Meet the Experts” group roundtable panel with 2022 Emmy contenders: Pamela Adlon, creator, writer and director of FX comedy “Better Things,” Roxy Shih, director of Lifetime TV movie “List of a Lifetime,” Danny Boyle, director of FX limited series “Pistol” and Gina Prince-Bythewood, director on ABC’s limited series “Women of the Movement.” Watch our full group chat with Click on each name above to view each person’s individual interview.
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“It’s interesting because my show is about the invisibility of being a middle-aged woman, you know? So, my show struggled with being seen,” admits Adlon about putting her passion project out int he world and hoping enough people will see it and love it. “It makes me realize that people are going to discover the show because I worked extremely hard to make it evergreen so that it wouldn’t get dated,” she says. “You have to accept that that’s a huge part of the equation that you are going to be judged or even worse, ignored,” Boyle agrees, adding that “you desperately work hard to make it as interesting as possible.”
“That’s the death knell to put something out and just nothing. That would kill me,” Prince-Bythewood remarks. “I feel like there is an incredible amount of content, but when you hear everybody here on this panel talking about their work that they’re doing, the thing that is so clear is, we’re operating as we’re our first audience and we’re writing what we want to see. And when you do that, you’re writing from a passion and from a specificity and from a special place. And we’re telling stories that only we can tell. And that’s what I continue and have to believe is what helps you stand out.” Shih agrees, noting that “if you feel very passionate about something, if it just feels right to you, if you are your audience, there’s just this crazy feeling that it will end in the hands of the right people.”
Adlon won an Emmy for “King of the Hill” and received six other nominations for “Louie” and “Better Things.” Her other projects have included “Boston Legal,” “Parenthood,” “Californication,” “The Big Bang Theory,” “Bob’s Burgers,” “This Is Us” and “Big Mouth.” Shih was a Daytime Emmy nominee for “Dark/Web.” Her other projects have included “The Tribe,” “Get Jacked,” “The Visit,” “Mira Mira” and “The Haunted Museum.” Boyle won an Oscar for “Slumdog Millionaire” and received writing and producing nominations for “127 Hours.” He won an Emmy for the London 2012 Olympics Opening Ceremony. His other career projects have included “Trainspotting,” “Steve Jobs” and “Yesterday.” Prince-Bythewood was a two-time Daytime Emmy nominee for “What About Your Friends.” She also won an Independent Spirit Award for “Love and Basketball” and Image Awards for “The Secret Life of Bees,” “Shots Fired” and “The Old Guard.”
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