Directing for Television: Conversations with American TV Directors

Directing for Television: Conversations with American TV Directors by Brian Geoffrey Rose was a great book! When searching for information on directors, books, magazines and websites are almost always about film directors. However, television directors are much less famous and in many ways have much harder jobs. TV directors have tremendous challenges of getting hours of programming done every month and keeping things on budget all while being creative and keeping the quality of the show high. Film directors have months to complete a two hour movie, while TV directors may only have a few days to complete one hour of programming. TV directors also have the challenge of putting some shows together live.

This book is a rare source of great information about the hidden craft of directing television. There are many different types of TV directing. Some directors direct shows as if they would a movie, using a single camera at a time perfecting the acting, lighting, and sound of a scene, and then editing it all together at the end. Other directors sit off of the set and in a control room verbally putting a show together as it goes on, coordinating audio and lighting crews, talent, and as many as a dozen cameras all at the same time. Many of these shows are done live. Other directors do some kind of combination, producing a dramatic show with actors and a script, but as if it were being broadcast live to save money and time. This book covered all of these different directing approaches.

The book was structured in an interview format, with the editor asking questions of some of the best directors in the business. Many of these directors helped make television what it is today. These directors all came from different places and they all ended up in a different place in their careers. Not only does this give a great variety in perspectives, but it offers a personal view as well. This book doesn’t read like a textbook, giving one-sided facts about the industry. Rather, it gives practical advice from real people who have had success. It goes into detail about the daily lives of industry professionals and the challenges they face. As someone who wants to be a TV director, this book was a great resource for me!

I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in a career in television, or to someone who is interested in the media business. TV directors are in many ways the backbone of our world of entertainment, but they go very much unrecognized. For as hard as their job is, very few people know about TV directors, and the details about what their jobs entail. Most TV directors live in the shadows of film directors and TV producers. This book offers a hard to find perspective about the true craft of director for television.