How did you get
involved with STC and express your interest in directing an episode — something
that led to directing several episodes?
I’d known Vic Mignogna for several years, and cast him in a
short film I directed. While we were on
set, he mentioned that he was producing a STAR
TREK fan series, and asked me to check out “Pilgrim of Eternity.” To be honest, I was wary at first. Although I wasn’t very familiar with fan
films, those which I’d happened to catch ranged from great to amateur, from a
production perspective. That’s not a
“knock” at all — God bless anyone with the gumption to make a fan film. So Vic opened his laptop and said “Just
watch.” I did, and I was hooked! The production value was top-notch.
While we were in post-production on the short, Vic mentioned
that he was thinking about doing a “Mirror Universe” story for STC episode 3,
and asked me if I’d like to come aboard.
I was drawn in by his overall goal and philosophy for the show: namely,
to produce a Trek webseries made by fans who also happened to be film and TV
industry professionals, both behind the camera and in front of it…
professionals who agreed to set their busy schedules aside, without fame or
financial incentives, to express their love of TOS and share it with the
world. So we tossed around a couple plot
ideas, but ultimately felt that his initial instinct — to do a fast-paced story
that picks up moments after “Mirror, Mirror” and explores Spock’s immediate
actions — was the strongest. The rest is
history.
That episode still holds a special place in my heart because
it was my first — and the Mirror Universe is just so much fun! Wired came to set for that one and shot
“behind-the-scenes” footage of the project; I encourage everyone to check that
out as well (www.youtube.com/watch?v=BO-oqbvj2PQ).
I assumed “Fairest of Them All” would be my sole trip on the
TOS Enterprise… but a few months later, Vic asked if I’d be interested in
coming back to direct episode 4. At that
point, I needed to make a decision as to whether I’d be willing to set aside my
career for a couple years to focus on STC, because writing and directing
episodes isn’t a part-time job. It
wasn’t a difficult decision, simply because this entire endeavor was so
rewarding!
After “The White Iris,” I settled in as the series’ “story
editor” — that’s the person who works creatively with the showrunner (executive
producer) to decide on overall storylines and which scripts to produce. I eventually became a co-producer (and later
producer) on the show. In addition to
directing and/or co-writing most of the episodes, it was necessary for me to
work in post as well, helping Vic decide on music and sound cues, etc. I performed what’s called the “online edit” —
I took Vic’s cut of each episode and readied it for color grading by our
cinematographer Matt Bucy — and then performed the “DI conform” after the
graded footage was returned. That
involved adding film grain, comping in ungraded opticals (i.e., viewscreen
shots), and even adding “judder” to the end titles to simulate the 1969 optical
film printing process. I also scheduled shoots, helped Lisa Hansell and Linda
Zaruches with some of the social media and publicity, cut together “blooper”
reels, and authored the DVDs and Blu-ray discs.
But my focus remained primarily on directing. I’m quite proud of what we accomplished, needless
to say!
How do you describe
the role and activity of a director to someone not familiar with
filmmaking. In other words, what does a director do?
The director makes the creative decisions about what’s seen
on-screen. He or she works with the actors
to craft performances, and composes the shots (i.e., collaborates with the
director of photography to determine camera angles, lighting, etc.). The overall “feel” and “pace” of the piece is
the responsibility of the director.
Now, there are significant differences between directing for
film — which was my primary background before STC — and directing for series
television. On a film, the director is
usually “top dog,” so to speak. The buck
stops with him or her. He or she
establishes the overall vision and style of the movie, from the broad strokes
to the finest details. That involves
making decisions in every department — makeup, costumes, art / set design,
sound, camera, lighting, acting, editing, music. A film director is basically the general in
charge of a large army. It requires a lot
of pre-planning; and that involves everything from casting roles to
storyboarding (drawing) shots to making judgment calls on wardrobe. Time is money when you’re on-set or
on-location, and — while it’s important to be malleable and be able to think on
one’s feet — films ultimately run much more smoothly if the director has
pre-visualized everything (either on paper, digitally/virtually using pre-vis
software, or even simply in his/her mind).
Films involve large crews and complex camera moves, lighting, and shot
composition. One typically shoots about
2 or 3 script pages a day on a feature or short — and even that is pushing the
limits at times. A theatrical film can
have a shooting schedule anywhere from a few weeks to a few months.
Directing for TV is rather different. By the time a director comes onto a series,
many of the creative decisions have already been made: primary cast, sets,
costumes, and — perhaps most importantly — the overall “style” and “feel” of
both the camerawork and the actors’ performances. With few exceptions, most series have
multiple directors, and each one can’t bring his/her own personal vision to the
table — you’d have a show that looks totally different from one episode to the
next! That’s why, in TV, the executive
producer is ultimately in charge.
Individual directors must conform their styles to the overall vision of
the showrunner. In the case of STC, I
also had to honor the rich legacy of TOS, and shoot the episodes in a style
reminiscent of 1969 network television.
So a lot of my 21st-century directorial instincts had to “take a back
seat” in order to serve the overall series.
On top of that, unlike films, a television episode has a much quicker
production schedule. On STC, we usually
shot 5 or 6 pages a day — sometimes even 7 or more! That’s definitely a challenge to pull off.
How does the
all-volunteer aspect of a fan production like STC make things more difficult —
or easier — for a director?
Fortunately, on STC, our so-called “above the line”
positions (main cast and guest stars, producers, writers, directors) and our
primary department heads had a lot of experience working in film and/or
television, and that helped tremendously.
I didn’t have to “reinvent the wheel” or show people the ropes.
That cut both ways, though.
Since we were dealing with working industry pros, getting everyone
together on a volunteer basis was often quite difficult. For example, unlike a “normal” series, we
didn’t have the luxury of putting our main cast under series-regular
contracts. So if certain actors were
working on another film or TV series at any given time, we either couldn’t film
during those weeks, or I’d have to shoot “around” their absence. Same thing for our behind-the-scenes crew.
Plus, understandably, we just didn’t have the budget to put
our people up in hotels in Georgia — and feed them — for weeks on end. So our production schedule was often pretty
tight. The more script pages one must
shoot per day, the more stress one is under.
There’s no way to avoid that. I
suppose that having a background in indie film — where one often must work with
lower budgets and tighter schedules — helped me cope!
Ultimately, though, having people who came together out of love
for the material was a huge plus. Our
team members were all motivated to do their best work, simply because that’s
why they were there. And every night
after photography, we’d all go out for dinner and drinks together. It really was a family… and one that I already
miss.
What are some of the
films and television series which influence you as a director?
I think Kubrick is probably my all-time hero. I love the specificity and patience of his
films, and how his composition and pacing both inform and reflect his actors’
performances. 2001 is wonderful. I also love both Blade Runner movies, Solaris… but in addition, I have a soft spot
for the late-60s aesthetic. The early Bond
films, Flint, Barbarella… there’s a fun, sexy style there that we don’t see often
any longer. As for television, I thought
Ronald D. Moore’s version of Battlestar
Galactica was wonderful. And there’s
so much great content on right now. Black Mirror, for example. And Mr.
Robot just blows me away.
What’s your background, and what are you doing
professionally now that STC has finished its final episode?
Growing up, I used to make Doctor Who fan films and amateur movies with our family’s old video
camera. If I was assigned to do a term
paper, rather than writing a boring old report, I’d shoot it as a narrative
film! So it was probably around high
school when I first started thinking seriously about a career in
directing. I also had — and still have —
a passion for cosmology, so I was a bit indecisive. I went to T.C.U. in Dallas / Fort Worth, and
started a double-major… but when I realized I’d be in college for many, many
years, I ultimately decided to focus on filmmaking (although I did earn a minor
degree in astrophysics). My student
thesis film wound up winning a first-place Telly Award, so I stayed in Texas
for a few years after that, directing shorts, music videos for local bands,
etc.
When one of my films started to make a splash on the
festival circuit, an assistant agent at talent agency APA offered to rep me,
and I moved to Los Angeles. When I first
got here, I wound up falling into a lot of stage directing, both classical and
modern — which was unusual for me because I had relatively little background in
live theatre at the time. But it’s an
amazing process, and very different from filmmaking. My work at the Blank Theatre Company in
Hollywood — a wonderful venue run by Daniel Henning and Noah Wyle — gave me a
lot of “in the field” experience with actors, including many accomplished television
and film veterans who’ve retained their passion for live theatre despite their
on-screen success.
Ultimately, though, film is my first love, and I was
fortunate to get the opportunity to direct a cerebral science fiction noir
feature for Entertainment One studios called Yesterday Was a Lie (www.yesterdaywasalie.com), starring Kipleigh
Brown as well as Chase Masterson from STAR
TREK: Deep Space Nine. After YWAL,
we started working on a film based on the science fiction Czech play R.U.R. from 1919. We originally shot a short (www.rurfilm.com)
loosely based on the story — that’s where Vic and I first connected re: STC —
and we’re developing it into a high-concept feature set in an alt-history,
late-60s world. And Kipleigh and I have
a couple other things in the works as well.
But immediately next for both of us (as well as for Vic and Lisa) is a
short psychological character drama called When
the Train Stops — also starring Trek actors Michael Forest and John de
Lancie. Lisa’s producing, and she did an
excellent job successfully crowdfunding the film. We’ll be shooting in 2018, and I’m very much
looking forward to it!
Website: www.jameskerwin.com
Twitter: @jameskerwin
Facebook: /jameskerwin
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