Tim Minear

Talking with Working TV Writers/Directors

One of the most important things a filmmaker needs to do is interact with people doing what they want to be doing. For years I said I wanted to direct but until I got on a real set, spoke with a real director, and watched him work I didn’t really know what it meant. My brother and I have been fortunate enough to meet some really cool people in the industry, both directors and writers. This helps to make the whole thing real. If they can do it, so can you. (And it’s also a really good idea to expand your network.)

My brother and I recently returned from LA. We were out there for a filmmaker’s workshop. There were several accomplished producers, directors, and screenwriters who spoke on various panels. It was a wonderful time to hear from people who actually work in the industry about how the industry works and how they do what they do.

My favorite panel was about TV writing. There were two writers on the panel. Daisy Gardner is a screenwriter who has won an Emmy for her work on 30 Rock. She has written for South Park and now writes for Californication.

Tim Minear was the show runner on Firefly (one of my favorite shows) as well as Angel. He has written for several other shows including X-Files and Lois and Clark. He also directs TV.

The biggest thing that struck me about these two writers is that they were normal people. They were helpful and encouraging. The panel was great. My brother and I dominated the session with questions about the writing process in television.

We were excited to hear that shows LOVE to hire writing partners. They get two people for one paycheck. Not such good news for us but still, being writing partners does not disqualify us from writing for TV and may actually help our chances.

The question of breaking in to the industry came up. Their best advice is to write spec scripts from shows that you either want to write for or are similar to the shows you want to write for. Then send those out to everyone you know in the industry and hope one lands in a show runner’s office. It seems like that might be easier than getting people to read your big-budget action script.

After the Q and A, we approached Mr. Minear and asked him a few more questions regarding directing. The first – How do we break into directing for TV? His answer was to write for TV. He said it is so easy to transition from writing a show to directing a few episodes here and there.

The next question I asked - What is your advice for working with actors? He just shrugged and said, “It’s intuitive.” I take that to mean, “Don’t overcomplicate it.” (Which sounds very much like advice David Mamet would give.)

The last question I asked him - What advice do you have for directing a scene? His advice was to spend time in the editing room. Listen to the editors cursing the director for not getting a certain shot that they really needed and make sure to get that shot. He said it’s nice to do fancy shots but at the end of the day, just cover it. Get the wide, the 2-shot, and the close-ups.

As a director, I always compare myself to Steven Spielberg and come up short. But here was a working director in the business with TONS of experience and he seems to be saying keep it simple.