How did you feel when you first set foot on a TV set, compared to the atmosphere you were used to while shooting your films? In which ways is the work process different? I think that independent filmmakers, who come from very low budget filmmaking are particularly well suited to make the transition to television, perhaps they are much better suited than directors who come from bigger budget projects, because low-budget or guerrilla filmmakers who've been trained to work with very limited resources are trained to go there and make the day.
You have to make the day; you have to make your schedule, because if you don't there are no re-shoot days. I wasn't trained to have days to re-shoot, you know. So if I don't make my day as an independent filmmaker, then I have to look at what scene I'm not gonna shoot and then, you know, there's not more money coming in to allow more shooting.
In fact, the only variable usually it's the director. So the director becomes the variable, then. Yes, they have established crews, they have the same cinematographer, the same production designer, the producer, the same crew, the same system, and the same cast by in large depending on whether they have anyone coming for a specific episode. But usually it's the director who changes; they bring in a guest director.
There are a number of theories regarding why that's the case, but usually what happens in the traditional financing model is that the network will approve or order a pilot, and then a pilot is made, they bring in the director to do the pilot.
Later the network will approve it or not, and then they have to go and write scripts, generate scripts, and in this time the directors has already left, moved on, they have no continuity of vision from the director. And in the case of The Girlfriend Experience Amy and I wrote the whole show too, we co-wrote every episode and then we split directing duties.
