Directors Tell the Story

The freshest storytelling today is on television, where the multi-episodic format is used for rich character development and innovative story arcs. This exciting new edition of Directors Tell the Story continues to offer rare insight and advice straight from two A-list television directors whose credits include Elsbeth, Tracker, Criminal Minds: Evolution, The Ms. Pat Show, Chicago Med, and many more.

Here, in one volume, learn everything you need to know to become an excellent director. Covering everything through prep, shoot, and post, the authors offer practical instruction on how to craft a creative vision, translate a script into a visual story, establish and maintain the look and feel of a television show or film, lead the cast and crew, keep a complex operation running on time and on budget, and effectively oversee editing and postproduction. Directors Tell the Story provides behind-the-scenes access to the secrets of successful directors, as well as exercises that use original scripted material.

This newly updated edition features:

• More roles on set, including on-set writers, producing directors, intimacy coordinators, virtual production supervisors, and virtual production designers
• New material covering updates to cameras, lighting, and new innovations in sound
• Updated “Insider Info” sections with advice and tips known only to working professionals
• Profiles of top film and TV luminaries
• Additional “How I Got My First Directing Job” stories from a diverse range of directors currently in the trenches

Suited to students in both beginning and intermediate level directing and production courses, as well as aspiring professionals, this book provides valuable insight. The work is supported by a fresh instructor and student online resource featuring directing tutorials and video interviews with the authors.

Bethany Rooney began her directing career on the 1980s iconic television show St. Elsewhere, where she served as Associate Producer. She has directed more than 250 episodes of primetime network shows, most recently Law & Order SVU, Chicago P.D., Criminal Minds:Evolution, Chicago Med, and Tracker. She has directed Oscar winners and Emmy contenders Denzel Washington, Hilary Swank, Mariska Hargitay, Angela Bassett, George Clooney, Alfre Woodard, Felicity Huffman, Sally Field and Robert Downey, Jr., among many others. Bethany graduated from Bowling Green State University in Ohio, earning a master's degree. She created and teaches the Warner Bros. Discovery Directors Workshop, NBC/Universal Launch, and the DGA’s Director Development Initiative (DDI). She serves on multiple committees at the Directors Guild of America (DGA), including the National Board and the Western Directors Council.

Mary Lou Belli, a two-time Emmy award winner, has been directing television for over 30 years in many genres from sitcoms to procedurals to documentaries. Through her teaching, she supports many of the vibrant diversity programs, including the DGA's Director Development Initiative, ABC/Disney, NBC Launch, CBS, SONY, AFI’s Directing Workshop for Women, and Warner Bros. Discovery Directors Workshop mentoring the next generation of directors. She is the co-author of three other books: The NEW Sitcom Career Book, Acting for Young Actors, and PERFORM: Acting for the Screen. Mary Lou serves on multiple committees at the DGA and is a board member of the Alliance of Women Directors, Film Fatales, and Women in Media, as well as a longtime member of Women in Film. She is currently a governor at the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences where she has been recently nominated three times for a primetime Emmy for directing as well as an additional Emmy in the Children's Programming category. She was on the USC School of Cinematic Arts directing faculty for eight years.