[Watch the video interview on Youtube here]
Film Courage: How is it possible that you read a screenplay, what 50 times, before you shoot it?
Pete Chatmon, Director/Podcaster/Author: When I get my perspective on directing I’m trying to be the authority on the material and most of the things that I do that are in the feature or short space, I’ve written or I’ve been a part of that process from the beginning. I’ve given notes from the beginning. I’m aware of all of the mental gymnastics that are behind those 10-pages or those 120-pages. When I get a script for TV, because I haven’t been privy or had the privilege of seeing that process, I’m trying to get a very thorough understanding of what’s on the page so I can begin to deconstruct what I think that process may have been. That means I’m reading the script as many times as I can in as many different environments as I can. I’m reading the script as different crew people (this is just my personal take). I like to read it as the cinematographer. I like to read it as the wardrobe/costume designer. I like to read it as the production designer. I read it as a director last because I feel like all of those things A) help me get into the mind of the people I’m collaborating with and B) I get an understanding of what I have at my disposal as the director. I could read a scene, on the third reading maybe I’m like Oh, you know what? Now I’m thinking about it as the actor because I’ve done all the other thinking and I’m like What if the actor wants to sit down in this scene? I’d love for them to have a chaise lounge versus a chair. Now that third reading revealed a furniture selection. What or if I’m reading at home versus reading at a cafe when the world was…(Watch the video interview on Youtube here).
BUY THE BOOK – TRANSITIONS: A Director’s Journey and Motivational Handbook by Pete Chatmon
BIO:
With a deft ability to balance both half-hour single camera comedies and one-hour dramas, Pete Chatmon has directed over 50 episodes of television including HBO Max’s The Flight Attendant, Insecure, Silicon Valley, and Love Life, Netflix’s You, ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy and Black-ish, Starz’ Blindspotting, FX’s It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and the Apple TV+ series Mythic Quest. He is in development on The Education of Matt Barnes with Showtime, for which he will direct the pilot and serve as executive producer and is currently co-executive producer and producing director on Reasonable Doubt, the first project to be produced via Hulu’s Onyx Collective. His debut feature as writer/director, Premium, starred Dorian Missick, Zoe Saldana, and Hill Harper, and premiered on Showtime after a limited theatrical run. Chatmon also wrote, produced, and directed 761st, a documentary on the first Black tank battalion in WWII, narrated by Andre Braugher. Through TheDirector, his Digital Studio, he has directed, shot, and edited content for advertising agencies and Fortune 500 brands. Chatmon’s career began in 2001 with the Sundance selection of his NYU thesis film, 3D, starring Kerry Washington. His most recent short film, BlackCard, premiered on HBO, and his narrative podcast, Wednesday Morning, engaged voters around the 2020 election. His podcast, Let’s Shoot! with Pete Chatmon is available on YouTube, iTunes, and all podcast platforms. In January 2022 his book, Transitions: A Director’s Journey + Motivational Handbook was released by Michael Wiese Productions.
Check out Pete Chatmon’s Directing Reel on Vimeo.
Subscribe to Pete Chatmon’s Youtube Channel here.
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