[Watch the video interview on Youtube here]
Film Courage: How much of directing at the highest levels in this business is about skills you have at your craft versus people skills and politics?
Pete Chatmon, Director/Author: I had a meeting for a show, or for a network rather, last week and we got into a conversation about soft skills which are what we were talking about earlier. You can have the best shot list in the world but the soft skills help you get somebody out the trailer, help you convince somebody that the work they’re doing is great, help you deal with whatever scenario that might arise. I think that a director without humanity is going to have challenges doing their job because I think back to being younger and you’re just so focused on I have got to get the shot. If everybody would just come here and do what I’m ready to do we could get it. It’s all about getting this thing done, you’re feeling the burdens and the pressure of the money because you’re probably overleveraged and you’re tired and why won’t they just do what I want them to do and that is also natural, when you don’t have the tools to deal with the pressures of the job but I think as you learn them you do recognize that those soft skills are key. I’ve done episodes as a guest director where I’ve been brought to a show to direct an episode and that is at that point they think that you can do it, they think you’re competent and…(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.
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