Perhaps most telling about Allen Coulter’s directorial range are his five DGA Award nominations–three for dramatic series (twice for The Sopranos and most recently in 2011 for Boardwalk Empire) and two for his sitcom fare (both for Sex and the City). Add to this seven primetime Emmy noms consisting of five for Outstanding Directing (again spanning comedy–with Nurse Jackie–and drama on the strength of Damages and three for The Sopranos) as well as two for Outstanding Drama Series (The Sopranos).
And Coulter’s filmmaking sensibilities recently graced another series, House of Cards, which figures to be among the DGA and Emmy contenders this upcoming awards season. Coulter helmed the last two episodes of season one.
Set in Washington, D.C., House of Cards stars Kevin Spacey as a South Carolina Democrat who gets passed over for U.S. Secretary of State despite being promised the plum cabinet post in exchange for helping to ensure the election of President Garrett Walker. Spacey’s character, Frank Underwood, decides to exact his revenge on those who betrayed him. Spacey heads a cast that includes Robin Wright, Kate Mara, Corey Stoll, Michael Kelly, Sakina Jaffrey, Kristen Connolly and Constance Zimmer.
David Fincher is an executive producer of the series, directed the first two installments and continues to have a major say in the selection of directors for all the episodes, which now extend into season two. At press time, production on the second season was about to begin.
House of Cards has garnered critical acclaim and helped to establish Netflix as a force in original programming. Netflix debuted the series in early February, streaming the first full season, all 13 episodes, in one fell swoop to subscribers so they could watch it whenever and however they wanted. (See this issue’s Producers Series for more on House of Cards, as seen through the eyes of its showrunner/exec producer/writer Beau Willimon.)
Beyond House of Cards and series television, Coulter’s career also encompasses features and commercials. His work on The Sopranos landed him directing duties on a Budweiser “Whassup! Jersey Guys” campaign for DDB Chicago, including the spot “Out of Towner” which debuted during the 2002 Super Bowl and earned a primetime commercial Emmy nomination. The next year, the Coulter-helmed “Sheens” for Visa and BBDO New York, was nominated for an Emmy. These ad assignments were produced by Hungry Man, Coulter’s ad roost at the time. Coulter’s other credits include such clients as Axe and Orange. He is now repped for spots and branded content by Station Film and hopes to be active again at the shop if his TV schedule permits.
Coulter made his feature filmmaking debut with Hollywoodland for which Ben Affleck earned Best Actor honors at the Venice Film Festival in 2006. Affleck portrayed actor George Reeves, best known for his role as Superman on TV’s Adventures of Superman. Hollywoodland delved into one of Hollywood’s most infamous real-life mysteries, the death of Reeves in 1959 which had been ruled a suicide. Coulter’s feature filmography also includes the romantic drama Remember Me starring Robert Pattinson.
SHOOT recently caught up with Coulter who reflected on House of Cards, what drew him to the series and the challenges it posed to him as a director.
SHOOT: How did you get involved in House of Cards?
Coulter: John Melfi who is the producer and who I’ve known back in the days of Sex and The City got in touch and informed me that David Fincher was interested in my doing a couple of [House of Cards] episodes, specifically the final two [of season one]. Because Fincher is a director whom I respect and admire, it didn’t require a lot of thought as to whether or not I was interested. I’ve been fortunate enough to work on the HBO series Luck with Michael Mann [exec producer on that series and a noted director]. To have feature filmmakers like Mann and Fincher seek me out is especially gratifying for me. It was also great to again work with John; we had also collaborated earlier on Rome.
I met with David and John prior to being officially hired. The meeting went well…Fincher was very excited and interested in this streaming of content without any DVD release and without the traditional broadcast situation. I’m paraphrasing him but clearly he saw this [House of Cards] as representing the wave of the future and was desirous to get involved and get things moving.
SHOOT: What was the biggest challenge that House of Cards posed to you as a director?
Coulter: The DP who had been on the series from the beginning had left. As a consequence, there was a scramble to find a cinematographer. Thankfully we connected with Tim Ives who shot the last two episodes for me. I had worked with him multiple times before–on commercials and we worked together on the Kingpin pilot some time ago.
SHOOT: What’s next for you in terms of television, features, other disciplines?
Coulter: I most recently finished a pilot, Ray Donovan, for a Showtime series which is set to begin on June 30. It was an interesting piece written by [series creator] Ann Biderman [an Emmy winner for her writing on NYPD Blue, and a Peabody Award winner for Southland].
I’m committed through the fall to Boardwalk Empire for which I’m directing three episodes. And I’m interested in trying to develop something else with a couple of different writers.
SHOOT: What about commercials and branded content?
Coulter: I enjoy doing commercials. My involvement has been minimal as of late because of the amount of work I’ve been doing in series TV. It’s been a scheduling crunch over the years going all the way back to The Sopranos, Sex and The City, Rome, Six Feet Under, Luck, the last three seasons of Boardwalk Empire, then House of Cards.
I hope to be able to take on some more commercials. Fortunately Station and [its managing partner] Stephen Orent are still interested whenever I can give them a window of availability. I got those first Budweiser spots based on my work on The Sopranos. And The Sopranos influenced my work on that Budweiser campaign. One informs the other. My work in commercials has influenced my work in television. You can be a bit more daring in things you try commercially, you have more chances to experiment and that I think has influenced my approach and how I might choose to shoot a television show.
