1) Read “Making Movies” by Sidney Lumet, for me the clearest explanation of what the craft of directing entails. But really, it’s all about the material. You can’t direct something great if you don’t have a great story. It doesn’t have to be a big story, but it has to have conflict and tension—whether it’s a comedy or a drama. And now you can make a movie with your iPhone. So find a story you like, find a script or write one yourself, and go out and shoot it. You’ll have a calling card.
2) Again, it’s all about the material. If you want to produce something people will want to see, you need a compelling story. So you have to find a script or a book or a magazine article, and then you have to find somebody who wants to write it for you.
3) I had a great time in Prague shooting second unit for Ron Howard for the first episode of our new series “Genius” on the Nat Geo channel. I got to use a drone to shoot footage of a train moving over a high trestle bridge. That was really exciting, and I learned a lot from the drone operator about how to capture the most interesting angles. The timing was very tricky, and we only had a few chances to get it right. But that’s nothing compared to the story Sidney Lumet tells in “Making Movies” about getting a shot of the train for “Murder on the Orient Express.”
4) I’m enormously proud of “Genius,” the ten episode series about Albert Einstein now airing worldwide on the Nat Geo Channel. I got to work with Ron Howard, a personal hero of mine. I was at his side during the shooting of the first episode, learning at his hip. I also got to direct second unit for him. Then I directed the final three episodes and got to work with an amazing cast led by Geoffrey Rush.
