Directing for Film, TV & The Screen
Date & Time
Location
Description
One of the most prominent positions in filmmaking, the director is the nexus of all creative decisions made during the creation of any feature film, television series, short, or documentary. Although every director relies on core tools, the expectations and challenges facing them vary greatly between projects and formats.
Whether you’re just starting out or an established director, someone working in narrative filmmaking with an interest in documentaries, or vice versa, this workshop opens up the art and craft of directing to novices and experts alike. Outlining the real-world tools and expectations of the professional director, participants discover and hone new skills in directing feature films, television/serialized programming, documentaries, new media, and more.
From blocking to collaboration, visual storytelling, working with actors, unions, and strengthening one’s voice, this workshop will prepare you to tackle any directing situation – whether it’s your first short or a studio feature. Familiarity with production (narrative, documentary, or new media) recommended, but not required.
Topics include:
- Directing: history, tools, and techniques
- Approaches to casting and rehearsals
- Blocking and lighting
- Costumes and props
- Collaborating with crew and supporting their success
- Filming fights and stunts
- On-set procedures: union vs. non-union
- Director’s role in post-production
- Directing feature films: studio and independents
- Directing television and serialized programs
- Directing documentaries and reality programming
- Directing VR, new media, and streaming content
- Finding and marketing your voice
- Representation, agents, managers, and lawyers
- Directors Guild of America and the professional field
Tuition
Instructor
Jake Yuzna
Hailing from a family of genre filmmakers, Jake Yuzna is a Minneapolis-based writer, director, and genre curator. Their films have screened at the Cannes Film Festival, Berlin Film Festival, London Film Festival, New Museum of Contemporary Art (NYC), and the British Film Institute, among others.
Yuzna is the first American feature director to win the Teddy Jury Prize at the Berlin Film Festival and has received additional awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, Creative Capital Foundation, Frameline Foundation, McKnight Foundation, IFP, and FilmNorth, as well as a Richard P. Rogers Spirit of Excellence Award from the American Film Institute.
Yuzna founded the cinema program at the Museum of Arts and Design in NYC where they curated the first American retrospectives on Italian Zombie Films, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Dario Argento, Sion Sono, and the medium of VHS. In addition, Yuzna has curated retrospectives on Andrei Tarkovsky, Crispin Glover, H.R. Giger, and Science Fiction cinema of the 1990s. Their curatorial work on genre filmmaking has been collected by the libraries at Yale University and NYU.
Class Registration Guidelines & Cancellation Policy
- Space is assigned on a first-come basis. Registrations must include payment in full. Registrations are accepted after registration deadlines if space is available.
- If minimum enrollment has not been reached by 7 days prior to the start date of a class, FilmNorth may cancel it, in which case registrants will immediately be notified and receive a full refund within 2 business days. A check will be issued for registrations that were paid in cash. In lieu of a refund, students have the option of applying their tuition to another class scheduled in the same calendar year.
- For those needing to cancel a registration at least 7 days prior to the first class session, 100% of the tuition will be refunded minus a $25 administrative fee. For registration cancellations received less than 7 days prior to the first class session, 50% of the tuition will be refunded minus a $25 administrative fee. As of 5:00 pm the day prior to the first class session, no refunds or credits/exchanges will be given (Friday at 5:00 pm for Sunday classes).
- Tuition is not prorated for missed class sessions.
- By registering for this class you are agreeing to our Community Values Statement.
Questions
If you have any questions regarding this class, please send us an email or call (651) 644-1912 ext. 2.