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56 DGA QUARTERLY who played the superhero. "Every crew member managed to get their picture taken seated in it," says Mark Dicso, who stage manages the Sunday show. Shortly after Dicso arrives to the set, he and Gerard begin breaking down the script section-by-section to determine camera angles. That way, everyone will know exactly where they need to be at all times, and the segments will be shot according to Gerard's vision. "Danny, can we get a jib shot of Frankenstein?" Dicso says to the cameraman, in response to Gerard's idea of swooping in on the prop—since returned to the set after Pauley's news segment—from overhead. Danny runs through the shot. "Yes, let's do it like that," con- firms Gerard. "I'll spike it," replies Dicso, placing a piece a tape on the floor to indicate where Pauley needs to stand. N O R D E R T O C R E AT E a seamless looking and sounding show, Gerard records Pauley's introductions be- forehand, which are then stitched onto the fronts of the stories before the show goes live. When Gerard re- turns to the control room to direct Pauley's intros, Dicso becomes her eyes and ears on the set. He listens to Gerard's directions over his headphones and cues Pauley for which camera to address. He also gives her a countdown. When he gets to the number three, he goes silent and completes the countdown with finger signals, yanking his hand from view just before Pauley launches into her introduction. "He really makes everything hum," says Gerard. "He makes it all happen on the floor." For Gerard, preparation for the Sunday broadcast actually begins on Thursday, when she meets with the producers and writers to dis- cuss the lineup and to decide things like what props to order. On Fri- days and Saturdays, she'll work on graphics and ingests every frame of video that's scheduled to air. "That always gives me a better sense of how to shoot the show," says Gerard. "And I can't really explain to you what that is to me. It's sort of organic. It's a gut." Five associate directors assist her. All of them are women who get along extremely well. Jessica Frank, who started on the program in '92 as a production assistant, serves as the graphics AD. Starting on Friday, she receives graphic animations from editors that she checks for accuracy and feeds into the server. She also builds graphics and maintains the "sun" logos peppered throughout the show. "I have about 3,000 suns. I have every sun that's ever been sent," she says, referring to how viewers from all over the world submit sun images to her. "I reuse some," she says. "We have favorites." Once the show begins, however, her No. 1 responsibility is to back- time it; in other words, she maintains the lineup and makes sure they get off the air on time. "She's the voice of God by the end of the show," says Gerard. Partly because of the synagogue-shooting news update, today's show is running two minutes over before they begin. Cutting into a long-form piece is not an option. But during the broadcast, Frank (in hand with the EP) and Gerard find other items to chip away. Teases get dropped. Gerard tightens out-cues. A bumper that states, "Do you believe in ghosts," that was slotted for about 10 seconds, Gerard dissolves sooner. When Frank comes forward with timing revisions for about the third or fourth time, Gerard takes one look at her and "I see television completely as a team effort," she says. "All ideas are worth listening to." Gerard, who was hired at CBS right out of college decades ago, be- gan directing Sunday Morning in 2011 as only the third director of the venerated program in 40 years. Prior to that, she served as an associ- ate director and director on harder news shows like 48 Hours and the CBS Evening News, as well as softer newsmagazine shows, documen- taries and special events. She has sat in the same seats that many in her team now occupy. "She's excellent," says associate director Jyll Friedman, noting Ge- rard's grasp of the show's rhythm and her ability to make each episode look polished. "She really knows her stuff. She's always calm and very organized. And she's very funny." The show, which attracts a loyal but also growing viewership, hasn't undergone any radical changes since the veteran CBS jour- nalist, Charles Kuralt, conceived it in 1979 as a broadcast version of something resembling the New York Times Sunday Magazine. It commences with a classical trumpet refrain and a short burst of news at the top. Then Pauley introduces long-form profiles of fa- mous people and stories about the arts, along with other thought- ful, in-depth pieces that cover a wide variety of topics. Today's show features a food segment on authentic salty black licorice and another on the history of blackface (in light of Megyn Kelly's gaffe). The show invariably concludes with a bucolic nature sequence. And the direc- tor always delivers the show at a quietly measured pace, in sync with the idea of people relaxed and watching from their armchairs with a cup of coffee in hand. This Sunday, however, is the day after a gunman has killed 11 wor- shipers at a Pittsburgh synagogue. A last-minute news update on that tragedy is in the works, which means Gerard and her directing team will have to find ways to shave down other components in the lineup. It also has forced her to rethink the holiday decorations already fes- tooning the stage. There are some grinning pumpkins that may have to get moved, as well as an ominous Frankenstein prop looming be- hind where Pauley will initially stand. "After yesterday, I'm wondering if Frankenstein is too much," says Gerard, who arrives on the set to do some camera blocking and makes the decision to strike it from the background while Pauley is reciting the news. "We have to be careful," she says. "It needs to be tasteful." The stylized platform soundstage has always been a cherished set piece, featuring plexiglass panels that display monitors, graphics and the iconic sun logo that brands the show. Last year, though, the time- worn set got a subtle redo. The new arrangement includes a techno- logical upgrade and allows Gerard, who was closely involved in the redesign, more flexibility to move panels about to find unexpected angles. "Move that one up a slot. Perfect," she says to the stagehands who assist her as she eyes the stage from all possible camera vantage points, including coming from behind. Next she applies her decorating touch. "Let's pull these two for- ward," she says, referring to some bowls that will display Halloween candy during Pauley's introduction to the licorice story. "Put candy corn on the bottom and some licorice on top. These are the ones that the piece is about," she points to licorice bags imported from Denmark. Although Gerard has been careful to introduce new ideas gradu- ally to this tried-and-true institution, she is not shy about making a visual splash. One of the larger props she has brought onboard was the original Batmobile for a show that commemorated Adam West, I