Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1126636
38 DGA QUARTERLY I T H E P I S O D I C T E L E V I S I O N ' S ever- increasing cinematic aspirations, heightened behind-the-camera cre- ativity, and exponentially expanding budgets—steering a series with a conti- nuity of visual style while eliciting the highest caliber of performances from A-list actors demands an exceptionally steady, nurturing hand. • Enter the producer/director, a role whose increasing importance over the past 30 years has mirrored episodic's newly minted Platinum Age, when the challenge of ensuring a success- ful series depends on steadiness of vision, creative problem-solving and leadership that inspires. Whether a producer/director creates the look of the pilot or joins an existing show, the mandate is the same: protect the show's and its directors' artistic integrity, and make it better. • Mimi Leder (The Morning Show, The Leftovers)— who got her directing break under producing/ directing pioneer Greg Hoblit (Hill Street Blues, L.A . Law, NYPD Blue) and became producer/ director on China Beach when the job was in its infancy—says a show without a producer/ director "may go off the rails," adding: "You don't want it to be a different show every week visually and emotionally. You want it to live in the world you've created, but to bring it to the next level. That's what we do." C R E AT I V E CATA LYS T S W Producer/ directors seek a unifying vision without sacrificing artistic integrity By ROBERT ABELE PHOTOS: HBO; (OPPOSITE) ALFONSO BRESCIANI/AMC/SONY PICTURES TV