DGA Monthly

S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 4 I 3 9 Television Directors have various tools that they may use to help them plan, communicate and collaborate to achieve their creative vision. On July 31, more than 300 DGA members learned different techniques and approaches to blocking and shot listing for multi-cam and single cam shows during the Director Development Initiative (DDI) online workshop, The Fundamentals of Blocking and Shot Listing. The online event featured Directors Ben Hernandez Bray (Walker), Morenike Joela Evans (Grey's Anatomy) and Jeremy Podeswa (3 Body Problem) in a conversation moderated by Director Anu Valia (She-Hulk) where all shared their "personal ethos" and how their individual approaches to blocking and shot listing is informed by their backgrounds and previous directing experiences. During the conversation, Podeswa highlighted how in his television directing experience, "once you've done the homework, you can be quite agile on set." Bray and Evans emphasized Podeswa's point by revealing what their own prep processes looks like and gave tips on how to be fl exible on the set, with examples of when it made sense for them to pivot from their originally planned shot lists. All three panelists spoke about the importance of understanding story and provided strategies and tools that they use to visualize the story through their shot listing and blocking. They noted that as television Directors, it is critical to help push the story forward, and to do this most effectively, Directors should know their scripts well, trust their instincts, strive to build positive relationships on set and be collaborative. Image: Clockwise: Directors Anu Valia (moderator), Morenike Joela Evans, Jeremy Podeswa and Ben Hernandez Bray. The Fundamentals of Blocking & Shot Listing A Director Development Initiative Conversational Lab On July 24, the DGA and AICP's Commercial Directors Diversity Program (CDDP) has announced the fi ve Fellows for 2024. Directors SCOUT (Lindsay Sunada & Jensen Vinca), Derek Smith, April Moreau, Anjali Nayar and Jonathan Benavente were chosen from a group of over 400 applicants, all of whom started their directing careers in other media. The CDDP was born out of the 2014 National Commercial Agreement negotiations between the DGA and Association of Independent Commercial Producers (AICP) with the goal of opening more opportunities for people from historically underrepresented groups. Over the course of the next few months, the new Fellows will get exposure and experience through one-to-one interactions with mentoring DGA- signatory production companies Spears & Arrows, Invisible Collective, O Positive, Smuggler and Thinking Machine and engage in workshops on the process of pitching/shooting/fi nishing spots and branded content. They will also shadow DGA commercial Directors on the set and will have access to camera equipment generously provided by Arri and a grant provided by the CDDP. The program concludes with an industry showcase where AICP companies, who are signatories of the National Commercial Agreement, are invited to view the program participants' updated reels and meet this new pool of commercial Directors. In addition to the fi ve Fellows, 15 fi nalists will be invited to participate in the program's workshops. Photo: (L-R) DGA Director of Commercial Contracts Winona Wacker, 2024 CDDP Fellow Derek Smith, CDDP Executive Director Tamika Lamison, 2024 CDDP Fellows Anjali Nayar, April Moreau and Jonathan Benavente, AICP President & CEO Matt Miller, 2024 CDDP Fellows Jensen Vinga & Lindsay Sunada (aka SCOUT), and AICP Vice President Diversity & Inclusion Sheila R. Brown. Commercial Directors Diversity Program Announces Fellows for 2024 See more detailed descriptions, additional photos and video, where available, online at www.dga.org. DGA Events Roundup photo courtesy CDDP Follow Us On Social Media Stay connected with the Directors Guild of America! Follow us across social media to learn about events and Guild activities. Join the conversation by following our channels today! • Facebook: www.facebook.com/directorsguildofamericadga • X: twitter.com/directorsguild • Instagram: www.instagram.com/directorsguild • YouTube: www.youtube.com/@directorsguildofamericaDGA

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