With Emmy nominations set to be unveiled next week (7/15), SHOOT looks back on its current “The Road To Emmy” Series of feature stories thus far, touching upon directorial debuts that could figure in the mix for recognition from the Television Academy.
Last month in two separate installments of our coverage, we delved into four notable first turns in the director’s chair: Yellowjackets (Showtime) co-creator and co-showrunner Bart Nickerson who directed the first and finale episodes of season 3; Long Bright River (Peacock) co-creator, showrunner and writer Nikki Toscano who helmed the “Hereditary” episode of the limited series; Jessica Lee Gagné, the cinematographer on seasons 1 and 2 of Severance (Apple TV+) who both directed and shot the pivotal second season episode “Chikhai Bardo”; and David Tedeschi, who had some prior co-directing gigs before bowing as a solo director with the documentary Beatles ‘64 (Disney+).
Here are highlights from SHOOT’s original coverage of these auspicious directing debuts:
Bart Nickerson
Striking a narrative balance between the past and the present–each informing the other, perhaps most profoundly in season 3–is a delicate proposition that’s been deftly handled by a Yellowjackets team headed by creators/showrunners/executive producers/writers Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson.
The latter, though, added further to the juggling act by placing another role on his multitasking plate as Nickerson made his directorial debut during season 3, helming the first episode and the impactful, eventful finale.
“Directing has always been an aspiration of mine, something I dabbled in a million years ago,” related Nickerson whose career focus after college detoured to writing. Deep down, though, he harbored the hope that the opportunity would emerge to circle back to directing. Going into season 3 of Yellowjackets, having been integrally involved with every aspect ranging fro pre-pro to production and post, he shared, “It [directing] just felt like something whose time had come.” Nickerson pitched it to the studio and network–and much to his great appreciation, they agreed and were supportive.
He also had the support of a top-flight team which has helped him garner four Emmy nominations thus far–Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series on the strength of the pilot (shared with Lyle) in 2022, another writing nomination for the “F Sharp” episode (shared with Lyle and Jonathan Lisco), and Outstanding Drama Series nods for seasons 1 and 2.
Transitioning into directing became an easier task with a stellar cast–headed by two-time lead dramatic series actress Emmy nominee Melanie Lynskey–and what Nickerson described as “a supremely talented production crew.”
Still, there were challenges tied to settling into the director’s chair for “a really big, ambitious show with two timelines squeezed into one.” The season 3 finale, observed Nickerson, marked in one sense “a return to the beginning” as past and present intertwine in a story “that is catching up with the place where we started.”
Helping him bring that to fruition as a director was what he learned from other directors on the show over the years. Karyn Kusama–whose work on Yellowjackets included the pilot for which she earned an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series–”has always been kind and generous answering questions,” said Nickerson who cited her and Daisy von Scherier Mayer as among the directors he admires and looks up to. “As a showrunner you get to see their process in a way that you couldn’t with any other kind of relationship. To see it in the form of dailies and then in the cut.” He added that to see the choices that are made on every single shot from story and visual standpoints is “a really incredible learning experience.”
And the experience of directing has sparked Nickerson’s desire for more. It also speaks to the value of seeking out a wide variety of outlets and creative experiences. Whether it’s painting, a ballet class, writing, showrunning and/or directing, they all inform each other, he observed. Your “personal color palette kind of expands. And you bring these new colors back to the things you do best,” affirmed Nickerson.
He feels, for example, that directing has made him a better showrunner. Inherently as a showrunner, you have “a lot of creativity that is incoming.” Thus it’s imperative that a showrunner maintain “a wide aperture” and “an openness to seeing what a person is trying to do, what they’re trying to bring you in TV and film.”
That dynamic is critical to develop a pitch or idea that isn’t fully formed. Different people through their art and imagination give it form–it’s a process as artists grapple with what a project is trying to become. You can only see it so far, said Nickerson, unless “you are able to slip out of your narrow view of what things are supposed to become.” Sometimes, for example, you can fall into the trap of “only looking for one thing” from an actor. “But if you open it up to seeking ‘the most right thing’ as opposed to the thing you thought it was going to be, you get better results.”
Nickerson added that he feels that his experience directing has “made it a lot easier for me to understand what another director is trying to do, and allows me [as a showrunner] to help them to do it better.”
As for his biggest takeaway or lessons learned from season 3 of Yellowjackets, Nickerson shared the feeling that “creatively, being where I am is the most important thing.” He explained that trusting “the moment-to-moment kind of intuition has always been a guiding principle of my creative process. This show over and over again kind of rewards that. Moving with the show to where the creative energy is trying to go as opposed to my preconceived notions of what this scene or episode or season is supposed to be.”
Additionally, season 3 reinforced for him what to do at that juncture when you have to make a creative choice and are not sure how it’s going to work out. The choice that is almost always “the right answer” is the one that gives you the most joy and the most energy to do the work that needs to be done.
And directing is part of the work that Nickerson needs to do. His directorial turn on Yellowjackets has him wanting to take on more helming assignments–and he isn’t limiting it to projects that he has written or been involved in deeply creatively in some other capacity. Nickerson shared that as a director he enjoys helping to synthesize a bunch of different creative processes. “That’s something I would love to be part of my practice moving forward, to be part of someone else’s project, to skip into their visual grammar, language, storytelling, rhythm and paradigm. To be part of that and supportive of that, and to bring my creativity and point of view within the context of someone else’s template sounds very cool.”
Nikki Toscano
Also making a notable directorial debut is Nikki Toscano who directed the “Hereditary” episode of Long Bright River, the limited series (eight episodes) based on Liz Moore’s New York Times bestselling novel, which follows Mickey (portrayed by Amanda Seyfried), a police officer in a Philadelphia neighborhood hit hard by the opioid epidemic. As homeless women are being murdered by what appears to be a serial killer, Mickey begins to uncover disturbing connections between her past–in particular her relationship with her estranged sister (played by Ashleigh Cummings)–and the case.
Like Yellowjackets’ Nickerson, Toscano wore many hats for Long Bright River–co-creator with Moore, showrunner, exec producer and writer. Toscano was sent the novel by her agent and was immediately drawn in, reading it in a single sitting. “The most powerful thing about her novel for me was how the love story between two sisters is juxtaposed with a murder mystery,” related Toscano. “The main character is forced to reflect on her own past in order to solve the mystery of who this killer is–as well as the mystery of her own sister’s disappearance.”
The novel, continued Toscano, is “very unique in the way that it upended the cop-as-savior narrative. It upended the victim narrative too for that matter.” Toscano added that Moore “has a wonderful sense of place in all her novels” so it’s important to do justice to that when visually translating the story for the screen.
As for what prompted her to direct an episode, Toscano said she had been wanting to throw her hat in the proverbial ring to direct for some time. “In retrospect, I wish I had raised my hand a lot earlier in my career,” she shared. Too many stars had aligned, though, for her not to put herself in the directorial running for “Hereditary,” the pivotal sixth episode containing key reveals about characters in the series. Being co-creator of the show, having a hand in writing and re-writing the show, there was what she described as being “a natural pathway” for her to direct. “I didn’t want it to get away from me.” And when she raised her hand, both Sony and Peacock were supportive.
“I was really jazzed to be given the opportunity,” said Toscano, adding that she “underestimated how incredibly fun the entire process was” and that the experience whetted her appetite to keep on directing–perhaps an episode or two of the various series she has in development, as well as a feature film.
Toscano was part of an ensemble of all women directors on Long Bright River. She noted that there wasn’t a concerted effort up front to line up all female directors for the show. It’s just that over time, the directors who seemed most connected to and simpatico with the narrative turned out to be women.
And a significant percentage of the overall crew was also female. “I had never been in a situation that was so female-forward before in my career,” said Toscano. The experience, she continued, was incredibly collaborative, bolstered by a number of men who made every effort to lift the women up around them, including two of the cinematographers, Pepe Avila del Pino who lensed the pilot, and William Rexer who shot multiple episodes, alternating with Tari Segal.
Whereas the norm for a series, said Toscano, is generally for the pilot DP to step away without much coordination between that artist and the cinematographers who follow, Long Bright River benefited from give-and-take dialogue. The cinematographers, said Toscano, had conversations ad nauseam about passing the torch, making sure there was a continuity in a way she hadn’t experienced before.
While the directing experience hasn’t necessarily informed Toscano’s work or approach to showrunning, she noted that it has had a bit of an effect on how she writes. “I think visually anyway” but directing has “sort of elevated that,” kind of “doubled that awareness.”
Long Bright River adds to a body of TV credits for Toscano which includes her serving as showrunner and exec producer of The Offer, a limited series about the making of The Godfather, and co-showrunner and an EP on Hunters, a conspiracy drama thriller about a group of Nazi hunters, which starred Al Pacino and Logan Lerman. Toscano has also written for and produced varied series such as Bates Motel, 24, Shades of Blue, Detroit 1-8-7, and Revenge.
Jessica Lee Gagné
Artistically speaking, Severance pay has been richly rewarding for cinematographer Jessica Lee Gagné. She established a visual language for the acclaimed series in its first season and built upon that foundation for season 2. Gagné also expanded her creative horizons during the second season, debuting as a director with episode 7, “Chikhai Bardo.”
The episode–for which Gagné served as both director and DP–garnered praise for its storytelling, character development and a stirring one-shot scene that was realized with very little VFX. For the sequence, the camera twists and turns prior to moving from the Macrodata Refinement (MDR) room through a length of cable into a basement control room, and then panning across and upwards to a man tapping his foot. The scene unfolds to stunning effect, facilitated in part by a custom-made cable and an intricately designed rig. Gagné coordinated with a team of operators, grips and VFX talent, shooting all elements in camera, keeping and weaving them together with a visual eloquence.
The directing experience has whetted Gagné’s appetite for more. In a way, she had become so gratified by her work in cinematography that her directorial aspirations, dating back to film school, had sort of waned. That being said, she wasn’t inclined to come back to lensing season 2 of Severance, always seeking another challenge. But motivating her to stay on board the series was in part the chance to direct an episode. “I had to pause and think for a second,” recalled Gagné, noting that she had “completely forgotten” that directing was “something I had wanted in my life. I had been fulfilled with cinematography for some time.”
But upon reading the script for episode 7, Gagné knew immediately that was the installment of the series she wanted to direct. As a cinematographer, she had a deep understanding of the Severance world, and episode 7 had the allure of enabling her to create a new world within that world.
As for the decision to lens the episode she was directing, Gagné explained that it would “be easier for me to work for myself than bring in another cinematographer.” Training a DP new to the show on its aesthetics might have been more diverting for Gagné than shooting the episode herself. She connected with Max Goldman to take on some additional cinematography, primarily flashbacks and some support work.
Initially, Gagné recalled that it was “weird” not to have those conversations that the director and DP have on set. Gagné filled that void in part by chatting with script supervisor Sam Evoy who at times would be a pretend cinematographer. It was a way for Gagné to reflect on what she was doing without literally having to talk to herself.
Gagné’s priority entailed story, character development–and actor performances to advance both. So much of the story centered on what Gemma (portrayed by Dichen Lachman) had to endure as viewers learn what her life has been like over the past few years, continually tested, subject to experimentation of one tortuous sort or another, almost in a prison-like state as she’s bounced from one room to the next. Gagné shared that she wanted viewers to feel for Gemma, “to care about her, to love her,” to connect with “what she was going through as a woman.” The process was “bittersweet.”
Gagné meanwhile had a sweet experience directing, embracing the counterintuitive desire to give herself “a chance to fail.” By taking a chance to do something–directing–that she unconsciously desired, by not being obsessed with control and needing to be in a safe place, Gagné said she grew as an artist and extended her creative and artistic reach.
Gagné plans to pursue directing and has a feature project in her sights that she wasn’t at liberty to discuss in detail publicly. We do know, however, that her plan is to solely serve as director and bring on a cinematographer whom she can collaborate with on the film.
David Tedeschi
Also making an eye-opening directorial debut is David Tedeschi with Beatles ‘64, a documentary that contains rare and newly restored footage, as well as new images and interviews (including with Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and the late filmmaker David Lynch) to provide an intimate look at and perspectives on the English band’s first trip to America.
Tedeschi feels blessed not only for the opportunity to direct but also the chance to work with legends–the subject matter of the Beatles themselves, Martin Scorsese who served as producer, and tapping into restored footage from famed documentary filmmakers Albert and David Maysles.
The Maysles brothers chronicled the Beatles’ 14-day trip in 1964, leaving behind some 11 hours of the Fab Four and their American fans in their youth. You see the Beatles initially conscious of the Maysles’ camera but in relatively short order they become uninhibited, reflecting the natural verite acumen of the documentarians and their knack for putting their subjects at ease.
The seed of the idea for Beatles ‘64 came in anticipation of the 60th anniversary of the Beatles’ visit to America, which included the band’s performance on The Ed Sullivan Show. The Maysles brothers’ footage was restored by Park Road Post, filmmaker Peter Jackson’s company in New Zealand. There was a strong desire to do something with this treasure trove of footage. Tedeschi had edited the Scorsese-directed 2011 documentary George Harrison: Living in the Material World so they had already knew and had interviewed McCartney, Starr, Yoko Ono and Olivia Harrison (the widow of George Harrison). The opportunity emerged for Tedeschi to direct Beatles ‘64 and he had the benefit of comparing notes with and getting invaluable feedback from Scorsese.
Still, the prime responsibilities for Beatles ‘64 rested largely on the shoulders of director Tedeschi. To clarify, this marked his solo directing debut. He had previously co-directed with Scorsese a couple of documentaries–The 50 Year Argument, a documentary on the history and influence of The New York Review of Books; and Personality Crisis: One Night Only covering musician David Johansen’s concert at Cafe Carlyle from January 2020.
In taking on Beatles ‘64, Tedeschi discovered that what he thought were challenges going in were instead advantages. For example, Beatles ‘64 would come two or three years after Jackson’s The Beatles: Get Back, a documentary achievement in its own right. But in a way, Beatles ‘64 turned out to be a companion piece of sorts to Get Back in that the latter covered the very end of the Beatles while Tedeschi’s film catches them at the very beginning when the band members are all in their early 20s.
Also providing a new dimension to Beatles ‘64 was a challenge which Tedeschi described as “how do you establish for a modern audience how square the world was in 1964, how against rock and roll the establishment was. There were scenes at the beginning [of Beatles ‘64] addressing the hysteria of Beatlemania, with [CBS Evening News commentator] Eric Severeid comparing Beatlemania to the German measles. There was also a scene at the British Embassy [in New York] where the staff looked down at the Beatles, mistreated them. It’s almost impossible to imagine. We had to kind of re-create that world. Some of that was quite funny. There was a focus on how long their hair was–yet you can completely see their ears.”
Tedeschi’s collaborative bond with Scorsese goes back 20-plus years. Working with Scorsese, affirmed Tedeschi, is “a master class in filmmaking. He’s fearless. He’s very disciplined but also has boundless energy. He has a way of understanding and expressing things that’s very simple but kind of complex. On Beatles ‘64 I was responsible for the heavy lifting but he was a real resource in terms of being able to talk to him about the film at the beginning. He would look at cuts, tell me what he thought. It was great for me. It’s a privilege to be able to work with him, to talk about film with him and to collaborate.”
This is the 10th installment of SHOOT’s 16-part weekly The Road To Emmy Series of feature stories that explores the field of Emmy contenders, and then nominees spanning such disciplines as directing, cinematography, producing, editing, production design, casting, costume design and visual effects. The series will then be followed up by coverage of the Creative Arts Emmy winners and the Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony in September.
