Lesli Linka Glatter, a three-time DGA Award winner, found an element approaching narrative perfection in Imperfect Women (Apple TV), a limited series starring Kerry Washington, Elisabeth Moss and Kate Mara as longtime best friends. When originally approached about the possibility of taking on the project–which she ultimately did as director and executive producer (helming the pilot and two other episodes)–Glatter recalled being drawn in by a dynamic she’s sought throughout her career, namely “telling stories that thematically are not what they appear to be, having to dig deeper to see what is going on. I love telling stories about women and women’s friendships, friendships that go back to when you were young and change your life forever, and you’ll never be the same again.”
Imperfect Women, she continued, centers on “the power of female friendships, their complexities and complications” spanning “love, betrayal and compromises” along with “guilt and retribution. It’s a yummy thing to explore.”
And with Imperfect Women, observed Glatter, particularly “yummy” was the chance to show both the strength and fragility of friendships–when one discovers that a friend was “not quite the person I thought I knew” and “how that impacts our self-reflection” to the extent that you sometimes wonder “do we know ourselves?”
Beyond asking “who we are and who are our friends?,” Imperfect Women is a “whodunit,” a psychological thriller in which Nancy (portrayed by Mara) is murdered, uncovering secrets that shatter the lives of her two surviving friends–Eleanor (played by Washington) and Mary (portrayed by Moss)–calling into question the nature of the decades-long bond among the three women. Grappling with the hidden truths that reside beneath even the closest, most emotionally intimate relationships, Glatter sets the tone for the series from the outset, crafting the visual language and thematic framework that carries throughout.
Glatter noted that while Imperfect Women has its share of imperfect men, the series is largely female-led in front and behind the camera.
Glatter was also very much attracted to the opportunity to shoot Imperfect Women throughout Los Angeles. When SHOOT had last connected with Glatter about her work as director and EP on the Robert De Niro-starring limited series Zero Day, she was about to embark on Imperfect Women, mentioning how enthused she was over the prospect of lensing in Los Angeles. Now having wrapped Imperfect Women, she explained that shooting that series in L.A. helped in the region’s economic recovery–in the aftermath of being hit hard by COVID, two industry strikes and devastating wildfires. Glatter lost her home in the Palisades fire and found it gratifying to be supporting local communities looking to get back on their feet. Moreover she affirmed that L.A. was the place needed to do full justice to Imperfect Women. She related that L.A. settings–ones not normally seen in film or on TV–carried a spirit along with complexities that are very much a character in Imperfect Women. The protagonists are informed by the world in L.A. they inhabit–a prime example being Nancy’s surroundings and luxurious trappings. She has crafted an elite socialite persona yet “feels like a fraud in many ways,” assessed Glatter.
Glatter additionally had the opportunity to hearken back to her own roots as a modern dance choreographer when shedding light on Nancy, a promising dancer whose career path was altered by an injury. Nancy later in life served as a creative consultant at a prestigious ballet school. Glatter brought in choreographer Melissa Barak to help with a Los Angeles Ballet company performance in episode 5 in which Nancy’s lifelong passion for dance leads to an unexpected connection.
Among the “gifts” Glatter received from her involvement in Imperfect Women was the core cast which had already been in place when she came aboard the project. Washington, Moss and Mara are a director’s dream, said Glatter. There wasn’t a huge rehearsal period for Imperfect Women yet when she saw Washington, Moss and Mara together for the first time, Glatter knew the chemistry was there for a story about friendship. Right out of the gate, recalled Glatter, “you feel the years of friendship and history,” helping to make the pilot episode a springboard for the series.
The actors, continued Glatter, underscore what she loves about storytelling. Glatter affirmed that telling stories is more important than ever, bringing people together during a time when we seem to be profoundly divided. Relating to a story and people’s lives creates an empathy which society sorely needs. And when you have a cast led by Washington, Moss and Mara, noted Glatter, you can tell a story about murder and betrayal yet somehow convey a heartfelt friendship that “uplifts the human spirit.”
Glatter added that Imperfect Women is yet another example in her career of storytelling being “a team sport…You’re only as good as your team,” so you craft a space for creativity that the actors can work within, you tap into the talent and ideas of your crew. Among the happy discoveries she made was working with cinematographer Darren Tiernan, ISC for the first time. Glatter initially hoped to work with John Conroy, the DP she teamed with on Zero Day. Glatter described Conroy as “a wonderful Irish bloke” (an Emmy nominee for his lensing of Zero Day). However, he wasn’t available for Imperfect Women. Conroy recommended his friend, Tiernan. Glatter recalled Conroy quipping about Tiernan, telling her that he is “an amazing cinematographer but you can’t love him more than you love me.” Glatter knew of Tiernan’s work including The Penguin (which earned him a Camerimage Golden Frog nomination) and Perry Mason. Glatter met him over dinner and they connected, resulting in Tiernan shooting the three Imperfect Women episodes she directed.
Imperfect Women adds to Glatter’s TV credits over the years which include Homeland, Love and Death, The Morning Show, The Newsroom, The Walking Dead, Justified, Ray Donovan, Masters of Sex, True Blood, Mad Men, The Leftovers, The Good Wife, The West Wing, NYPD Blue, ER, Freaks and Geeks, and Twin Peaks. She has also directed assorted pilots for shows such as Gilmore Girls, Pretty Little Liars and Six. Her films include Now and Then, The Proposition and State of Emergency.
Glatter began her directing career through the American Film Institute’s Directing Workshop for Women where her Tales of Meeting and Parting earned an Oscar nomination for Best Live-Action Short. She has been nominated for nine DGA Awards, winning three–one for Mad Men, the other two for Homeland (including the series finale). Glatter has additionally earned a Humanitas Award nomination (for State of Emergency) as well as nine Emmy nominations.
Susanna Fogel
Susanna Fogel is no stranger to successfully laying the foundation for a series as reflected in her DGA Award win and Emmy nomination for directing the pilot of The Flight Attendant. PONIES (Peacock), though, presented a different opportunity. Fogel directed multiple episodes, including the pilot, but this time around she was a co-creator, co-writer and co-executive producer with David Iserson who additionally served as showrunner. Iserson is an Emmy-nominated producer (Mr. Robot for Best Drama Series) and a Writers Guild Award winner (Mr. Robot) whose credits include Mad Men, New Girl and Mozart in the Jungle.
PONIES marks the first time on the TV side that Fogel had multi-tasking duties spanning writing, directing and exec producing. She brought accomplished creative chops to the party, having earned BAFTA Film Award and Writers Guild Award nominations for the original screenplay she, Emily Halpern and Sarah Haskins penned for Booksmart, Olivia Wilde’s auspicious feature directorial debut.
“I had written work that other directors directed. And I directed other writers’ work, looking to serve their vision,” related Fogel. PONIES gave her the chance to be in both the writer and director’s camps for a TV show, noting that Iserson proved invaluable. “We both had different marathons to run,” said Fogel, referring to Iserson’s duties as showrunner. But in the big picture, Fogel described her and Iserson having “a nice shared brain thing,” with him serving as “the other half of my brain” from the very inception of the show.
Fogel and Iserson are accustomed to sharing. They teamed on the feature film The Spy Who Dumped me as co-writers, with Fogel directing. Having that spy comedy under their belt, Fogel initially wasn’t anxious to get into a 1970s-set spy espionage thriller on the TV side. But something about PONIES–short for “persons of no interest”–beckoned to her and Iserson. For one, PONIES was more dramatic character-driven than The Spy Who Dumped Me. And the multiple episodes of PONIES fostered deeper character grounding and exploration. Plus Fogel explained that she has always had a keen interest in identity and relationship stories. And at the core of PONIES is the developing friendship between U.S. embassy secretaries in Moscow who become CIA operatives–portrayed by Emilia Clarke and Haley Lu Richardson–as they uncover a Cold War conspiracy, which was behind the deaths of their CIA agent husbands in a mysterious plane crash.
Also alluring to Fogel was the Cold War aesthetic for which she has a passion–in part because it marked a time when America was starting to enter into a revolution for women and human rights, and activism was emerging.
PONIES has already generated awards season buzz, with Richardson receiving a Gotham TV Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Performance in a Comedy Series.
The comedy series designation in the Gotham competition doesn’t quite do PONIES justice but it’s the “nature of awards shows,” observed Fogel. After all, her alluded to DGA win for The Flight Attendant was for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy. And clearly The Flight Attendant was much more than a comedy. Similarly PONIES–while humorous–generates considerably more than just laughs. That is not lost on the audience who, observed Fogel, recognize that certain shows are not an extreme of comedy or drama but rather a mesh of genres akin to the humor and pathos of everyday life. She feels that viewers have an appreciation for shows that have “complexities and are more than just one thing.”
In that vein, Fogel noted that viewer feedback to the show–and even earlier in test screenings–showed an affinity for the friendship of the two female protagonists. “On the set, those are my favorite moments [reflecting their friendship]–I choke up and laugh the hardest. It’s what people have responded to in the show.”
That, continued Fogel, is a confidence-builder for future seasons of the show–and “other shows we work on”–because it underscores the “resonant” nature of “an interpersonal relationship that feels real.”
Fogel conjectured that this is in part rooted in the creative approach to the pilot. As a director, she and co-creator Iserson deemed it important for the audience to get to know these women as “regular characters–before they met high-stakes situations,” related Fogel. “A lot of spy shows don’t bother with that kind of character development.” Prioritizing the defining of characters–letting viewers get to know them–in the pilot was essential so that persons of no interest become of interest to audiences. Spy thrillers often prioritize plot points and complex machinations, turning over a lot of cards in rapid-fire succession. The plot and espionage aspects, though, become more relatable when we know who the characters are before they face extraordinary circumstances.
That human aspect also crosses geopolitical lines. Fogel said that she and Iserson made a concerted effort not to vilify all the Russians and valorize the Americans.” Rather the narrative shows the humanity of varied characters–the good and bad, right and wrong across both sides.
Fogel and Iserson had the additional task of hiring directors for PONIES–ultimately selecting Ally Pankiw and Viet Nguyen. Having worked as a director for hire, Fogel knows what it feels like when someone is watching over you like a hawk, at times breathing down your neck. As a co-creator of PONIES, she didn’t want to do that to a director. “You have to hire the right people to let them express themselves and feel connected to what they’re doing,” said Fogel who shared that she and Iserson wanted directors who demonstrated a keen understanding of comic timing, could trust and gain trust from the actors, and “turn up the dial” when needed to make a scene even funnier. But beyond that, there were assorted other elements to manage, such as stunt sequences which needed to be storyboarded–pretty intense sequences that involved other units and teams. Fogel noted that Nguyen had television experience across assorted genres, while Pankiw was expert in dramedy with work that was female-driven and comedy-driven. They had a lot of scope to their résumés and brought something special to the series, remarked Fogel.
In addition to PONIES, The Flight Attendant and Booksmart, Fogel’s notable credits include A Small Light, a limited series for which she directed the first three episodes. A Small Light was based on the inspiring true story of Miep Gies who helped to hide the family of Anne Frank from the Nazis during World War II. Gies and her husband, Jan, along with several other everyday heroes, watched over the Frank, van Pels and Pfeffer families hiding in a secret annex.
Fogel was part of an ensemble on A Small Light which won a 2023 Gotham Independent Film Award in the Breakthrough Series category. Bel Powell, who portrayed Miep Gies, was nominated for a Gotham Independent Film Award for Outstanding Performance in a New Series.
Alexandria Stapleton
The tendency for many after constant exposure to a sensationalized, seemingly inescapable story is to somehow try to escape its reach. One such all-to-real story has been the fall of Sean “Diddy” Combs amid allegations of sexual abuse, “freak-off” parties, human trafficking and acts of violence. Last October he was sentenced to four years and two months in prison for transporting people across state lines for sexual encounters, capping a high-profile federal case that featured harrowing testimony and ended in a forceful reckoning for one of the most popular figures in hip-hop.
Documentary filmmaker Alexandria Stapleton–a director and producer known for her work across sports, music, pop culture and social justice–saw the potential to do greater justice to the story, going beyond the sensationalized and delving into Combs’ life. As director and exec producer, she crafted a docuseries, Sean Combs: The Reckoning (Netflix), which brings context to the man and the events, engaging audiences on a deeper level–including a number of those viewers who sought to gain respite from the subject matter but found themselves drawn in by the substantive story uncovered by Stapleton. Upon its premiere in December 2025, Sean Combs: The Reckoning quickly became a widely discussed nonfiction release and the #1 TV show globally on Netflix. Underscoring Stapleton’s achievement realized through thoughtful storytelling was her DGA Award nomination earlier this year for “Official Girl,” the third episode of Sean Combs: The Reckoning, in the Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary Series/News category. The docuseries also garnered a Gotham TV Award nod for Breakthrough Nonfiction Series.
Stapleton cried upon receiving the news that she was a DGA Award nominee. “It meant the world to me,” she said, noting that the DGA itself means a great deal to her. She is the daughter of a union leader and grew up in union culture. She’s been active in the Guild, serving as co-chair of the DGA documentary committee. Thus she regards it as the highest honor to be “artistically recognized by my peers” at the DGA.
The four-part docuseries–which saw Stapleton team with exec producer Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, a Grammy winner–is an insightful exploration of media mogul, music legend and convicted offender Combs, chronicling his meteoric rise to stardom and the pivotal role he played in making hip-hop mainstream and in launching the careers of assorted generation-defining artists like The Notorious B.I.G., Mary J. Blige, Jodeci, and Danity Kane. But along the way, and as detailed by his former associates, childhood friends, artists, and employees, something darker began to color Combs’ ambitions. Through explosive, never-before-seen material (including footage from the days leading up to Combs’s indictment and arrest, and exclusive interviews with those formerly in his orbit), this docuseries tells the story of a powerful, enterprising man, the empire he built–and the underworld that lay just beneath its surface.
Stapleton called the docuseries “the most challenging work I had ever embarked on. It was a very laborious project to pick a subject matter like this that was being reported on, all the salacious details which people were fixated on. I tried to go deeper, to earn the trust of victims so that they would feel comfortable enough to share their stories with me.”
There was the added dynamic of investigating an active story–one being pursued by other journalists and documentarians. Stapleton had to break away from the feeding frenzy, quiet that noise and make sure she was talking to “people who are bringing their truth to the table,” that her finger was on the pulse of “telling an authentic story.” She prioritized “giving opportunity to voices that had been silenced, allowing them to tell their truth.”
Towards that end, Stapleton conducted lengthy interviews, sometimes spanning several days. She wanted to create a safe space for those she interviewed, especially the victims–away from all the noise and chaos in the world surrounding them and the story.
The sheer volume of original material–hours of interviews–and archival footage was daunting, described by Stapleton as being in many respects “a maze at times.” She credited an ensemble of seven editors–Charles Divak, Jack Gravina, Jonathan Miller, Jeremy Siefer, Evan Wise, Adam Goldstein and Benjamin (“Benji”) Kast–with playing integral roles in navigating through that maze so that viewers could stay connected with the timeline, the events and the sheer emotion of the journey without being overwhelmed. Editorially it was “a Herculean task,” she assessed, noting that the editors were up to the challenge in that they are “great storytellers” and all were well grounded in working with complex characters.
In the big picture, there was another dynamic that Stapleton tapped into–the scope of the story. While it’s about Combs, the victims, and assorted others in music and entertainment fields, The Reckoning also extends to what the story says about us as a society, “a culture that sort of idolizes celebrity.” There were rumors of bad behavior–but others besides Combs himself could also be assigned some degree of culpability, wrapped up in the money, fame, the cool factor of creating art and influencing pop culture. There were “so many other adults who witnessed this guy’s behavior and no one did anything about it,” noted Stapleton. Do we as a society sometimes look away, and over the long haul does this translate into a reckoning for us as well?
The docuseries joins a body of work for Stapleton which includes her film-directing debut, Corman’s World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2011. She made another splash at Sundance in 2024 with The Price of Oil–the second leg of the God Saves Texas trilogy. And earlier this year, Stapleton again impacted Sundance with the world premiere of an ESPN 30 for 30 documentary which she directed and produced, The Brittney Griner Story, which follows basketball star Griner’s career and her nightmare imprisonment in Russia.
Among other notable credits for Stapleton are How Music Got Free, Reggie, Hello Privilege, Pride, and It’s Me, Chelsea.
Colin Hanks
Begin at the end. In 1994, at the age of 43, John Candy died of heart failure. And to begin their documentary about Candy’s life, director Colin Hanks and producer Ryan Reynolds had Dan Ackroyd re-create and share the touching eulogy he had delivered at a private memorial service for Candy in Los Angeles. Ackroyd’s tribute captured Candy’s spirit, talent, kindness, wit, charm and generosity of heart. And it proved a springboard of sorts for the documentary John Candy: I Like Me (Prime Video) to go back and explore the beloved actor-comedian’s life and how he came to connect meaningfully not only with his friends and colleagues but all those people who never met him and were still touched by his work–almost feeling like they knew him.
There was a down-to-earth warmth to Candy’s performances, helping us to relate to him as Uncle Buck or in Planes, Trains and Automobiles. That unassuming friendliness was also a part of who he was off-camera as well–and audiences both sensed and felt that.
At one point in the documentary, Mel Brooks observed, “He was a total actor because he was a total person.”
Hanks went to Ackroyd, Brooks and assorted others–including Candy’s son, Chris Candy, daughter, Jennifer Candy-Sullivan, and wife, Rose Candy, who also served as executive producers on the documentary–to delve into John Candy’s legacy, psyche, life experiences and hardships, including the death of his father at an early age.
At first, Hanks confessed that he wasn’t overly enthused over the prospect of doing a film about Candy. He had been initially approached some time ago and said he “kind of nixed” the opportunity. “They got me on the wrong Tuesday morning,” quipped Hanks. But later he got wind that Reynolds was going to reach out to him about exploring Candy’s life. “I knew he [Reynolds] was a big fan of John’s work,” related Hanks. “He put together these videos online celebrating John’s work. I realized I was talking to a John Candy super fan. We had a long conversation and I remember Ryan saying that he didn’t want to live in a world where a John Candy documentary doesn’t exist.” Hanks found himself in agreement with Reynolds. “There needs to be a greater story told.”
Hanks gained insights from Candy’s children as to what that story was–and what it could be on film. Hanks began learning about John Candy’s life–as a youngster, losing his dad, the struggles with anxiety. Hanks observed that during Candy’s formative years, “no one talked about therapy” whereas today therapy doesn’t have a stigma attached to it. So from a therapeutic standpoint, Candy had to craft his own coping mechanisms and skills at a young age, which made him who he was–”a great personable guy” who was known for “treating people with kindness and respect,” related Hanks.
There was an added challenge to making a John Candy documentary–as if the normal pressure of being true to someone’s life weren’t enough. Hanks explained, “We needed to create a John Candy movie. It needed to be more than just a documentary. The audience had to feel like they had just seen a John Candy film, like they had just seen Uncle Buck or Planes, Trains and Automobiles. There was an emotional component. When they turned off Prime or walked away from the movie theater after seeing this documentary, we wanted them to then go and watch John’s films. We knew there would be viewers who were already big fans of John. So we had to deliver on that front. But we also had to introduce John to a new generation of fans.”
Hanks shared that John Candy: I Like Me “in a way ended up being one of the more personal films I had ever made,” finding out about Candy’s humanity, his ways of coping, and “learning about how things that happen to us as children effect us as adults.”
Hanks could also look back on his own childhood experience with Candy. As a kid, Hanks was on the set of Splash to visit his father, Tom Hanks. Candy was a supporting actor in the comedy, and became a friend of the Hanks family. Colin Hanks as a youngster experienced what the documentary he made as an adult is celebrating. Hanks recalled that on the set of Splash, Candy, a guy in his 30s, was able to make him, an eight-year-old kid, feel special. “We had a connection. He was a sweet, kind man who made you feel comfortable.”
John Candy: I Like Me adds to director Hanks’ filmography which also includes All Things Must Pass: The Rise and Fall of Tower Records, and Eagles of Death Metal: Nos Amis (Our Friends). Justin Kane, a camera operator on the latter, served as cinematographer on John Candy: I Like Me which debuted at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival, making for a most appropriate opening night given the popularity of Candy, a beloved Canadian. The documentary received critical acclaim and earlier this year won the Producers Guild Award in the televised or streamed motion pictures category.
This is the second installment of SHOOT’s weekly 16-part The Road To Emmy Series of feature stories, connecting with directors, producers, cinematographers, editors, production designers, VFX talent and assorted other artisans to gain insights into their work and their collaborators. Emmy nominations will be announced and covered on July 8. Coverage of the Creative Arts Emmy winners will appear on September 5 and 6, and we will report on winners at the primetime Emmy Awards ceremony on September 14.
