HBO series directors Bill Hader, Miguel Sapochnik, Salli Richardson-Whitfield, Bridget Stokes and Antonio Campos joined a Meet the Makers panel at Variety‘s FYC Fest to discuss their origin stories in the entertainment sphere and tease the futures of their beloved programs.
The general consensus among panelists was that their seasoned careers began as production assistants on low-budget productions. The exception to the trend was “The Staircase” helmer Campos, who started making movies at 13 years old when he lied about his age to sneak into the New York Film Academy program.
Hader explained how his first PA gig was on a film called “Two Little Heroes,” followed by jobs on bigger-name movies like “Collateral Damage” and the original “Spider-Man.” As a PA on the film “K-PAX,” Hader was even advised to go home after he failed to lock up a set, resulted in two wandering monkeys from “Planet of the Apes” interrupting a take. “I was not a good PA,” he concluded.
Sapochnik cited his experience as a runner on the film “Transpotting” as “the most grueling experience” he’s ever had. He recalled, at one point, being asked by the crew to do research on what opium suppositories are supposed to look like — a task that required him to roam the city of Glasgow in search of a reference point.
Now, Sapochnik boasts director and executive producer titles on “House of the Dragon,” while Hader is the star, director, co-creator, writer and executive producer of “Barry.” In spite of the accolades possessed by each of the event’s panelists, “The Gilded Age” and “Winning Time” director Richardson-Whitfield emphasized that self-doubt never goes away.
“I’m always fascinated to know if other directors feel the same way when they see that first cut, because you see it and you go, ‘Well, I shouldn’t be directing because this absolutely does not look like what I thought we were shooting. This is terrible,’” said Richardson-Whitfield.
Post-production is already underway for upcoming episodes of shows like “Barry” and “Black Lady Sketch Show,” which are both entering their fourth season.
“We want this to be the most cinematic version of the show,” Stokes, director and co-executive producer of “Black Lady Sketch Show,” revealed of Season 4. “So that was our goal, is to go, “Well, we have 40 sketches, we want each one to have a genre and a tone and to build out the world for each sketch and not repeat ourselves and really dive into what that specific thing is.” And then of course the big question you’re always going back to is, ‘Is it funny?’”
Watch the full conversation above.
