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It’s good if a TV director gets a shot at James Bond

By Alexander Lunde

BEVERLY HILLS, CA - FEBRUARY 04: Director Miguel Sapochnik (R), winner of the Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Dramatic Series for the 'Game of Thrones' episode 'The Battle of the Bastards,' poses with actress Dame Helen Mirren in the press room during the 69th Annual Directors Guild of America Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on February 4, 2017 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)
BEVERLY HILLS, CA - FEBRUARY 04: Director Miguel Sapochnik (R), winner of the Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Dramatic Series for the 'Game of Thrones' episode 'The Battle of the Bastards,' poses with actress Dame Helen Mirren in the press room during the 69th Annual Directors Guild of America Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on February 4, 2017 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images) /
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Here’s something worth pondering while we’re waiting for the director of Bond 25 to be announced: If not now, than in the future, a Bond director will have TV on his or her resume. Of the three current frontrunners, only Dennis Villeneuve doesn’t have TV experience.

Yes, that’s a good thing.

TV has changed a lot since The 90’s

For some that’s a bold claim, but let me take you through my logic. The first, and most important thing is that TV has changed a lot over the last 20 years.

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    • Previously, shows like Seinfeld, Star Trek: The Next Generation, and Friends had a style that could be called “functional.” Usually, the director and the director of photography who shot the pilot got to set the visual language of the show. In the 90’s, the most important facts about directing TV were not to go overtime, and not to go over budget. The visual differences between Friends and say, Seinfeld, were not very big.

    How is TV different now? After HBO started the prestige drama boom in 1999, the writing on TV has gotten bolder, and stronger. Shows started attempting to create more slicker, more striking visual styles, taking as inspiration both classic movies and MTV music videos.

    Remember, the early 2000’s where a time where networks were happy to give film director’s the job. House got Bryan Singer to direct it’s pilot and Occam’s Razor. When Steven Spielberg did the 2002 mini-series Taken (remember that?), he got Tobe Hooper to direct an episode. Yes, the same guy who directed the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre. HBO was happy to hire indie talent Alan Taylor to helm episodes of The Sopranos and Sex and the City.

    Their small-screen compatriots had to compete with the jobs they did. (They sometimes have to work very hard to do this). They overall visual quality of TV went exponentially up. Over the last few years, the process has intensified, with film-makers like Martin Scorsese, David Fincher, and Steven Soderberg bringing their unique sensibilities and flair to shows like Boardwalk Empire, House of Cards,  and The Knick.  

    Increasingly, TV and film are cross pollinating

    Just as crucially, the prestige channels are throwing bigger budgets at their shows. When I read the book Star Trek: The Next Generation- The Continuing Mission, one thing really stuck out. It  revealed that in 1990, the average episode of Next Gen cost $1,200,000. These days, HBO is willing to spend an average of $15,000,000 dollars per episode for Game of Thrones’ 8th season.

    This has been a two way process. More and more, franchise films and prestige pictures have been turning to director’s with TV experience. Anthony and Joe Russo used their experience with Community to direct both Captain America sequels. J.J. Abrahms used his cache for producing Felicity, Alias, and Lost to reboot both Star Wars and Star Trek.

    From Yann Demange, to Paul McGuigan, almost every rumored candidate has TV experience. Any woman you want to direct not named Kathryn Bigelow has a background in TV or independent film. Wonder Woman’s Patty Jenkins has both. Since 1990’s, the mediums of TV and film have both been cross pollinating to a degree they never have before.

    Related Story: Will Daniel Craig choose the director of Bond 25?

    Genre Film-making: most shows benefit from similar skill sets

    Many of the skills you need to be a good TV director are skills that can help make you a good genre filmmaker. You need to be able to manage your shooting time well. If your TV show isn’t named Game of Thrones, or you’re not Martin Scorsese, you need to work within a certain budget. You need to coax actors who have played the same role before to give good performances. If you’re not doing the first one, you have to be willing to build within a pre-existing framework.

    Maybe most crucially, you have to be comfortable with the fact that franchise film directors are usually the creative equivalent of a middle manager. There are people above you that have final decision making power. In TV, that’s usually the show runner. In movies it’s usually the producers. Tomato. Tomahto.

    Unless you think EON is going to ask David Lynch to remodel the Bond franchise in his surrealistic image, the time where a TV director gets a try at Bond is coming, and it’s probably soon.

    So, who do you want to direct Bond 25 and 26?

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