DGA Members curious about how those marvelous live television musical broadcasts are achieved were able hear from the Directors tasked with making it happen during Making it Live! A Live Television Musical Directors Panel. Hosted by the Eastern Region Special Projects Committee and held in the Guild’s New York offices boardroom on November 1, the event featured Directors Rob Ashford (The Sound of Music Live!), Thomas Kail (Grease Live!) and Glenn Weiss (Peter Pan Live!) discussing the joys and challenges of helming live televised musicals in a conversation moderated by Director Scott Ellis.
Illustrated by clips from the broadcasts of The Sound of Music, Peter Pan and Grease, the discussion covered topics that included: set design, how to creatively use the fourth wall, the decision process behind both camera coverage and the placement and number of cameras for a live event, the idea of rehearsing with the final television production in mind and the changes that occur from the rehearsal hall to the stage, and what each director would do differently if they could do the same show again and applying that lesson to their next live production.
Following the moderated portion of the panel discussion, the directors all took questions from the audience.
SEE VIDEO FROM THIS EVENT IN THE GALLERY BELOW
About the Panelists:
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 Rob Ashford
Director Rob Ashford’s credits include the televised productions of Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company's the Winter's Tale and National Theatre Live: Macbeth (both with Kenneth Branagh). He earned a DGA Award nomination for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Movies for Television and Mini-Series for Peter Pan Live! (with Glenn Weiss) and DGA and Emmy nominations for his work on The Sound of Music Live! (with Beth McCarthy-Miller). Ashford joined the DGA in 2013.
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 Thomas Kail
A DGA member since 2009, Kail’s directing credits include the Emmy Award-winning production of Grease Live! (with Alex Rudzinski), the movie for television Critical Hours, and episodes of the series The Jack and Triumph Show, 2 Broke Girls and Storymakers. He was also nominated for a Tony Award for his direction of the Broadway production of In the Heights and took home the Tony Award for his direction of the Broadway production the smash hit Hamilton.
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 Glenn Weiss
A six-time DGA Award recipient, Director Glenn Weiss won the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Variety/Talk/News/Sports – Specials in 2007, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 for the 61st, 64th, 65th, 66th, 67th and 68th Annual Tony Awards. He was also nominated that category in 2001, 2002, 2005, 2006 and 2008 for the 55th, 56th, 59th, 60th, and 62nd Annual Tony Awards, as well as receiving a DGA Award nomination in the Movies for Television and Mini-Series category in 2014 for Peter Pan Live! (together with Rob Ashford). Weiss has also been recognized with 11 Emmy Awards and 31 nominations. He has been a DGA member since 1994 and is an alternate to the National Board.
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 Scott Ellis (moderator)
Director Scott Ellis’s credits include the upcoming live production of A Few Good Men for NBC, as well as the movies for television Sebastian Says, Bronx Warrants and Holding Patterns; the pilots for the television series Dr. Ken, One Big Happy and Undateable; and episodes of the television series 30 Rock, The Closer, Frasier, Modern Family, Nurse Jackie, and Weeds. Ellis has been a DGA member since 2000.
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