In television directing, you only have so much time to get the right shot that captures what you need to convey in any given scene while infusing your stylistic genius into the work. On May 30, more than 100 DGA members received helpful tips about the process of storyboarding while accounting for budgetary and time constraints during the Director Development Initiative’s (DDI) online workshop, How to Design Shootable Sequences While Working with a Storyboard Artist.

Director Shaz Bennett moderated a conversation between Director Keith Powell and Director/Storyboard Artist Jim Magdaleno, where they shared tips for how to find the right Storyboard Artist to work with, expectations that Directors should have about the storyboarding process, and explored the impact of storyboarding on the production process, overall, and the benefits of storyboarding for television, specifically.

During the conversation, Powell discussed how he decides when to storyboard, which projects would benefit most from him working with a Storyboard Artist, and remarked on how he relies a bit on his intuition to make the decision to storyboard, noting, “If I can’t communicate it [his artistic vision] with words or with a shot list, then we storyboard it.”

Magdaleno gave invaluable insights into how Directors and Storyboard Artists can work together. He expressed that it is the Storyboard Artist’s job to, “Try to interpret the Director’s vision,” and therefore, it is critical for this to be a collaborative relationship.

DGA Members can watch the full video from 
Director Development Initiative events by clicking here.

ABOUT THE PANELISTS:

Director Keith Powell Powell’s directorial credit include episodes of Will Trent, Not Dead Yet, Young Rock, Big Sky, So Help Me Todd, Interview with the Vampire, Dickinson and Superstore. He has been a DGA member since 2017.

Director/Storyboard Artist Jim Magdaleno  Magdaleno’s directorial credit is as a Second Unit Director on Antoine Fuqua’s feature The Equalizer 2. He is also an award-winning storyboard artist on features such as Damien Chazelle's Babylon and First Man and Matt Reeves' Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. Magdaleno has been a DGA member since 2017.

Director Shaz Bennett (moderator)  Bennett’s directorial credits include the feature film, Alaska is a Drag — based on her short of the same name — as well as episodes of the series Billions, Queen Sugar, Animal Kingdom, Ordinary Joe and Bosch; and the short films Desert Rats, Top of the Circle and Tunnels. She has been a member of the Guild since 2019 and currently serves as a Co-Chair of the DGA Women’s Steering Committee.

About the Director Development Initiative:

The Director Development Initiative is designed to provide current information on the Director’s craft in order to further the Guild’s goal to increase diversity and inclusion in the industry.

• Click here for more information about the DGA’s diversity efforts.