Biggest Mistakes I Made Early In My Directing Career - Dan Attias

[@AdaKitten]

My dad is an officer, and he always tells me that the secret to be a good leader is to actually lead (communicate and direct) and not command (bark at and direct). Both work, but while one makes people want to follow you and do extra, the other makes people fear you and will make them not go the extra mile.

[@moviemadness2536]

This reminds me of something I learned early in my writing days: don't plan out every last detail in advance. You need to give yourself room to improvise, to think of things on the fly, or your story will suffer for it.

[@kingVibe111]

This really is a great point. If you’re still discovering things when you’re writing or even editing it still feels fresh.

[@moviemadness2536]

@@kingVibe111 Exactly. There's always room to add something if you believe it NEEDS to be there.

[@jep3991]

Actually, I think he said the opposite in terms of preparation. A director needs to plan ahead in great detail and be fully immersed in the script and story. This will allow for the director to be confident enough to listen to other viewpoints on set and be able to convincingly defend or explain his decisions.

[@moviemadness2536]

@@jep3991 Well, I'm talking in terms of writing, not directing.

[@DovieRuthAuthor]

What a wonderful interview! It's so refreshing to hear someone who is so translucent and insightful. We can only wish for one hundred more just like Dan.

[@filmcourage]

Agreed! We look forward to sharing more of this interview with you Dovie!

[@rmglover3191]

As my friend would say "it's only a waste - if you *didn't* get the message." This was an awesome, relatable share about life and how to live and grow.

[@FrederickLopez]

Great interview with Dan Attias. Baby Blues was a good episode from Miami Vice Season 3. A mistake I made in my early films was worrying about what others thought and not being fully committed to my vision. In addition, I thought that everything had to be exactly like the script. I then learned to let actors and film crew have some input. Make it collaborative but never lose sight of what was intended.

[@filmcourage]

Thanks for posting Frederick!

[@Paul.McGhie]

I agree. I think making people feel comfortable enough on set so they have the space to do their best work IS the director's job. If you prepare and come to set with an idea or story you can fully communicate, but also be able to say 'I don't know how to do 'this', but I think you can help to make it happen, then you are always going to aid and inspire the best work from people. Great video - thank you.

[@MysterianFilmGroup]

Only a fellow director fully understands another director's inner workings.

[@JeffMesserman]

Wow, this was essentially a MASTERCLASS in directing! What a gift!

[@filmcourage]

Cheers Jeff! More to come!

[@PawFromTheBroons]

That guy did so many of my most cherished TV memories.

[@Sergeant_Fury]

I've found that a good director acts like he's your friend, but his charisma and leadership leaves no doubt in your mind that he's in charge and if you don't perform, be it as an actor or extra (me), he will come down on your head from a great height. It reminded me of the army, where everyone is working towards a common goal. In the army you will follow a good leader into the jaws of hell, but you'll follow a poor leader out of idle curiosity to watch him screw up. Screaming, shouting and being a bully will make you avoid that leader like the plague.

[@ch355_]

“which is more detrimental to the set…?” he dodged that question in a way that demonstrated the answer he gave about the director’s job. this segment helps me understand his point of view in the previous video about the courtroom scene. i’m looking forward to a full interview one day, if it becomes available. thank you for sharing this part.

[@filmcourage]

Cheers, more to come!

[@TheEliasNoel]

This was fantastic, so great to hear such an honest experience. Looking forward to watching the full interview.

[@filmcourage]

We look forward to sharing it! Dan provided us a lot of insights into his career and the business.

[@AZTigerMMA]

What a great interview

[@ravibalkissoon8851]

Just rewatched yesterday The 400 Blows directed by Truffaut...it does take skill, patience and brevity even within minimal actions and between the silences to effective convey emotion as a director.

[@jameskelly6039]

This might be just a pet peeve of mine, but there is a trend I’ve seen across multiple interviews with multiple people now that gets on my nerves. That’s when the subject steps on the interviewer before they’ve finished their thought/question. I get that a lot of these directors/writers/film makers tend to be quick thinkers, are there to be interviewed for what they have to say, and have to have some form of ego to them and thus feel the need to interject when they feel they’ve got the gist of what’s being said or asked. It still just strikes me as somewhat rude and at times almost condescending when someone isn’t allowed to finish. Not that this interview was overly offensive in that regard. I just sometimes put myself in the interviewers shoes and find myself eye rolling when I’ve not finished the question and they’ve launched into a 15 minute tangent that wasn’t what I might have been asking. Aside from that…uhm…great interview! lol

[@rosmickens7568]

I ♥️ Silver Bullet and Miami Vice kept me home on Friday nights until 10PM GREAT INTERVIEW!

[@masudheartman3941]

Thank you 🤗 for sharing this type of content 💓

[@BionicDance]

I've only ever directed my own little animated projects; the idea of doing something for a studio--much less in live action!--scares the pants off me. I'm sure there are a lot of protocols to follow, and I'm so used to moving cameras and lights with the click of a mouse... I'm _good_ at directing when the only crew I have is the dude doing the music and everyone else is an actor. Moving out of that independence into a _system,_ a Hollywood studio, seems...not worth it.

[@KiambuX]

I know him from his work on HBO's slate of shows. Good stuff!

[@NelsonStJames]

This is the kind of stuff a neophyte in this business really needs to know before hand.

[@Selvarin]

Listening to the early parts of this....Good Lord! People in the business are crazy, I doubt I could deal with the psychological abuse without choking the other person. This Dan Attias character has gone through a lot.

[@liaminwales]

Ill never forget being on a small indie short and asking something and being asked if I had read the script (I was sent the night before), I had printed 4 copies and ended up giving them all to the actors and director. No one prints today and no one can read screens in daylight.. But people dont know your called in last min and a single bad impression lasts. Any way lesion learned read it well, my main problem is I am not used to scripts (was doing BTS photos, not a film background).

[@thereal_SonnyLaguna]

Pure Gold.

[@filmcourage]

What mistakes did you make early on in your film/writing career?

[@gvphdyt]

I waited a year to subscribe to this channel 👍🏼

[@crazyralph6386]

Silver Bullet was an awesome film.

[@BillElBumblingBowler]

That show scared the hell out of me when I was a kid!

[@RossIsFine]

Actors are the enlisted. Directors are the officers

[@PresWeb]

Great video

[@filmcourage]

Thanks for the visit

[@davywilliams8048]

This is hard to listen to.the usual guest has success stories but this fellow attracts failure. I highly recommend to him listening to the law of attraction or the Secret. Both free and very helpful to someone like this.

[@hypernovadragon1362]

You do know the law of attraction and the Secret are pseudoscience, right? They don’t work, more so make money for the people promoting them. There are so many cases of people claiming to have cured cancer or something through the law of attraction and sadly die to cancer afterwards.