May 19, 2025 • 55 mins
Today on What's My Frame I'm joined by Director, Michael Medico. This episode is vibrate, filed with stories, laughs and inspiration! Michael shares the story behind his first short, BITCH which was shot for $66, premiered at Outfest, was a hit on the festival circuit before being named best short film of 2009 by Frontiers LA magazine. Michael shares his journey shadowing and the road to episodic directing. How he establishes trust and a partnership with his actors on set and so much more. This conversation recharged my creative battery, I hope y'all are just as inspired by Michaels creativity and say yes attitude!
While working on his own projects Michael shadowed 13 different directors on TV shows: most notably Mark Mylod and Debbie Allen. Michael got his first directing job on television on "The Fosters" directing three episodes in the last two seasons including the first part of the three-part Series Finale. In the meantime, his mockumentary short "Walk It Out" premiered at the Palm Springs Int'l ShortFest and his short "Divorce: The Greatest Hits" premiered at the LA Int'l Shorts Festival. He was a recurring director on "The Fosters" spin-off "Good Trouble" for Freeform while also supervising new directors on the show. He directed multiple episodes of Netflix' "Atypical" including the Series Finale. And he's directed multiple episodes of Shonda Rhimes' "Grey's Anatomy" and its spin off "Station 19" for ABC and Ryan Murphy's "Dr Odyssey" "9-1-1" and "9-1-1:Lone Star." Michael is set to direct his feature debut - the Walden Media film adaptation of Robbie Couch's novel "The Sky Blues" and is developing a film with Dakota Johnson and Ro Donnelly's TeaTime Pictures.
Michael received a BFA in Theatre from Boston University and brings to directing his years of experience working as an actor in film, TV and theater in NYC and LA. He was also the creator and executive producer of Hot in Hollywood, a celebrity-driven benefit that raised more than half a million dollars in three years for domestic and international AIDS organizations. He lives in Los Feliz with his husband, Brian, their daughter and son, Everly Rose and Bowie, and three silly mutts, Lady, Charlie and Patch.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:01):
Hi everyone, Today and What's MyFrame?
I'm joined by director Michael Medico.
This episode is vibrant, filled with stories, laughs and
inspiration. Michael shares the story behind
his very first short Bitch, which was shot for $66,
premiered and out Fest was a hiton the festival circuit before
being named Best Short Film of 2009 by Frontiers LA Magazine.
(00:23):
Michael shares his journey shadowing and the road to
episodic directing, how he establishes trust in a
partnership with his actors on set, and so much more.
This conversation recharged my creative batteries.
I hope y'all are just as inspired by Michaels creative
stories and say yes attitude. Now let's get to the
conversation. Hey Michael, welcome to What's
(00:44):
My Frame? I'm so happy you're here.
I have something to be here, Laura.
Thank you for having me. I've been a fan of your work for
a very, very long time. For anyone who isn't familiar
with the different chapters and and books in your career, could
you just give us a little back story of your creative process
and what brought you here? Yeah, I started off doing
(01:06):
theater back, back, back when I was very, very young and in high
school when I went to Boston University for acting.
And I was a very, very serious actor, mostly doing classical
theater. I never had my eyes ever on Los
Angeles. I thought that was just for
plastic people and sellouts. And and I lived in New York for
(01:30):
six years, which I literally thought was going to be my home
for the rest of my life. And I did tons of regional
theater all over the country. I did some small shows in the
city and then I did an episode of Sex and the City and a Law
and Order, a special Dickens unit.
And I made more money in that, like doing like one or two lines
than I did like doing like all the theater I have been doing.
(01:51):
And I thought, oh, came out hereand I was an actor for many
years and was doing commercials and TV and independent films,
tested for a couple pilots but never got a series regular gig.
So I wasn't getting like the meaty, meaty stuff.
I was definitely making my living only as an actor, but
wasn't really fulfilled. And people had always told me I
(02:13):
should be a director. And I always thought, don't you
dare say that to me. I'm an actor.
I'm a very serious actor. Open the camera.
No, no, thank you. Exactly.
This is not exactly right. This is not for behind the
camera. And so I didn't pursue it ever.
And then one day as a whole, thestory which we can get into if
(02:34):
you want to hear it, I did and Iwas immediately hooked.
So that's how I became a director.
I mean, that's the short business of how I got to
directing. I guess I should say, well.
Yes, we of course would love to hear that story of of how
directing did become a part of your career.
My goodness. Well, so Christopher and off,
(02:54):
who was the showrunner of Grey'sAnatomy and Station 19 and a
show called Rebel. We've been friends since
college. We went to college together and
at the time this was going back to around 2008, I was getting a
divorce, filing for bankruptcy and a big AIDS benefit that I
had created called Hot in Hollywood that had raised like
(03:15):
half $1,000,000 for this AIDS charity over the course of three
years was coming to an end. So I was lost.
I was beside myself. I was literally like was in the
thick of it. I was on her floor like crying
as she was holding me. And she's like, you just need to
be around people that love you. And I'm having an Oscar party in
like a week. Like please come and be.
(03:36):
It's all people from Boston you that you went to college with
Peter Page and Michaela Watkins and Kim Raver and Ray Ford and
Abraham Higginbotham and all the, all the folks from there.
And, and I said, I, I, I, I can't come.
I can't come. I have to go get like a catering
job because I don't have any. And she was like, OK, take a
breath. How much money would you make
(03:57):
catering at a party for the Oscars?
And I was like, I'd make like $250.
She's like, OK, I will pay you $250 to not work that night and
come to this party and just be loved by all the people that
love you the most. Instant tears, more tears.
And then she goes, but you have to make a one minute movie.
And I said, what do you mean? And she goes, it's just part of
(04:19):
the thing. Anyone that comes has to bring a
one minute movie that they, thatthey make.
And then we're going to show them during the commercials.
And I'm going to like give away a little Oscar statuette for
the, the best extra short, you know, film of the night.
And I was like, well, I can't dothat.
I, I didn't, you hear? I'm like filing for bankruptcy.
I'm getting a divorce. And as I'm saying it, she kind
of gets a smile on her face. And I said, OK, I get it.
(04:41):
Those things are happening to me.
They're not who I am. I will make the short, I will
come to the party and I'll take that $250 now.
And so I did. And the minute I shot it and I,
I don't do anything small. So I made it for $66 and I had
like a producer and ADP and locations and food brought in
(05:03):
and a whole team of, of MIT hairmakeup people and extras galore.
It was a whole thing. I won the party and then it went
on to all these different festivals and it got named the
best short of 2009 by Frontiers magazine.
But right after that, my producer from that said, hey, we
should do this other short. And it's also a minute long.
And I said, I'm like, not a director, like I'm not, this is
(05:26):
not what I'm doing. I'm still trying to pull myself
out of this whole life. And he goes, no, it's great.
I'll come over, we'll talk aboutit's for Earth Hour.
And it's just about like saving energy.
And I said, I honestly don't have any ideas except like maybe
it's like a couple that's like turning off appliances and
lights on each other and they end up in the dark.
And so the only thing to do in the dark is to have sex.
And he's like, well, there's ourshort and then we shot that like
(05:49):
literally a month later. And then just things started
happening. I just started shooting.
I think I shot like 6 things in the next seven months.
And I just kept going. And I was posting on Instagram
about it and at the time, Facebook and my manager, my ex
manager saw something. He said, hey, come and pitch for
this thing. And so we pitched for that.
We got it. A friend of mine who's working
(06:10):
at Fox said, hey, you should pitch for this $30,000.
We're trying to make a viral video.
And you know, to them $30,000 was nothing of a of a budget.
But to me it was like literally the most I've ever had.
We got it. We shot that.
And then I started shadowing directors and the rest is sort
of history. I mean, I shadowed.
(06:31):
I will say this, this is a long I'm going on.
Am I going on too long? I am loving this and I also I
love because wait So what you started and did for Christmas
party is bitch right? Yes, I love this because OK,
side tangent, if anyone has never had the joy of being on
the Grays or station set, it is a family and like as you were
(06:54):
describing it, it just like I remember being on those sets and
it's just like it's such a warm hug and those people that those
like showrunners and everyone down have created, it's just it
makes me love them even more. So OK, no, please continue.
And it's true she she does create family and her the other
person that we went to school with, Peter Page, who created
the Fosters in good trouble. He was my friend from college as
(07:17):
well. And and by the way, I will say
this like you'd think like, oh, nepotism.
That's how I got Grey's Anatomy and the fosters wait to hear
what it took. I'll tell you that in a second.
But they were rooting for me thewhole time.
It just is never just like they didn't just kiss me in.
It was like they were supportingme and helping me.
But it took years to break into those shows.
(07:38):
That's that's the story I'll tell in a second.
But you're absolutely right, Laura, the the way that they
create family and the way they respect people and the way that
they tell story, their love of story and their love of
character and people in their stories is the same as their
love of character and people in life.
(07:59):
And they create a really amazingspace.
And, and because they were mentors of mine starting off,
that's how I am. So when I'm on set, I learn
everyone's name. I learn everyone's name.
I possibly can like even down tothe craft service person, even
down to the the PA that's like, you know, getting me a water if
(08:19):
I'm like, you know, it's 4:00 inthe morning and I'm like my
wit's end. Like because there's nothing
like being acknowledged by someone.
And so many people that are on those sets that don't have like
fancy titles never get acknowledged.
Never. And it's and because of the
speeches I've heard them give for years, like before shooting,
like after the AD gives their usual safety speech, I'm right
(08:42):
next to the ADI give a little speech every day where I'm like,
yesterday was incredible. We got out on time and it was
because you were all so fantastic and you're shut up.
So thank you for doing everything you did and thank you
for all the things that you did that no one knows that you did.
That made our day easier and safe.
And it just sets a tone. And I just basically stole that
(09:05):
right from those 2 when. People feel appreciated and
seen. They want to work at their
highest level. And I think that that is
something that is so often overlooked is when you slow down
and acknowledge people and see what they're contributing and
how that this would not be made without them.
It makes the final product so much better.
(09:26):
Should we talk about Bitch or how you broke into Grayson
Station first? Because we're we're at a fork in
the road and we're going to cover both.
Which one you want? To Let's talk about Grayson
Station first. OK.
So how, how did Peter and Krista, how did they help give
you kind of the inside track of how to start preparing your
materials and, and going towardsthat well?
(09:48):
When I first wanted to start to shadow, I reached out to Krista.
She contacted me with Tony Phalen.
And because Tony Phalen was Krista had already left.
So Krista was running the show and then she left for a time and
then it came back. So she contacted me with Tony
Phalen. Tony said, you know, I don't
really have shadows right now, sorry.
(10:09):
And I was like, OK, great. But in the meantime, the strike
was about to happen and they want to do a benefit for their
crew. And so Krista introduced me to
Tony again and was like, hey, Michael Medico is the benefit
guy. Like he's the guy that like did
hot in Hollywood and they had heard of it.
So then all of a sudden I'm in aroom with like Shonda, Tony,
Betsy beers, like all the heads of the company.
(10:31):
And I'm like giving my say about, well, don't you know, if
you want to have a step repeat that has a vodka or a a booze
sponsor on it, you have to make sure that ABC is OK with that.
And you know, all the things because I just have been through
these so many times. Of course, granted, I didn't
ever take into consideration that Shonda would probably do
whatever she wanted because she's Shonda.
(10:52):
And it wasn't exactly like me ifI was doing it because we come
from a different space. But anyway, I helped throughout
that whole entire process and was there on the day and helping
with all the things. And so Tony was like, you know
what, I am going to make room for you to shadow me because I
really like you. And and I had shot a couple more
things that he had seen and he was like, you know, I just no
(11:14):
one was giving an in. Like everyone wants to direct.
And so like, you know, people take with a grain of salt until
they're like, well, let me see your work.
And I can't tell you how many times people will say to me
like, Hey, I really want to shadow you.
I said, great, send me your materials.
Like, well, I haven't shot anything yet.
Like well, go shoot something then you can chat on me, but
like you got to do it because I have to get you passed by the
(11:35):
studio on the network and I haveto show your stuff, so go do it.
So I had had those things, so Tony let me shadow him and then
Tony basically left the show as well to go do his own thing.
So there was a new show runner. So I was like, there goes my
connection. So the man that hires the
directors was Rob Corn. And so Tony tried to introduce
(12:00):
me to Rob. I couldn't break down his door.
I like literally was like tryingto get in and like a years were
going by. And so finally I said, hey, I'm
coming to the lot and I'm going to be on the lot.
And I know you don't know me from Adam.
So like this random person reaching out to all the time,
but like I'd love to just like come by and say hi.
And he said absolutely. But just so you know, like I'm
(12:21):
not having any shadows. And I said, that's fine.
Let's take shadowing off the table.
I just want to come meet you. He said great.
So in the meantime, I watch every single thing Rob Corn has
ever directed. I like watch and watch and
watch. I watch with the sound off.
I'm studying the shots. I'm studying like, what's his
signature thing? Why is it that he's the
(12:42):
producing director? Because they made him a
producing director for a reason.So what is it?
What does he do that's really fantastic?
That works. So I go to his office.
He's like, hey, Michael, nice tomeet you.
Just to remind you, I'm not having any shadows.
I was like, Rob, we already talked about this.
I don't want to hear the word shadow for you again.
We're not that's not on the table.
He's like, OK, great. So we have this great talk and I
said, I love how you always are revealing people revealing if
(13:04):
you're racking focus to someone overhearing something and it's
such a great reveal. He goes, Oh my God, that's like
one of my signature things. People are always talking about
that. I said, yeah, it's so fun.
It keeps it so fresh. And I said also your your work
with short depth of focus with like the longest lens as
possible is so stunning. He goes, oh, the DP is always
saying, what do you want me to take out this wall to get the
camera further away? You want such a long lens, he
(13:26):
goes. Listen, I'd love to have you
shadow me. When people feel seen, it makes
a difference. Yes, I was like great.
So I shadowed Rob and like the next season he left.
So I didn't get to go on the show then.
So in the meantime, Krista's gone.
I I gotten on the fosters. That was sort of the same issue
(13:52):
where I like shadowed, nothing happened.
Peter's like rooting for me, butlike, I'm a white guy at the
time. They're like, we have enough
white guys, like we need other people.
And Peter's like he's great and he's gay and he's, but he's
really great. And I understand and I'm a white
guy that's working the show too,but I'll give up one of my
episodes for him to do. And they were like, no, no, no,
(14:12):
no, no. So then I was like, well, let me
shadow Peter because he's the, you know, the creator of the
show. And I didn't get the show.
Actually, the first shadow I ever did was Norman Buckley.
And so I shadowed Norman, but Norman wasn't like he was a
regular director on the show, but wasn't a person hiring.
So I shadowed Peter. He got to see me on set.
He's like it to this day. He's like nobody shadows like
(14:34):
Michael Medico, like I block every single scene.
I go about it like I'm the director.
So I know, but then I don't ask a lot of questions.
Like I'll write down my questions.
And this is what I recommend to anybody that wants the shadow is
if in the middle day you have a question, write it down because
most of the time it'll be answered by the end of the day
anyway. But also I'm a director of that.
(14:56):
I'm in it, in it in, in, in. And then when I walk into my
car, I'm like, OK, great, let's talk to to my shadow.
I'm like, what have you got? Let's questions, concerns,
comments, anything that popped up for you.
And so, you know, it's great to have them written down because
then you can like pop them off. And sometimes I'll even like on
the if it's a location scout, like on the hour long drive in
the morning, I'll just call my shadow and be like, Hey, I got
(15:16):
time. You got time to talk.
I feel like, Oh my gosh, OK, Because I, I shadowed 14 times.
So like, I know what an opportunity it is and I know
what it's like to be ignored as a shadow.
It's happened before. And I know what you can get out
of it if it's done like properly.
And so I always want to give back in that way.
(15:37):
Anyway, I shadowed. I shadowed and this is a crazy
story about how I got my first episode, by the way.
Should we talk about something else or do you want to hear it?
OK. I mean, we're a Grayson Station
stand podcast, so people can just, we can just listen.
It's fine. It's completely people just
hear. They hear for it.
It's fine. We for the Fosters, the whole
(16:02):
season before was about when we go to Disney Concert Hall, when
we go to Disney Concert Hall. So this is like the, I think
it's season four or five. And so finally we open the
season. They're at Disney Concert Hall
and it's the, it's Brandon, the son.
He's playing. It's a whole moment.
And so we're doing the location.Scott and I see a buddy of mine.
(16:23):
I'm like, hey, how you doing? And the producer who I've, who's
now seen me twice, I've shadowedtwice.
Actually, I've shadowed 2 1/2 times.
She's like everywhere we go. You know everybody who's that?
I said, oh, he's the chief operating officer of the LA
Phil. She goes, oh, aren't you fancy?
Yeah, yeah, like 3 days before we're about to shoot, it falls
through and it falls through so much so it's like you can't
(16:46):
shoot here at all. So what I'm hearing is that
basically the Disney, Walt Disney Concert Hall is the
landlord and the LA Phil is the renter.
They rent the space. So Walt Disney Concert Hall is
the one that gave us a tour and they were like, yeah, you can
have it. And LA Phil's like whoa, whoa,
whoa, whoa. We.
It's almost like you're a renterin your apartment and your
landlord all of a sudden rents out your place for the day.
(17:08):
You're like, no, no, no, I pay rent, I live here.
You can't rent this out without me.
So the LA field didn't even haveanything on their docket.
They just were like, you can't do this to us.
You have to talk to us first. We rent here.
This is our space because we rent here.
So it was just a it was just a fight between the two of them
that we got in the middle of. And so I go to my friend and I
(17:30):
said, Chad, please, if you I could make this happen, I might
possibly get my first hour of television.
There's no guarantees. But if I can make, if I can for
the show opener, make the Walt Disney console, the opening shot
happen. And he was like, let me see what
I can do. And he made it happen.
So I got him the most expensive bottle of whiskey you could
possibly imagine. And we got to shoot there.
(17:54):
And so suddenly not just Peter was advocating for me, like
everyone in the show was callingthe studio advocating for me
because they were like, this guy's invested, this guy's, you
know, like I'd shadowed and shadowed and shot my own things.
And you know, and so, and at that point I think I had
shadowed maybe four or five directors on other shows.
(18:18):
And so I, I'd really been working my tail off.
So then I went and met Freeform,who was the studio network at
the time. And it all happened.
I got my first episode, but Krista was like, I, it's hard
for me to cast to have you be a director on my show because I
did 3 episodes of The Fosters and I did one episode of the
spin off Good trouble. But that's all.
(18:38):
Even though it's 4 episodes of TV, it's all considered the same
family. It's just like, I really need
you to be hired by somebody elsebefore I can.
I was like, I get it. I get it because she was pushing
for me, but it just wasn't happening.
And Debbie Allen was running theshow at the time and she already
had her people she loved. And then I got an episode of
Atypical and Krista literally like screamed.
So she's like, this is the thingI needed.
(19:00):
So she went back to Debbie. Debbie's like, well, he's going
to have, I'd love to. I want to meet him.
So I go to her house. I go to Debbie Allen's house,
which is amazing. I'm sitting in her kitchen and
we're like talking. I can still remember it.
And she's, you know, she's a tough cookie.
Like her her her role in fame islike who she is.
She is loving and graceful and supportive and a champion but
(19:25):
but is like you got to do the work.
Don't let the pink golf cart fool you.
She is a boss. She is a boss.
She is 100%. And so she was like, what do you
got? What do you do?
How do you know? How do you work?
Blah, blah, blah, boom, boom, boom, boom.
So I was answering keeping up and she's like, well, you're
going to have to shadow me. And I was like, Yep, she was
(19:47):
even though you shadowed twice before.
I said, yeah, of course. Why would I pass the chance to
shadow you? She's like, OK, she was, well,
I'm doing either the, the seasonpremiere, which starts next
week, or you can do like episode15.
I was like, Debbie, why are we talking about Episode 15?
Let's do the season. Let's go.
She's like, OK. And so I shadowed and then I got
my first episode of Grace. Was your first episode of Grace
(20:10):
that season that you did the opener with Debbie?
It's gosh, was it, weirdly enough, I can't remember.
I think that it was. I think that it was later on
that season, yeah. Amazing.
In basically a seven-year journey, I had shattered it
(20:30):
three times from start to finishbefore I got my first episode.
And then hilariously, nine yearsafter I shadowed Rob Korn
because he had moved on. He like, called me out of the
blue to shoot the Resident. So yeah.
Which I love that show. I mean, obviously love Grace,
but like love the resident also we had like a little, it had a
(20:52):
little Southern flavor to it, which.
Yes, it did so. I'm going to go back to Bitch
for a second because I am a nerdfor people that do their own
thing and like have their passion projects and have their
creative community that they carry with them.
And I'm just such a nerd for that.
So I would love to hear a littlebit about how you started and
(21:13):
brought yourself as an actor to that first short.
How you how you decided how to bring the right people together
to make Bitch? Because I had done my benefit in
the past and my benefit was sortof like, just ask anybody, tell
them what the idea is. If they start to get like lit up
by it, be like, what can you bring?
What do you want to do? Or, or for the benefit?
(21:36):
If someone was like, you know what you should do?
I'm like, great, can you do that?
And so it's kind of the same forthe short.
It was like I just there was another actor that I knew that's
like, I've got a camera. I was like, great.
I didn't know any DPS at the time.
Cinematographers. I'm like, you got a camera.
Cool. And then I just called all my
friends, people that weren't even actors to be background.
And then my producer called likethe Hollywood makeup school and
(22:01):
was like, hey, you have anybody that like wants to work on this
for free and basically use it astheir real.
It's all these club kids from like, you know, kind of like
monster, you know, the movie Monster with Macaulay Culkin,
like that kind of club vibe fromthe 90s, like weird makeup and
whatever. And so we had like 5 makeup
artists that came from school that were like, it was on a
(22:21):
weekend. It only took one day.
So they were like, sure, I'll dothis.
And so, yeah, it just, I just, you just ask everyone and, and
the I think the one thing I givethis advice a lot, and I think
this is like the most important thing to say to any actor, any
writer, and especially any director is the short you're
(22:43):
going to do. If you're sitting on your couch
and have never shot anything before, the short you are going
to do is not going to be the start of your career and it's
not going to be the end of your career either.
It's going to be 1 short and you're going to do it.
It's going to be scary and all-encompassing and maybe send
(23:06):
you to the poor house, maybe hopefully not ask for favors,
ask for things for free. You just ask.
Let the other person say yes or no.
Don't say no for them. And you're going to go and like
submit it to all the festivals in the world.
You're going to go to some festivals, you're going to meet
some great people at the festivals.
And then the festivals are goingto be done and you're going to
put it on a website and you're going to be like, and then it's
(23:29):
just time to do the next one. And then next one is not going
to be the start or the end of your career.
It just could be the next one. And what happens is that you get
your muscles in that realm beginto start getting stronger and
stronger. You're building your community
and your connections to people you're working with.
(23:50):
You're finding out who does not work.
You're finding out who does work.
You're finding out like, oh, youwere APA, but you should
actually be in AD. And you're finding out all those
things. You're finding out things about
yourself as an actor on screen. You're finding out things about
yourself as a director. You're finding out things as a
writer. Whatever you're, whatever you're
doing, you're figuring those things out.
And I have to say that Krista called me, maybe I think this is
(24:15):
my, this is before, oh, this is before I got the Fosters.
Krista Caulk. She knew I was like busting my
bum trying to do all these different things.
She was like, hey, my sister's an actor.
She's like, she's a phenomenal actress.
She has done like 2 Woody Allen movies, but she's not great at
auditioning. I want to create a piece for her
that you direct. I'll give you $25,000.
I will write the script. Like Krista's got all kinds of
(24:38):
awards for writing. She's amazing.
She's like, we'll cast Michaela Watkins, we'll cast Ian
Harrington. Who's SWAT?
What should we cat? They called all of our friends
that were working all the time like recognizable people, I
think. Was Kim Raver in it?
Kim Raver may have been there. I can't remember, my God, I
can't remember all the people that were in it.
And we made this thing. It was hilarious.
(25:00):
It was such a great concept and it got into like a festival.
It was a little too long. It was hard to program because
if your your shorts should really be under 10 minutes, like
no longer than 13 for sure. This one was like 1617.
So it just was a little bit unprogrammable as opposed to 00.
(25:22):
And I cast Peter Page not only because he's a great actor, but
I'm also, I'm like, I want Peterto see me directing and I want
him. I want to be directing him and
for him to get it. So that was before I got Fosters
as well. Anyway, going back to the whole
shorts thing is I did another short that was basically a
(25:43):
friend when I was like, you've been stuck on this one.
I was writing a short that took me a year and a half to write
and she goes a short to take youa weekend to write.
You've been working to say a year and a half.
You're not doing anything else. You're totally stuck, you're
totally mired. You need to get out of your
head. I'm going to challenge you to
shoot something this month, not the short.
You've been writing something totally new.
And there's five criteria 1 do not get a crew of thousands of
(26:05):
people like lean and mean crew 5tops.
Do not send it to all your showrunner friends for their
approval on the script. Do not get celebrities involved.
Do not try to raise tons and tons of money on GoFundMe or
whatever other things were. Just do it bare bones.
Do not do it to show showrunners.
Just thought to be creative. And so in a week, I wrote this
(26:27):
thing and shot it in a week. And it was at this mockumentary
about this, like, pacing, this guy pacing.
And it was so silly. And like my cleaning woman who's
not an actor and doesn't even speak English, she was in it
with her two kids. And I just threw it together.
And that's the short that peoplestill to this day talk about
like 8-9 years later. And it was like cost me like
(26:49):
maybe $1000 total and like was just thrown together in a week.
So you can have tons of money incelebrities and, you know, a
champion writer writing, it's amazing.
And it gets nothing, you know, So it's, it's all just part of
the process. It's all just another drop in
that bucket of creativity and another drop of that bucket of
experience. Now, oh, this is exactly what I
(27:10):
wanted to talk about because I think so often, not just actors,
every single creative is told like, just go make something and
they're just kind of sent off and they don't know where to
start and they don't know how tostart.
And they want it to be great because there's so much riding
on it and they love it so, so dearly.
(27:31):
And it's so precious. And it's like, no, you just, you
got to, you got to create and let go.
Because when you're making it for you versus trying to get
everybody's approval, it's so much better because you're never
going to please everybody. Here's the challenge.
Make shitty art. That's my challenge to you.
Make sure you are there was at at the in Pasadena at the Norton
Simon. There was a retrospective.
(27:52):
It was living downstairs. There was a lot of his sketches
and on 2 walls they had 25 bullsthat he had sketched over the
course of. I feel like it was a couple
years and it was the same bull and each bull was a little bit
different when like 1 of it was like more naturalistic than it
would get very, very like the Picasso we know very cubist.
(28:13):
Then we then we go back to realism.
Then it was, it was all over theplace, but he was just sketching
and sketching and working and working and thinking and
figuring out and like what we see is the finished product.
We're like, Oh my gosh, what a genius.
But we didn't see the 25 it tookto get there.
So start doing your one of 25. OK.
You've kind of touched on this, but I want to just open the
floor in case you have any additional just words of wisdom
(28:36):
or advice for aspiring film makers or those that are in the
young stages of their career. Don't be shitty, be nice, be
gracious, be collaborative. You know, it's fine to have like
a vision that you feel like is 100% right and you're willing to
(28:57):
fight for it. That's great.
Say what you mean, but don't sayit mean do you know?
And so I just say, and just thisis going to sound.
So I don't know, I don't want tosound this way.
I'm not going to sound this way.Especially as an actor, when you
(29:17):
walk out of your house, you don't know who you're going to
run into. So like, don't be a drunk fool
or a hungover fool or looking like a piece of chewed up toast
while you're going to the coffeeshop.
Don't be talking shit about someone really loudly in line at
Meru Coffee in Los Feliz. You know, like be great.
Be great. I'm not saying don't get drunk.
(29:41):
I'm not saying don't have a hangover.
I'm not saying don't wear sweatpants.
I'm not saying that. I'm just saying just be mindful.
You want everyone to be like, Ohmy gosh, Laura.
Laura is the best. She everywhere she goes, she's
like, she just makes things better.
So we got a little bit of the behind the scenes of your
shadowing days. Let's let's talk about your
(30:03):
episodic director process. What do you like to do when you
get like, when you know the season ahead, you know you've
got like this episode coming up.What do you like to start diving
in? Getting to know the world and
prepping? So I talked about this a little
bit before I watch as many episodes as I possibly can.
(30:23):
Like a show like Grey's Anatomy.I did not watch every single
episode, but I did watch the entire first season.
And then I watched basically thetips and the tails of every
season. And then I watched every single
episode of the season before. So I watched 2 full full
seasons. So I was like what the the first
season is like how the show started, like how it was
originally meant to be. And then of course over so many
(30:45):
years it's changed. But so like what's it now?
But then also just getting the storylines as we go.
So, so that was great. I also really watched the, the
current producing directors worka tongue.
So I'm like, they got this job for a reason.
They they something that they did really was what was wanted
and needed. And so who's that?
(31:06):
Also, who's the director that works the second most on the
show? Watch their work.
What did they do? What's what works and what
doesn't? And I make notes about things
that I would do differently. And so then you usually don't
get the script until the night before.
There are certain shows that youdon't get the script for days
into the prep process. So you'll get an outline of what
(31:28):
it's going to be, but then you don't get the real script.
So you kind of you're going on location scouts and you're
looking at locations saying it says here that this is a
hospital from another city and that so and so is going to be in
here, but I'm not sure what they're doing.
So let's just look at all the rooms and see what's
interesting. And so you kind of just like put
(31:48):
a pin and everything until you have more of an idea.
But then when I do get the script, I this, this is
something that I don't recommendfor everyone.
It's this is my process that really works.
I tend to be very, very left brained.
So I'm very analytical, super, super, super analytical.
(32:11):
And so for me, it's so importantto stay in my right brain for as
long as possible. So I try not to when I first
read the script, I try not to take any notes whatsoever.
It's the very first time. I'm the only time I'm going to
be a first time audience. So I just try to just like take
(32:33):
it and just take it and take it.And if I have to, I might just
write down something that just like comes to me that's just
like, Oh my God, I love this. I try not to.
Then I read it again and I startto make little notes or
questions like, you know, if it's a if it's a morning scene
and it's in the kitchen, I just write like pajamas.
(32:53):
And I try not to nail anything down, like don't make any
decisions. Just like what's coming to me
right now, Like what's that? What's that right brain flight
of fantasy, you know, or you know, like two shots question
mark and then we have to know what it means.
Just like it just came to me. Then I read it again.
I didn't make a couple more, butI try not to like block out or
(33:16):
make any decisions about any scene for as long as I possibly
can and read it and read it. And by the way, on my like 50th
read, I'll find something or some slight turn of phrase that
like is almost like it appeared in the script overnight.
I was like that. I've never read that before.
And it gives me some indication of something going on or and
then when I'm starting to really, really a visual, then I
(33:37):
go down to the sets. First thing I do when I'm on the
set, read the scene, just read it, sit down, just read it.
Then I just kind of get up and Ithe first AD and the
cinematographer, they always want to be with you when you're
walking the sets. I cannot stress for me how
important it is to be alone because like I don't want to
(33:58):
talk to anybody. Do not start talking to me.
Do not start like throwing ideas, like do not ask me
questions. I don't know, I'm just feeling
the space. I'm just feeling it.
I'm looking, I'm like, and it it's not, it's not a left brain,
like make sense process of trying to really stay on the
right, like, you know, And then the minute I switch over to my
left, I'm like so, so nerdy and like shot lists and color
(34:22):
coordination and post it notes and then all that organization
thing comes in. But that's my process.
How do you like to bring Becauseyou, you touched on this about
noticing other directors like Creative Eye and their little
signatures, which I always love looking for that in people's
work where you can almost see. It's like their little invisible
ink signature on the corner of the frame.
(34:45):
How did you start developing your creative eye and find the
shots that you just really lovedand geeked out over?
You know, I I have a thing at first of all, I don't really
feel like I have a signature. If I do, there's one thing that
(35:05):
I do that does pop up, not in the same way, but in similar
ways, is I do like to lock off aframe and have characters appear
multiple times in in the same shot.
I've done that now on three different shows and each one was
very different vibe. But it's fun and I and so I
(35:28):
never intend like when I come upwith it for that, for that idea,
it's never like, oh, I'll do that thing I did before.
It's like, oh, what if it's this?
And then I almost feel like sometimes talk about Picasso
again. I'm not even that big of a
Picasso fan, just so you know. I mean it's.
Elevated. It's like the master.
I hear he's the master. Yeah, it's like the film, like
you just you got some artsy stuff in your in your orbit.
(35:49):
I guess some very nerdy, very highbrow, I guess, or try to be,
but Picasso, you know, like I think about his blue period and
it's I, it's not like I, by the way, I don't know, maybe I
should read a biography, but it's not like I feel like he's
like, I'm going to only paint blue for five years.
My feeling is that he probably painted and like a lot.
(36:10):
This is my guess and that just like a lot of them happened to
be blue within this five year period, like maybe a whole lot
of them, but like he probably painted other things at that
time. But just like you never know,
you're going into a a period of your life that's going to be
this amount of time that's goingto be this thing.
I think. I don't know.
So I'm not sure, but I, I'd say that I do have a thing called
(36:32):
cinematic shots. And it's anything that I see in
life on film or in photography that just is gorgeous.
And I take a picture of it or I take a video of it and then I
put it in this folder. And a lot of times before I do a
show, I'll just look through andI'll just say like what what
just strikes me in, in in another highbrow way, I in
(36:55):
preparing for a typical Michael Rappaport, I didn't know it all.
And he had like a reputation that like people were either
hated him or loved him. And I know a lot of directors
were like, OK, he was so terrible to me and yada, yada.
And I, I was like, OK, well, letme find out who this guy is.
So I watched, I started listening to his podcast and
right away I'm like, oh, he's got a brand and his brand is
(37:17):
like this like tough guy thing, whatever.
And I'm like, oh, so I'm sure when he's being that, which is
his brand, it feels very personal to the other person
hearing it, but it's just his vibe.
In the meantime, his favorite movie was Raging Bull.
And there's this shot where Kathy Moriarty and Robert De
Niro, it's so tight. They're, they're like, they look
like they're about to kiss, but both of their whole faces aren't
(37:40):
even in the shot. And I was like, that's stunning.
And I took a picture of it. Years later, I'm doing Ray's
Anatomy, and it's the time when Jackson is dating Kelly Mccree.
No, not Kelly Mccree's characterfrom Station 19.
Who, who was he dating? Jackson was dating from Station
19. It was when Jackson was dating
Victoria. And there's they've been dating
(38:03):
Ding Ding and nothing has happened between them.
And finally, when he she's stitching, he's stitching her up
because you got a cut. They kiss.
And I showed that shot to my DP and I was like, look, I don't
usually do this. I but there's this great shot
and he was like, Oh yeah, we'll totally do that.
And this. So if you look at my website,
actually the the frame that is held for that particular clips
of video is almost the exact same framing as the shot from
(38:25):
Raging Bull. OK.
So you have worked with the samecasting office a couple of
times. You've worked with one of my
favorite offices, Telsey, on a couple of things.
And I'm curious how, when you'recoming onto an episode, how you
connect with the casting team and talk about like what
strengths and characteristics and things that you're really
(38:46):
looking for in those actors thatare going to come in to play
these characters? So basically the showrunner
really calls the shots about those characters.
So we have usually a casting concept meeting with the
showrunner and with the casting director and, and it's happening
usually at the exact same time. And basically they're saying
this is what this is what the character is, this is who we're
(39:10):
looking for. You know, we really want East
Indian for this role because themother is supposed to be this
actor that we've seen in anotherepisode, what have you.
And then the casting director will write up the blurb.
Sometimes the reader will write it for them, and then we get to
sign off on it. I generally stay out of that
because that really is the realmof the showrunner.
(39:32):
But what I do is, is I will go and send.
I'll go. I go to my Instagram and I
scroll all like, I don't know how many people I'm following on
Instagram. And I look for people because a
long time ago I shot something and my friend Dave Schlansky,
who I went to be you with, he was like, dude, why didn't you
(39:54):
call me for that role? And I was so embarrassed because
to be honest, he would have beenso much better than the person I
cast. I just didn't think of him.
Like there you have when you're directing, you have so many
things on your mind. And so even through Instagram,
someone will pop up on Instagramand I'm like, Oh my God, they
they're literally the most perfect person for this.
(40:17):
Like I just three dogs, two children got a lot of things in
my mind. And so I usually will try to
send like two or three people per role and I don't force it
like if, if they're not exactly right for it, because the last
thing I want to do is just bringin an actor that's not right for
a part. And then it, it's then doesn't
(40:39):
make them look good. But for me, I feel like for my
friends, it's like, I'd much rather have them be seen and
like show what they can do, whether they get it or not.
I have very little say in the casting process.
I get to work with the producingdirector.
I usually give them the writer and I give our selects to the
producing director. So sometimes the writer has
(41:01):
different selects than I do. Then the producing director
usually decides on who they likebetween the two of ours.
Then they send it off to the showrunner and then the
showrunner sends it off to the studio and the network.
I mean, so there's a lot of people.
So I always tell all my friends,I'm like, I'm trying to bring
you in. It's out of my hands besides
that, but it's it. I will say that my my one bit of
(41:25):
advice for anyone coming in is don't do what you think we want
you to do. Just like I was talking earlier,
read that script, read that script.
Get out of your left brain. Try to be in your right creative
brain. Just read it, read it, read it.
See if anything strikes you. Read it.
Read it silently. Read it silently.
(41:46):
Don't even move your lips. Just like read it, read it, read
it, get it into your bones, readit and read it and read it and
just be. Here's what I'd say.
Be you if you were a waitress that's got two kids at home and
your husband just left you. Be you, if you know what I mean.
Like be, it's, it's you is the heart.
(42:09):
And then you Add all these otherthings on to it, like, oh, I'm,
I'm a waitress with two kids. My husband just left me.
I'm, I'm nearsighted, so I wear glasses.
You know, I always put my hair up and wear a hat because
working in the restaurant alwaysmakes my hair smell like fried
foods. And I got a date after this, you
know, like, but it's you, but you Add all the extra things on
(42:30):
it. So that's my that's amazing.
Having an actor background and coming up in the industry when
the casting process was very different and it was much more
connective and it was much more collaborative.
Do you have any advice for thoseactors that are feeling a
disconnect? And I hate this because I know
(42:53):
the other side of it, but I knowthat this is something that a
lot of actors feel it's their their craft and their prep is
not being validated because, youknow, they're not hearing
anything back. Do you have any advice for those
that are in that headspace of just how to keep going on and
how to enjoy the process? Just so you know, the directors
are feeling the disconnect too. And there's nothing like being
(43:16):
in that room. And it's hard booking off of
tape because you don't get to a lot of times you know an actor
will be so close to to doing it to getting it and you want to be
able to give that note and you just can't.
But you say this is them. And sometimes I'll say like this
(43:38):
is them. I've seen them on this other
thing and I know they can go deeper.
I just didn't. I'm not in the room with them to
work on them before, but I know or I have a friend that was like
she's like a queen. She's like literally looks like
like an African goddess. She is amazing and powerful and
and the part red is like hard asnails Gotti and she came in like
(44:01):
hitting it a little too hard. And so I, I wrote and I said,
Hey, just so you know, she livesand breathes this just in her
everyday life. And she came in sort of like
doing it and I know I can pull her back and and that was my
note when we got on said I was like, hey, just by the way, she
got it. She was a she was, by the way,
the best actor that auditioned for her.
But I said, hey, just so you know, you don't really have to
(44:23):
do anything. You are this so just like and
she goes great, amazing. So so we're missing it too.
And so if I I would say that every audition you have is an
opportunity, every audition you have is another drop in that
bucket. Just like I was talking about
(44:43):
the short films, it's like it's not the beginning nor is it the
end of your career. And so you just think another
person saw me, another cast actor saw me, another director
saw me, another producer saw me.There have been times when I
have seen an actor multiple times for for different roles on
different shows. And sometimes, Oh my God, one
(45:03):
time I brought a friend in and she didn't get it, but they
loved her so much. They brought her in the next
episode and she got the next episode, which by the way, was a
much better part. Another time, a friend of mine,
I brought in almost every singletime, he was so perfect As for
stage 19, so perfect for that show, and he had never gone in
for it before. And every time I brought in, he
didn't get it. And then he got another episode
(45:25):
that wasn't even mine. And it's not even connected to
my life in a whole other season.And so it just is like, don't
lose faith. Just be like, great, I did it.
I got to act today. Let it go.
Go back to your class. Go back to the other thing about
shooting your own stuff is it gives you that life.
It gives you that sort of like you've got things going on.
(45:45):
You're like, great, you know what?
I got it. I did that audition.
I sent it off. Now I got to go find someone's
going to like shoot this short for me this weekend or shoot the
scene for me or, you know, you can use iPhones nowadays for
things like I want you. I want people to make such
shitty art that looks so bad that it's shot on iPhones, by
the way. Be pretty, pretty good, yeah.
(46:08):
What is something that has been illuminated for you by being on
the director side that would have helped the actor you years
ago? You know, I could be a great
actor, but often times I was just good.
(46:33):
I, I love to work and do like tons and tons and tons of work
on things. And as an actor, I sometimes
never let go of the work. And there's a thing about when
actors come in and they're so present and that like so present
that like every time they say a line, like they don't know what
the next line even is, it like comes to them.
So they dove off of that Cliff and they're just like free
(46:55):
falling and you're like, and there's something thrilling
about it and so exciting and it's sparkling alive.
What I did was, was I pre shapedlike a director would pre shaped
this idea of the the journey I was going to take with it and
what was going to happen. And I like presented it.
And so it looked great. And the what I heard back all
the time was we loved him. He was great, great, but then I
(47:16):
wouldn't get it. We loved him.
He was great, but I wouldn't getit.
Loved him. He was great.
Wouldn't get it. I was like, oh, and I was so
frustrated and I never really got that.
I never dove. I never just like been like
great. The work happened at home.
Now I just show up and be present and see what happens.
And so as a director, you kind of have to do it because there's
(47:38):
there's hundreds of people that are like giving input.
And it's, it becomes as collaborative thing.
I'm holding the singular vision and I'm holding a lot of times
the singular vision of also the show owner as well.
But you have to just dive. And so anyway, I would say dive,
yeah. You have some beautiful stills
of you on set with your actors and the mutual respect and
(48:01):
trust. And just like you're talking
about that, that freedom to justdive into it and trust that the
net will appear, how do you liketo talk through scenes and
rehearse with your actors and and build that trust with your
cast? 1st I meet with them all before
we shoot. That's usually not set up.
(48:23):
It's usually just like, if you wanted to just show up on set
and they would be there, then that's kind of how it happens
sometimes. But I like to have a zoom
session or meet them face to face and, and not just like show
up with a trail and knock on thedoor.
Because a lot of times they're like in the middle of something.
They're like, Hey, I want to like set up a time where they
know I'm coming and just say like, Hey, I just want to like
get to know you. Who are you?
(48:44):
This is me. And, and it happened when COVID
was going on. Because I know it's going to be
wearing a mask and a shield. And I'm like, they're going to
be getting directions from this guy that they don't even know.
They, he doesn't even have a face.
You know, I don't even have a face.
And so we would zoom at the time.
And so there's just like this that, hey, what's going on?
Just saying, like, I'm here, if anything comes up, you are the
(49:09):
expert of this character. And so when I'm doing medical
things and I'm like, oh, let's put the oxygen on 1st.
There's a, there's a medical expert that says, Nope, can't do
the oxygen first. It's got to be this.
You're like, OK, great. And when there's a fire thing,
you're like, OK, well, you're going to pick up the the fire
hose. Like, no, you wouldn't pick up
the fire hose comes in the fire expert.
You do this instead. You're like, OK, great.
(49:29):
Well, the actor you're working with is the expert of that
character. So you rely on them to like also
say, here's here's what I'm thinking.
What are you thinking? You also know your stuff.
You know the character. Like as a director, you watch
it, you know, You know what the actors things are like.
(49:54):
You've I've asked around, I've asked everyone.
I'm like, OK, what's the deal? Who's who's with troublemaker on
set? Who's sleeping with who?
Because like sometimes people are sleeping and it's like a big
secret, but like sometimes they get lost in the trailer for
times and no one's coming out. So you just want to like know,
like what are the dams? Who doesn't get along with who?
Who needs to be kept away from each other?
(50:15):
Who what, what are the, the dynamics that are going on here?
What actor has trouble with their lines?
And so they should be shot second?
What actor always cries right away?
And then it's harder the more takes you do.
So I want to make sure I get them first and we do the close
up first. You learn all the things.
And so then when you get there, you say, hey, here's what I'm
thinking. I'm thinking maybe I'll have you
(50:36):
go set, you know, and you talk it through with them.
They so they know what's happening.
And so by keeping an actor informed and respecting them and
their process, I think you go itgoes far.
Yeah, absolutely. I also, I also show up in the in
the makeup and hair trailer in the morning and say hi to
everybody. Then can I tell you something
(50:56):
that is pure gold because the making the hair trailer is the
heart of the set. It's where all the talking and
gossip happens. It's where all the like tears
happen. It's all the all the downloads
happen there. And it's a very special sort of
sacred place. And so I like to be like good
morning, everybody go to everyone's chair and hug all the
(51:18):
hair and make up people. I'm like, we have a great day
and you know, anyone want to tell me anything anyone in
gossip but anything happened last night I should know about
OK, no good. And they leave.
It's it's literally like a 5 minute stop by but it like just
makes people feel excited and seeing.
Costume, hair and makeup trailer, two of my favorite
places. Those are those are the happy
places and those people are justabsolutely incredible.
(51:40):
I'd love to talk about understanding tone in the world
you're working in an auditioningfor.
You've directed episodes of Grey's.
We've talked about love, resident love, Doctor Odyssey,
new hit love, three very different medical dramas with an
emotional dynamic. I want to talk a little bit more
for the actors, how you would encourage them to immerse
themselves in the world that they are entering into while
(52:01):
still bringing themselves to that audition.
Yes, I think that by watching the show you also, it's almost
like when I said just read the script and read the script and
read the script and see what comes in your right brain.
Like what things happen. It's like if you watch the
Gilmore Girls, you you can't help but notice they talk a mile
(52:23):
a minute. And so if you're watching,
you're listening, you're paying attention, you're like, great, I
got to speak a mile a minute. When I go into that audition.
That's part of the, that's part of the gig for Doctor Odyssey.
You're like, I better look like 1,000,000 bucks.
I better look so good. I mean, especially if you're
like a person that's on the cruise, you know, it's like that
show was all about the beauty. The you know, it's everything is
(52:46):
so over the top. If you're going in for the pit,
you want to like wear no makeup and look like, you know, you're
sweaty and you know, it's like everything has a different vibe
and tone. If I was going in for the pit,
like I might like overlap some of the dialogue as you were
doing it because just that senseof what I've seen of that show
(53:06):
is and it's like supposedly in real time and it's happening
really fast. Like I would just be like, oh,
maybe I'll just overlap. And even if it doesn't say it,
like just have it happen. So just like by watching, just
watch, I'd say just watch and just take what you're taking.
And it doesn't have to be like take notes and be really
specific. Just like I like to go about
(53:27):
working on things by saying likehow interesting, you know, like
don't get it perfect. Just be like how interesting.
Oh, they're talking a mile a minute.
How interesting. And just go about it that way.
Michael I can't believe an hour is already blown by.
We ended every episode the same way.
What is one thing you wish you could go back?
I told you I talk a lot. I love it.
I this episode was just for me. Everybody else can listen to it,
(53:49):
but this one was for me. What is one thing you wish you
could go back and tell your younger self?
Oh. Man, I think I would tell my
younger self that you are are enough just as you are, and that
the hard work you do is great, but you don't have the hard work
(54:15):
you do. Isn't is not the validation of
who you are. It adds to the process.
But the end of the end of the day, after all that, just show
up and be you and you're enough.Between you and I, this is one
of my favorite episodes. Like truly, this was just such a
joy and like, your energy is just vibrant.
(54:37):
It's been so lovely having you on the podcast.
Thank you for making the time. Thank you, listen, thank you for
doing it. And by the way, like you doing
this, this is quite a feat. This is insane.
This is amazing and and like what a what an exploration and
what a how interesting, you know, take on like looking at
life and diving in and making something happen.
(54:59):
Hi everyone, thanks for listening and being the absolute
best part of our creative community here at What's My
Frame? If you'd like to learn more
about our guests, please check out the show notes and please
join us on socials at What's My Frame?
To stay in the know for upcomingevents, I'm your host, Laura
Linda Bradley. We'll see you next Monday.
Hi everyone, Today and What's MyFrame?
I'm joined by director Michael Medico.
This episode is vibrant, filled with stories, laughs and
inspiration. Michael shares the story behind
his very first short Bitch, which was shot for $66,
premiered and out Fest was a hiton the festival circuit before
being named Best Short Film of 2009 by Frontiers LA Magazine.
(00:23):
Michael shares his journey shadowing and the road to
episodic directing, how he establishes trust in a
partnership with his actors on set, and so much more.
This conversation recharged my creative batteries.
I hope y'all are just as inspired by Michaels creative
stories and say yes attitude. Now let's get to the
conversation. Hey Michael, welcome to What's
(00:44):
My Frame? I'm so happy you're here.
I have something to be here, Laura.
Thank you for having me. I've been a fan of your work for
a very, very long time. For anyone who isn't familiar
with the different chapters and and books in your career, could
you just give us a little back story of your creative process
and what brought you here? Yeah, I started off doing
(01:06):
theater back, back, back when I was very, very young and in high
school when I went to Boston University for acting.
And I was a very, very serious actor, mostly doing classical
theater. I never had my eyes ever on Los
Angeles. I thought that was just for
plastic people and sellouts. And and I lived in New York for
(01:30):
six years, which I literally thought was going to be my home
for the rest of my life. And I did tons of regional
theater all over the country. I did some small shows in the
city and then I did an episode of Sex and the City and a Law
and Order, a special Dickens unit.
And I made more money in that, like doing like one or two lines
than I did like doing like all the theater I have been doing.
(01:51):
And I thought, oh, came out hereand I was an actor for many
years and was doing commercials and TV and independent films,
tested for a couple pilots but never got a series regular gig.
So I wasn't getting like the meaty, meaty stuff.
I was definitely making my living only as an actor, but
wasn't really fulfilled. And people had always told me I
(02:13):
should be a director. And I always thought, don't you
dare say that to me. I'm an actor.
I'm a very serious actor. Open the camera.
No, no, thank you. Exactly.
This is not exactly right. This is not for behind the
camera. And so I didn't pursue it ever.
And then one day as a whole, thestory which we can get into if
(02:34):
you want to hear it, I did and Iwas immediately hooked.
So that's how I became a director.
I mean, that's the short business of how I got to
directing. I guess I should say, well.
Yes, we of course would love to hear that story of of how
directing did become a part of your career.
My goodness. Well, so Christopher and off,
(02:54):
who was the showrunner of Grey'sAnatomy and Station 19 and a
show called Rebel. We've been friends since
college. We went to college together and
at the time this was going back to around 2008, I was getting a
divorce, filing for bankruptcy and a big AIDS benefit that I
had created called Hot in Hollywood that had raised like
(03:15):
half $1,000,000 for this AIDS charity over the course of three
years was coming to an end. So I was lost.
I was beside myself. I was literally like was in the
thick of it. I was on her floor like crying
as she was holding me. And she's like, you just need to
be around people that love you. And I'm having an Oscar party in
like a week. Like please come and be.
(03:36):
It's all people from Boston you that you went to college with
Peter Page and Michaela Watkins and Kim Raver and Ray Ford and
Abraham Higginbotham and all the, all the folks from there.
And, and I said, I, I, I, I can't come.
I can't come. I have to go get like a catering
job because I don't have any. And she was like, OK, take a
breath. How much money would you make
(03:57):
catering at a party for the Oscars?
And I was like, I'd make like $250.
She's like, OK, I will pay you $250 to not work that night and
come to this party and just be loved by all the people that
love you the most. Instant tears, more tears.
And then she goes, but you have to make a one minute movie.
And I said, what do you mean? And she goes, it's just part of
(04:19):
the thing. Anyone that comes has to bring a
one minute movie that they, thatthey make.
And then we're going to show them during the commercials.
And I'm going to like give away a little Oscar statuette for
the, the best extra short, you know, film of the night.
And I was like, well, I can't dothat.
I, I didn't, you hear? I'm like filing for bankruptcy.
I'm getting a divorce. And as I'm saying it, she kind
of gets a smile on her face. And I said, OK, I get it.
(04:41):
Those things are happening to me.
They're not who I am. I will make the short, I will
come to the party and I'll take that $250 now.
And so I did. And the minute I shot it and I,
I don't do anything small. So I made it for $66 and I had
like a producer and ADP and locations and food brought in
(05:03):
and a whole team of, of MIT hairmakeup people and extras galore.
It was a whole thing. I won the party and then it went
on to all these different festivals and it got named the
best short of 2009 by Frontiers magazine.
But right after that, my producer from that said, hey, we
should do this other short. And it's also a minute long.
And I said, I'm like, not a director, like I'm not, this is
(05:26):
not what I'm doing. I'm still trying to pull myself
out of this whole life. And he goes, no, it's great.
I'll come over, we'll talk aboutit's for Earth Hour.
And it's just about like saving energy.
And I said, I honestly don't have any ideas except like maybe
it's like a couple that's like turning off appliances and
lights on each other and they end up in the dark.
And so the only thing to do in the dark is to have sex.
And he's like, well, there's ourshort and then we shot that like
(05:49):
literally a month later. And then just things started
happening. I just started shooting.
I think I shot like 6 things in the next seven months.
And I just kept going. And I was posting on Instagram
about it and at the time, Facebook and my manager, my ex
manager saw something. He said, hey, come and pitch for
this thing. And so we pitched for that.
We got it. A friend of mine who's working
(06:10):
at Fox said, hey, you should pitch for this $30,000.
We're trying to make a viral video.
And you know, to them $30,000 was nothing of a of a budget.
But to me it was like literally the most I've ever had.
We got it. We shot that.
And then I started shadowing directors and the rest is sort
of history. I mean, I shadowed.
(06:31):
I will say this, this is a long I'm going on.
Am I going on too long? I am loving this and I also I
love because wait So what you started and did for Christmas
party is bitch right? Yes, I love this because OK,
side tangent, if anyone has never had the joy of being on
the Grays or station set, it is a family and like as you were
(06:54):
describing it, it just like I remember being on those sets and
it's just like it's such a warm hug and those people that those
like showrunners and everyone down have created, it's just it
makes me love them even more. So OK, no, please continue.
And it's true she she does create family and her the other
person that we went to school with, Peter Page, who created
the Fosters in good trouble. He was my friend from college as
(07:17):
well. And and by the way, I will say
this like you'd think like, oh, nepotism.
That's how I got Grey's Anatomy and the fosters wait to hear
what it took. I'll tell you that in a second.
But they were rooting for me thewhole time.
It just is never just like they didn't just kiss me in.
It was like they were supportingme and helping me.
But it took years to break into those shows.
(07:38):
That's that's the story I'll tell in a second.
But you're absolutely right, Laura, the the way that they
create family and the way they respect people and the way that
they tell story, their love of story and their love of
character and people in their stories is the same as their
love of character and people in life.
(07:59):
And they create a really amazingspace.
And, and because they were mentors of mine starting off,
that's how I am. So when I'm on set, I learn
everyone's name. I learn everyone's name.
I possibly can like even down tothe craft service person, even
down to the the PA that's like, you know, getting me a water if
(08:19):
I'm like, you know, it's 4:00 inthe morning and I'm like my
wit's end. Like because there's nothing
like being acknowledged by someone.
And so many people that are on those sets that don't have like
fancy titles never get acknowledged.
Never. And it's and because of the
speeches I've heard them give for years, like before shooting,
like after the AD gives their usual safety speech, I'm right
(08:42):
next to the ADI give a little speech every day where I'm like,
yesterday was incredible. We got out on time and it was
because you were all so fantastic and you're shut up.
So thank you for doing everything you did and thank you
for all the things that you did that no one knows that you did.
That made our day easier and safe.
And it just sets a tone. And I just basically stole that
(09:05):
right from those 2 when. People feel appreciated and
seen. They want to work at their
highest level. And I think that that is
something that is so often overlooked is when you slow down
and acknowledge people and see what they're contributing and
how that this would not be made without them.
It makes the final product so much better.
(09:26):
Should we talk about Bitch or how you broke into Grayson
Station first? Because we're we're at a fork in
the road and we're going to cover both.
Which one you want? To Let's talk about Grayson
Station first. OK.
So how, how did Peter and Krista, how did they help give
you kind of the inside track of how to start preparing your
materials and, and going towardsthat well?
(09:48):
When I first wanted to start to shadow, I reached out to Krista.
She contacted me with Tony Phalen.
And because Tony Phalen was Krista had already left.
So Krista was running the show and then she left for a time and
then it came back. So she contacted me with Tony
Phalen. Tony said, you know, I don't
really have shadows right now, sorry.
(10:09):
And I was like, OK, great. But in the meantime, the strike
was about to happen and they want to do a benefit for their
crew. And so Krista introduced me to
Tony again and was like, hey, Michael Medico is the benefit
guy. Like he's the guy that like did
hot in Hollywood and they had heard of it.
So then all of a sudden I'm in aroom with like Shonda, Tony,
Betsy beers, like all the heads of the company.
(10:31):
And I'm like giving my say about, well, don't you know, if
you want to have a step repeat that has a vodka or a a booze
sponsor on it, you have to make sure that ABC is OK with that.
And you know, all the things because I just have been through
these so many times. Of course, granted, I didn't
ever take into consideration that Shonda would probably do
whatever she wanted because she's Shonda.
(10:52):
And it wasn't exactly like me ifI was doing it because we come
from a different space. But anyway, I helped throughout
that whole entire process and was there on the day and helping
with all the things. And so Tony was like, you know
what, I am going to make room for you to shadow me because I
really like you. And and I had shot a couple more
things that he had seen and he was like, you know, I just no
(11:14):
one was giving an in. Like everyone wants to direct.
And so like, you know, people take with a grain of salt until
they're like, well, let me see your work.
And I can't tell you how many times people will say to me
like, Hey, I really want to shadow you.
I said, great, send me your materials.
Like, well, I haven't shot anything yet.
Like well, go shoot something then you can chat on me, but
like you got to do it because I have to get you passed by the
(11:35):
studio on the network and I haveto show your stuff, so go do it.
So I had had those things, so Tony let me shadow him and then
Tony basically left the show as well to go do his own thing.
So there was a new show runner. So I was like, there goes my
connection. So the man that hires the
directors was Rob Corn. And so Tony tried to introduce
(12:00):
me to Rob. I couldn't break down his door.
I like literally was like tryingto get in and like a years were
going by. And so finally I said, hey, I'm
coming to the lot and I'm going to be on the lot.
And I know you don't know me from Adam.
So like this random person reaching out to all the time,
but like I'd love to just like come by and say hi.
And he said absolutely. But just so you know, like I'm
(12:21):
not having any shadows. And I said, that's fine.
Let's take shadowing off the table.
I just want to come meet you. He said great.
So in the meantime, I watch every single thing Rob Corn has
ever directed. I like watch and watch and
watch. I watch with the sound off.
I'm studying the shots. I'm studying like, what's his
signature thing? Why is it that he's the
(12:42):
producing director? Because they made him a
producing director for a reason.So what is it?
What does he do that's really fantastic?
That works. So I go to his office.
He's like, hey, Michael, nice tomeet you.
Just to remind you, I'm not having any shadows.
I was like, Rob, we already talked about this.
I don't want to hear the word shadow for you again.
We're not that's not on the table.
He's like, OK, great. So we have this great talk and I
said, I love how you always are revealing people revealing if
(13:04):
you're racking focus to someone overhearing something and it's
such a great reveal. He goes, Oh my God, that's like
one of my signature things. People are always talking about
that. I said, yeah, it's so fun.
It keeps it so fresh. And I said also your your work
with short depth of focus with like the longest lens as
possible is so stunning. He goes, oh, the DP is always
saying, what do you want me to take out this wall to get the
camera further away? You want such a long lens, he
(13:26):
goes. Listen, I'd love to have you
shadow me. When people feel seen, it makes
a difference. Yes, I was like great.
So I shadowed Rob and like the next season he left.
So I didn't get to go on the show then.
So in the meantime, Krista's gone.
I I gotten on the fosters. That was sort of the same issue
(13:52):
where I like shadowed, nothing happened.
Peter's like rooting for me, butlike, I'm a white guy at the
time. They're like, we have enough
white guys, like we need other people.
And Peter's like he's great and he's gay and he's, but he's
really great. And I understand and I'm a white
guy that's working the show too,but I'll give up one of my
episodes for him to do. And they were like, no, no, no,
(14:12):
no, no. So then I was like, well, let me
shadow Peter because he's the, you know, the creator of the
show. And I didn't get the show.
Actually, the first shadow I ever did was Norman Buckley.
And so I shadowed Norman, but Norman wasn't like he was a
regular director on the show, but wasn't a person hiring.
So I shadowed Peter. He got to see me on set.
He's like it to this day. He's like nobody shadows like
(14:34):
Michael Medico, like I block every single scene.
I go about it like I'm the director.
So I know, but then I don't ask a lot of questions.
Like I'll write down my questions.
And this is what I recommend to anybody that wants the shadow is
if in the middle day you have a question, write it down because
most of the time it'll be answered by the end of the day
anyway. But also I'm a director of that.
(14:56):
I'm in it, in it in, in, in. And then when I walk into my
car, I'm like, OK, great, let's talk to to my shadow.
I'm like, what have you got? Let's questions, concerns,
comments, anything that popped up for you.
And so, you know, it's great to have them written down because
then you can like pop them off. And sometimes I'll even like on
the if it's a location scout, like on the hour long drive in
the morning, I'll just call my shadow and be like, Hey, I got
(15:16):
time. You got time to talk.
I feel like, Oh my gosh, OK, Because I, I shadowed 14 times.
So like, I know what an opportunity it is and I know
what it's like to be ignored as a shadow.
It's happened before. And I know what you can get out
of it if it's done like properly.
And so I always want to give back in that way.
(15:37):
Anyway, I shadowed. I shadowed and this is a crazy
story about how I got my first episode, by the way.
Should we talk about something else or do you want to hear it?
OK. I mean, we're a Grayson Station
stand podcast, so people can just, we can just listen.
It's fine. It's completely people just
hear. They hear for it.
It's fine. We for the Fosters, the whole
(16:02):
season before was about when we go to Disney Concert Hall, when
we go to Disney Concert Hall. So this is like the, I think
it's season four or five. And so finally we open the
season. They're at Disney Concert Hall
and it's the, it's Brandon, the son.
He's playing. It's a whole moment.
And so we're doing the location.Scott and I see a buddy of mine.
(16:23):
I'm like, hey, how you doing? And the producer who I've, who's
now seen me twice, I've shadowedtwice.
Actually, I've shadowed 2 1/2 times.
She's like everywhere we go. You know everybody who's that?
I said, oh, he's the chief operating officer of the LA
Phil. She goes, oh, aren't you fancy?
Yeah, yeah, like 3 days before we're about to shoot, it falls
through and it falls through so much so it's like you can't
(16:46):
shoot here at all. So what I'm hearing is that
basically the Disney, Walt Disney Concert Hall is the
landlord and the LA Phil is the renter.
They rent the space. So Walt Disney Concert Hall is
the one that gave us a tour and they were like, yeah, you can
have it. And LA Phil's like whoa, whoa,
whoa, whoa. We.
It's almost like you're a renterin your apartment and your
landlord all of a sudden rents out your place for the day.
(17:08):
You're like, no, no, no, I pay rent, I live here.
You can't rent this out without me.
So the LA field didn't even haveanything on their docket.
They just were like, you can't do this to us.
You have to talk to us first. We rent here.
This is our space because we rent here.
So it was just a it was just a fight between the two of them
that we got in the middle of. And so I go to my friend and I
(17:30):
said, Chad, please, if you I could make this happen, I might
possibly get my first hour of television.
There's no guarantees. But if I can make, if I can for
the show opener, make the Walt Disney console, the opening shot
happen. And he was like, let me see what
I can do. And he made it happen.
So I got him the most expensive bottle of whiskey you could
possibly imagine. And we got to shoot there.
(17:54):
And so suddenly not just Peter was advocating for me, like
everyone in the show was callingthe studio advocating for me
because they were like, this guy's invested, this guy's, you
know, like I'd shadowed and shadowed and shot my own things.
And you know, and so, and at that point I think I had
shadowed maybe four or five directors on other shows.
(18:18):
And so I, I'd really been working my tail off.
So then I went and met Freeform,who was the studio network at
the time. And it all happened.
I got my first episode, but Krista was like, I, it's hard
for me to cast to have you be a director on my show because I
did 3 episodes of The Fosters and I did one episode of the
spin off Good trouble. But that's all.
(18:38):
Even though it's 4 episodes of TV, it's all considered the same
family. It's just like, I really need
you to be hired by somebody elsebefore I can.
I was like, I get it. I get it because she was pushing
for me, but it just wasn't happening.
And Debbie Allen was running theshow at the time and she already
had her people she loved. And then I got an episode of
Atypical and Krista literally like screamed.
So she's like, this is the thingI needed.
(19:00):
So she went back to Debbie. Debbie's like, well, he's going
to have, I'd love to. I want to meet him.
So I go to her house. I go to Debbie Allen's house,
which is amazing. I'm sitting in her kitchen and
we're like talking. I can still remember it.
And she's, you know, she's a tough cookie.
Like her her her role in fame islike who she is.
She is loving and graceful and supportive and a champion but
(19:25):
but is like you got to do the work.
Don't let the pink golf cart fool you.
She is a boss. She is a boss.
She is 100%. And so she was like, what do you
got? What do you do?
How do you know? How do you work?
Blah, blah, blah, boom, boom, boom, boom.
So I was answering keeping up and she's like, well, you're
going to have to shadow me. And I was like, Yep, she was
(19:47):
even though you shadowed twice before.
I said, yeah, of course. Why would I pass the chance to
shadow you? She's like, OK, she was, well,
I'm doing either the, the seasonpremiere, which starts next
week, or you can do like episode15.
I was like, Debbie, why are we talking about Episode 15?
Let's do the season. Let's go.
She's like, OK. And so I shadowed and then I got
my first episode of Grace. Was your first episode of Grace
(20:10):
that season that you did the opener with Debbie?
It's gosh, was it, weirdly enough, I can't remember.
I think that it was. I think that it was later on
that season, yeah. Amazing.
In basically a seven-year journey, I had shattered it
(20:30):
three times from start to finishbefore I got my first episode.
And then hilariously, nine yearsafter I shadowed Rob Korn
because he had moved on. He like, called me out of the
blue to shoot the Resident. So yeah.
Which I love that show. I mean, obviously love Grace,
but like love the resident also we had like a little, it had a
(20:52):
little Southern flavor to it, which.
Yes, it did so. I'm going to go back to Bitch
for a second because I am a nerdfor people that do their own
thing and like have their passion projects and have their
creative community that they carry with them.
And I'm just such a nerd for that.
So I would love to hear a littlebit about how you started and
(21:13):
brought yourself as an actor to that first short.
How you how you decided how to bring the right people together
to make Bitch? Because I had done my benefit in
the past and my benefit was sortof like, just ask anybody, tell
them what the idea is. If they start to get like lit up
by it, be like, what can you bring?
What do you want to do? Or, or for the benefit?
(21:36):
If someone was like, you know what you should do?
I'm like, great, can you do that?
And so it's kind of the same forthe short.
It was like I just there was another actor that I knew that's
like, I've got a camera. I was like, great.
I didn't know any DPS at the time.
Cinematographers. I'm like, you got a camera.
Cool. And then I just called all my
friends, people that weren't even actors to be background.
And then my producer called likethe Hollywood makeup school and
(22:01):
was like, hey, you have anybody that like wants to work on this
for free and basically use it astheir real.
It's all these club kids from like, you know, kind of like
monster, you know, the movie Monster with Macaulay Culkin,
like that kind of club vibe fromthe 90s, like weird makeup and
whatever. And so we had like 5 makeup
artists that came from school that were like, it was on a
(22:21):
weekend. It only took one day.
So they were like, sure, I'll dothis.
And so, yeah, it just, I just, you just ask everyone and, and
the I think the one thing I givethis advice a lot, and I think
this is like the most important thing to say to any actor, any
writer, and especially any director is the short you're
(22:43):
going to do. If you're sitting on your couch
and have never shot anything before, the short you are going
to do is not going to be the start of your career and it's
not going to be the end of your career either.
It's going to be 1 short and you're going to do it.
It's going to be scary and all-encompassing and maybe send
(23:06):
you to the poor house, maybe hopefully not ask for favors,
ask for things for free. You just ask.
Let the other person say yes or no.
Don't say no for them. And you're going to go and like
submit it to all the festivals in the world.
You're going to go to some festivals, you're going to meet
some great people at the festivals.
And then the festivals are goingto be done and you're going to
put it on a website and you're going to be like, and then it's
(23:29):
just time to do the next one. And then next one is not going
to be the start or the end of your career.
It just could be the next one. And what happens is that you get
your muscles in that realm beginto start getting stronger and
stronger. You're building your community
and your connections to people you're working with.
(23:50):
You're finding out who does not work.
You're finding out who does work.
You're finding out like, oh, youwere APA, but you should
actually be in AD. And you're finding out all those
things. You're finding out things about
yourself as an actor on screen. You're finding out things about
yourself as a director. You're finding out things as a
writer. Whatever you're, whatever you're
doing, you're figuring those things out.
And I have to say that Krista called me, maybe I think this is
(24:15):
my, this is before, oh, this is before I got the Fosters.
Krista Caulk. She knew I was like busting my
bum trying to do all these different things.
She was like, hey, my sister's an actor.
She's like, she's a phenomenal actress.
She has done like 2 Woody Allen movies, but she's not great at
auditioning. I want to create a piece for her
that you direct. I'll give you $25,000.
I will write the script. Like Krista's got all kinds of
(24:38):
awards for writing. She's amazing.
She's like, we'll cast Michaela Watkins, we'll cast Ian
Harrington. Who's SWAT?
What should we cat? They called all of our friends
that were working all the time like recognizable people, I
think. Was Kim Raver in it?
Kim Raver may have been there. I can't remember, my God, I
can't remember all the people that were in it.
And we made this thing. It was hilarious.
(25:00):
It was such a great concept and it got into like a festival.
It was a little too long. It was hard to program because
if your your shorts should really be under 10 minutes, like
no longer than 13 for sure. This one was like 1617.
So it just was a little bit unprogrammable as opposed to 00.
(25:22):
And I cast Peter Page not only because he's a great actor, but
I'm also, I'm like, I want Peterto see me directing and I want
him. I want to be directing him and
for him to get it. So that was before I got Fosters
as well. Anyway, going back to the whole
shorts thing is I did another short that was basically a
(25:43):
friend when I was like, you've been stuck on this one.
I was writing a short that took me a year and a half to write
and she goes a short to take youa weekend to write.
You've been working to say a year and a half.
You're not doing anything else. You're totally stuck, you're
totally mired. You need to get out of your
head. I'm going to challenge you to
shoot something this month, not the short.
You've been writing something totally new.
And there's five criteria 1 do not get a crew of thousands of
(26:05):
people like lean and mean crew 5tops.
Do not send it to all your showrunner friends for their
approval on the script. Do not get celebrities involved.
Do not try to raise tons and tons of money on GoFundMe or
whatever other things were. Just do it bare bones.
Do not do it to show showrunners.
Just thought to be creative. And so in a week, I wrote this
(26:27):
thing and shot it in a week. And it was at this mockumentary
about this, like, pacing, this guy pacing.
And it was so silly. And like my cleaning woman who's
not an actor and doesn't even speak English, she was in it
with her two kids. And I just threw it together.
And that's the short that peoplestill to this day talk about
like 8-9 years later. And it was like cost me like
(26:49):
maybe $1000 total and like was just thrown together in a week.
So you can have tons of money incelebrities and, you know, a
champion writer writing, it's amazing.
And it gets nothing, you know, So it's, it's all just part of
the process. It's all just another drop in
that bucket of creativity and another drop of that bucket of
experience. Now, oh, this is exactly what I
(27:10):
wanted to talk about because I think so often, not just actors,
every single creative is told like, just go make something and
they're just kind of sent off and they don't know where to
start and they don't know how tostart.
And they want it to be great because there's so much riding
on it and they love it so, so dearly.
(27:31):
And it's so precious. And it's like, no, you just, you
got to, you got to create and let go.
Because when you're making it for you versus trying to get
everybody's approval, it's so much better because you're never
going to please everybody. Here's the challenge.
Make shitty art. That's my challenge to you.
Make sure you are there was at at the in Pasadena at the Norton
Simon. There was a retrospective.
(27:52):
It was living downstairs. There was a lot of his sketches
and on 2 walls they had 25 bullsthat he had sketched over the
course of. I feel like it was a couple
years and it was the same bull and each bull was a little bit
different when like 1 of it was like more naturalistic than it
would get very, very like the Picasso we know very cubist.
(28:13):
Then we then we go back to realism.
Then it was, it was all over theplace, but he was just sketching
and sketching and working and working and thinking and
figuring out and like what we see is the finished product.
We're like, Oh my gosh, what a genius.
But we didn't see the 25 it tookto get there.
So start doing your one of 25. OK.
You've kind of touched on this, but I want to just open the
floor in case you have any additional just words of wisdom
(28:36):
or advice for aspiring film makers or those that are in the
young stages of their career. Don't be shitty, be nice, be
gracious, be collaborative. You know, it's fine to have like
a vision that you feel like is 100% right and you're willing to
(28:57):
fight for it. That's great.
Say what you mean, but don't sayit mean do you know?
And so I just say, and just thisis going to sound.
So I don't know, I don't want tosound this way.
I'm not going to sound this way.Especially as an actor, when you
(29:17):
walk out of your house, you don't know who you're going to
run into. So like, don't be a drunk fool
or a hungover fool or looking like a piece of chewed up toast
while you're going to the coffeeshop.
Don't be talking shit about someone really loudly in line at
Meru Coffee in Los Feliz. You know, like be great.
Be great. I'm not saying don't get drunk.
(29:41):
I'm not saying don't have a hangover.
I'm not saying don't wear sweatpants.
I'm not saying that. I'm just saying just be mindful.
You want everyone to be like, Ohmy gosh, Laura.
Laura is the best. She everywhere she goes, she's
like, she just makes things better.
So we got a little bit of the behind the scenes of your
shadowing days. Let's let's talk about your
(30:03):
episodic director process. What do you like to do when you
get like, when you know the season ahead, you know you've
got like this episode coming up.What do you like to start diving
in? Getting to know the world and
prepping? So I talked about this a little
bit before I watch as many episodes as I possibly can.
(30:23):
Like a show like Grey's Anatomy.I did not watch every single
episode, but I did watch the entire first season.
And then I watched basically thetips and the tails of every
season. And then I watched every single
episode of the season before. So I watched 2 full full
seasons. So I was like what the the first
season is like how the show started, like how it was
originally meant to be. And then of course over so many
(30:45):
years it's changed. But so like what's it now?
But then also just getting the storylines as we go.
So, so that was great. I also really watched the, the
current producing directors worka tongue.
So I'm like, they got this job for a reason.
They they something that they did really was what was wanted
and needed. And so who's that?
(31:06):
Also, who's the director that works the second most on the
show? Watch their work.
What did they do? What's what works and what
doesn't? And I make notes about things
that I would do differently. And so then you usually don't
get the script until the night before.
There are certain shows that youdon't get the script for days
into the prep process. So you'll get an outline of what
(31:28):
it's going to be, but then you don't get the real script.
So you kind of you're going on location scouts and you're
looking at locations saying it says here that this is a
hospital from another city and that so and so is going to be in
here, but I'm not sure what they're doing.
So let's just look at all the rooms and see what's
interesting. And so you kind of just like put
(31:48):
a pin and everything until you have more of an idea.
But then when I do get the script, I this, this is
something that I don't recommendfor everyone.
It's this is my process that really works.
I tend to be very, very left brained.
So I'm very analytical, super, super, super analytical.
(32:11):
And so for me, it's so importantto stay in my right brain for as
long as possible. So I try not to when I first
read the script, I try not to take any notes whatsoever.
It's the very first time. I'm the only time I'm going to
be a first time audience. So I just try to just like take
(32:33):
it and just take it and take it.And if I have to, I might just
write down something that just like comes to me that's just
like, Oh my God, I love this. I try not to.
Then I read it again and I startto make little notes or
questions like, you know, if it's a if it's a morning scene
and it's in the kitchen, I just write like pajamas.
(32:53):
And I try not to nail anything down, like don't make any
decisions. Just like what's coming to me
right now, Like what's that? What's that right brain flight
of fantasy, you know, or you know, like two shots question
mark and then we have to know what it means.
Just like it just came to me. Then I read it again.
I didn't make a couple more, butI try not to like block out or
(33:16):
make any decisions about any scene for as long as I possibly
can and read it and read it. And by the way, on my like 50th
read, I'll find something or some slight turn of phrase that
like is almost like it appeared in the script overnight.
I was like that. I've never read that before.
And it gives me some indication of something going on or and
then when I'm starting to really, really a visual, then I
(33:37):
go down to the sets. First thing I do when I'm on the
set, read the scene, just read it, sit down, just read it.
Then I just kind of get up and Ithe first AD and the
cinematographer, they always want to be with you when you're
walking the sets. I cannot stress for me how
important it is to be alone because like I don't want to
(33:58):
talk to anybody. Do not start talking to me.
Do not start like throwing ideas, like do not ask me
questions. I don't know, I'm just feeling
the space. I'm just feeling it.
I'm looking, I'm like, and it it's not, it's not a left brain,
like make sense process of trying to really stay on the
right, like, you know, And then the minute I switch over to my
left, I'm like so, so nerdy and like shot lists and color
(34:22):
coordination and post it notes and then all that organization
thing comes in. But that's my process.
How do you like to bring Becauseyou, you touched on this about
noticing other directors like Creative Eye and their little
signatures, which I always love looking for that in people's
work where you can almost see. It's like their little invisible
ink signature on the corner of the frame.
(34:45):
How did you start developing your creative eye and find the
shots that you just really lovedand geeked out over?
You know, I I have a thing at first of all, I don't really
feel like I have a signature. If I do, there's one thing that
(35:05):
I do that does pop up, not in the same way, but in similar
ways, is I do like to lock off aframe and have characters appear
multiple times in in the same shot.
I've done that now on three different shows and each one was
very different vibe. But it's fun and I and so I
(35:28):
never intend like when I come upwith it for that, for that idea,
it's never like, oh, I'll do that thing I did before.
It's like, oh, what if it's this?
And then I almost feel like sometimes talk about Picasso
again. I'm not even that big of a
Picasso fan, just so you know. I mean it's.
Elevated. It's like the master.
I hear he's the master. Yeah, it's like the film, like
you just you got some artsy stuff in your in your orbit.
(35:49):
I guess some very nerdy, very highbrow, I guess, or try to be,
but Picasso, you know, like I think about his blue period and
it's I, it's not like I, by the way, I don't know, maybe I
should read a biography, but it's not like I feel like he's
like, I'm going to only paint blue for five years.
My feeling is that he probably painted and like a lot.
(36:10):
This is my guess and that just like a lot of them happened to
be blue within this five year period, like maybe a whole lot
of them, but like he probably painted other things at that
time. But just like you never know,
you're going into a a period of your life that's going to be
this amount of time that's goingto be this thing.
I think. I don't know.
So I'm not sure, but I, I'd say that I do have a thing called
(36:32):
cinematic shots. And it's anything that I see in
life on film or in photography that just is gorgeous.
And I take a picture of it or I take a video of it and then I
put it in this folder. And a lot of times before I do a
show, I'll just look through andI'll just say like what what
just strikes me in, in in another highbrow way, I in
(36:55):
preparing for a typical Michael Rappaport, I didn't know it all.
And he had like a reputation that like people were either
hated him or loved him. And I know a lot of directors
were like, OK, he was so terrible to me and yada, yada.
And I, I was like, OK, well, letme find out who this guy is.
So I watched, I started listening to his podcast and
right away I'm like, oh, he's got a brand and his brand is
(37:17):
like this like tough guy thing, whatever.
And I'm like, oh, so I'm sure when he's being that, which is
his brand, it feels very personal to the other person
hearing it, but it's just his vibe.
In the meantime, his favorite movie was Raging Bull.
And there's this shot where Kathy Moriarty and Robert De
Niro, it's so tight. They're, they're like, they look
like they're about to kiss, but both of their whole faces aren't
(37:40):
even in the shot. And I was like, that's stunning.
And I took a picture of it. Years later, I'm doing Ray's
Anatomy, and it's the time when Jackson is dating Kelly Mccree.
No, not Kelly Mccree's characterfrom Station 19.
Who, who was he dating? Jackson was dating from Station
19. It was when Jackson was dating
Victoria. And there's they've been dating
(38:03):
Ding Ding and nothing has happened between them.
And finally, when he she's stitching, he's stitching her up
because you got a cut. They kiss.
And I showed that shot to my DP and I was like, look, I don't
usually do this. I but there's this great shot
and he was like, Oh yeah, we'll totally do that.
And this. So if you look at my website,
actually the the frame that is held for that particular clips
of video is almost the exact same framing as the shot from
(38:25):
Raging Bull. OK.
So you have worked with the samecasting office a couple of
times. You've worked with one of my
favorite offices, Telsey, on a couple of things.
And I'm curious how, when you'recoming onto an episode, how you
connect with the casting team and talk about like what
strengths and characteristics and things that you're really
(38:46):
looking for in those actors thatare going to come in to play
these characters? So basically the showrunner
really calls the shots about those characters.
So we have usually a casting concept meeting with the
showrunner and with the casting director and, and it's happening
usually at the exact same time. And basically they're saying
this is what this is what the character is, this is who we're
(39:10):
looking for. You know, we really want East
Indian for this role because themother is supposed to be this
actor that we've seen in anotherepisode, what have you.
And then the casting director will write up the blurb.
Sometimes the reader will write it for them, and then we get to
sign off on it. I generally stay out of that
because that really is the realmof the showrunner.
(39:32):
But what I do is, is I will go and send.
I'll go. I go to my Instagram and I
scroll all like, I don't know how many people I'm following on
Instagram. And I look for people because a
long time ago I shot something and my friend Dave Schlansky,
who I went to be you with, he was like, dude, why didn't you
(39:54):
call me for that role? And I was so embarrassed because
to be honest, he would have beenso much better than the person I
cast. I just didn't think of him.
Like there you have when you're directing, you have so many
things on your mind. And so even through Instagram,
someone will pop up on Instagramand I'm like, Oh my God, they
they're literally the most perfect person for this.
(40:17):
Like I just three dogs, two children got a lot of things in
my mind. And so I usually will try to
send like two or three people per role and I don't force it
like if, if they're not exactly right for it, because the last
thing I want to do is just bringin an actor that's not right for
a part. And then it, it's then doesn't
(40:39):
make them look good. But for me, I feel like for my
friends, it's like, I'd much rather have them be seen and
like show what they can do, whether they get it or not.
I have very little say in the casting process.
I get to work with the producingdirector.
I usually give them the writer and I give our selects to the
producing director. So sometimes the writer has
(41:01):
different selects than I do. Then the producing director
usually decides on who they likebetween the two of ours.
Then they send it off to the showrunner and then the
showrunner sends it off to the studio and the network.
I mean, so there's a lot of people.
So I always tell all my friends,I'm like, I'm trying to bring
you in. It's out of my hands besides
that, but it's it. I will say that my my one bit of
(41:25):
advice for anyone coming in is don't do what you think we want
you to do. Just like I was talking earlier,
read that script, read that script.
Get out of your left brain. Try to be in your right creative
brain. Just read it, read it, read it.
See if anything strikes you. Read it.
Read it silently. Read it silently.
(41:46):
Don't even move your lips. Just like read it, read it, read
it, get it into your bones, readit and read it and read it and
just be. Here's what I'd say.
Be you if you were a waitress that's got two kids at home and
your husband just left you. Be you, if you know what I mean.
Like be, it's, it's you is the heart.
(42:09):
And then you Add all these otherthings on to it, like, oh, I'm,
I'm a waitress with two kids. My husband just left me.
I'm, I'm nearsighted, so I wear glasses.
You know, I always put my hair up and wear a hat because
working in the restaurant alwaysmakes my hair smell like fried
foods. And I got a date after this, you
know, like, but it's you, but you Add all the extra things on
(42:30):
it. So that's my that's amazing.
Having an actor background and coming up in the industry when
the casting process was very different and it was much more
connective and it was much more collaborative.
Do you have any advice for thoseactors that are feeling a
disconnect? And I hate this because I know
(42:53):
the other side of it, but I knowthat this is something that a
lot of actors feel it's their their craft and their prep is
not being validated because, youknow, they're not hearing
anything back. Do you have any advice for those
that are in that headspace of just how to keep going on and
how to enjoy the process? Just so you know, the directors
are feeling the disconnect too. And there's nothing like being
(43:16):
in that room. And it's hard booking off of
tape because you don't get to a lot of times you know an actor
will be so close to to doing it to getting it and you want to be
able to give that note and you just can't.
But you say this is them. And sometimes I'll say like this
(43:38):
is them. I've seen them on this other
thing and I know they can go deeper.
I just didn't. I'm not in the room with them to
work on them before, but I know or I have a friend that was like
she's like a queen. She's like literally looks like
like an African goddess. She is amazing and powerful and
and the part red is like hard asnails Gotti and she came in like
(44:01):
hitting it a little too hard. And so I, I wrote and I said,
Hey, just so you know, she livesand breathes this just in her
everyday life. And she came in sort of like
doing it and I know I can pull her back and and that was my
note when we got on said I was like, hey, just by the way, she
got it. She was a she was, by the way,
the best actor that auditioned for her.
But I said, hey, just so you know, you don't really have to
(44:23):
do anything. You are this so just like and
she goes great, amazing. So so we're missing it too.
And so if I I would say that every audition you have is an
opportunity, every audition you have is another drop in that
bucket. Just like I was talking about
(44:43):
the short films, it's like it's not the beginning nor is it the
end of your career. And so you just think another
person saw me, another cast actor saw me, another director
saw me, another producer saw me.There have been times when I
have seen an actor multiple times for for different roles on
different shows. And sometimes, Oh my God, one
(45:03):
time I brought a friend in and she didn't get it, but they
loved her so much. They brought her in the next
episode and she got the next episode, which by the way, was a
much better part. Another time, a friend of mine,
I brought in almost every singletime, he was so perfect As for
stage 19, so perfect for that show, and he had never gone in
for it before. And every time I brought in, he
didn't get it. And then he got another episode
(45:25):
that wasn't even mine. And it's not even connected to
my life in a whole other season.And so it just is like, don't
lose faith. Just be like, great, I did it.
I got to act today. Let it go.
Go back to your class. Go back to the other thing about
shooting your own stuff is it gives you that life.
It gives you that sort of like you've got things going on.
(45:45):
You're like, great, you know what?
I got it. I did that audition.
I sent it off. Now I got to go find someone's
going to like shoot this short for me this weekend or shoot the
scene for me or, you know, you can use iPhones nowadays for
things like I want you. I want people to make such
shitty art that looks so bad that it's shot on iPhones, by
the way. Be pretty, pretty good, yeah.
(46:08):
What is something that has been illuminated for you by being on
the director side that would have helped the actor you years
ago? You know, I could be a great
actor, but often times I was just good.
(46:33):
I, I love to work and do like tons and tons and tons of work
on things. And as an actor, I sometimes
never let go of the work. And there's a thing about when
actors come in and they're so present and that like so present
that like every time they say a line, like they don't know what
the next line even is, it like comes to them.
So they dove off of that Cliff and they're just like free
(46:55):
falling and you're like, and there's something thrilling
about it and so exciting and it's sparkling alive.
What I did was, was I pre shapedlike a director would pre shaped
this idea of the the journey I was going to take with it and
what was going to happen. And I like presented it.
And so it looked great. And the what I heard back all
the time was we loved him. He was great, great, but then I
(47:16):
wouldn't get it. We loved him.
He was great, but I wouldn't getit.
Loved him. He was great.
Wouldn't get it. I was like, oh, and I was so
frustrated and I never really got that.
I never dove. I never just like been like
great. The work happened at home.
Now I just show up and be present and see what happens.
And so as a director, you kind of have to do it because there's
(47:38):
there's hundreds of people that are like giving input.
And it's, it becomes as collaborative thing.
I'm holding the singular vision and I'm holding a lot of times
the singular vision of also the show owner as well.
But you have to just dive. And so anyway, I would say dive,
yeah. You have some beautiful stills
of you on set with your actors and the mutual respect and
(48:01):
trust. And just like you're talking
about that, that freedom to justdive into it and trust that the
net will appear, how do you liketo talk through scenes and
rehearse with your actors and and build that trust with your
cast? 1st I meet with them all before
we shoot. That's usually not set up.
(48:23):
It's usually just like, if you wanted to just show up on set
and they would be there, then that's kind of how it happens
sometimes. But I like to have a zoom
session or meet them face to face and, and not just like show
up with a trail and knock on thedoor.
Because a lot of times they're like in the middle of something.
They're like, Hey, I want to like set up a time where they
know I'm coming and just say like, Hey, I just want to like
get to know you. Who are you?
(48:44):
This is me. And, and it happened when COVID
was going on. Because I know it's going to be
wearing a mask and a shield. And I'm like, they're going to
be getting directions from this guy that they don't even know.
They, he doesn't even have a face.
You know, I don't even have a face.
And so we would zoom at the time.
And so there's just like this that, hey, what's going on?
Just saying, like, I'm here, if anything comes up, you are the
(49:09):
expert of this character. And so when I'm doing medical
things and I'm like, oh, let's put the oxygen on 1st.
There's a, there's a medical expert that says, Nope, can't do
the oxygen first. It's got to be this.
You're like, OK, great. And when there's a fire thing,
you're like, OK, well, you're going to pick up the the fire
hose. Like, no, you wouldn't pick up
the fire hose comes in the fire expert.
You do this instead. You're like, OK, great.
(49:29):
Well, the actor you're working with is the expert of that
character. So you rely on them to like also
say, here's here's what I'm thinking.
What are you thinking? You also know your stuff.
You know the character. Like as a director, you watch
it, you know, You know what the actors things are like.
(49:54):
You've I've asked around, I've asked everyone.
I'm like, OK, what's the deal? Who's who's with troublemaker on
set? Who's sleeping with who?
Because like sometimes people are sleeping and it's like a big
secret, but like sometimes they get lost in the trailer for
times and no one's coming out. So you just want to like know,
like what are the dams? Who doesn't get along with who?
Who needs to be kept away from each other?
(50:15):
Who what, what are the, the dynamics that are going on here?
What actor has trouble with their lines?
And so they should be shot second?
What actor always cries right away?
And then it's harder the more takes you do.
So I want to make sure I get them first and we do the close
up first. You learn all the things.
And so then when you get there, you say, hey, here's what I'm
thinking. I'm thinking maybe I'll have you
(50:36):
go set, you know, and you talk it through with them.
They so they know what's happening.
And so by keeping an actor informed and respecting them and
their process, I think you go itgoes far.
Yeah, absolutely. I also, I also show up in the in
the makeup and hair trailer in the morning and say hi to
everybody. Then can I tell you something
(50:56):
that is pure gold because the making the hair trailer is the
heart of the set. It's where all the talking and
gossip happens. It's where all the like tears
happen. It's all the all the downloads
happen there. And it's a very special sort of
sacred place. And so I like to be like good
morning, everybody go to everyone's chair and hug all the
(51:18):
hair and make up people. I'm like, we have a great day
and you know, anyone want to tell me anything anyone in
gossip but anything happened last night I should know about
OK, no good. And they leave.
It's it's literally like a 5 minute stop by but it like just
makes people feel excited and seeing.
Costume, hair and makeup trailer, two of my favorite
places. Those are those are the happy
places and those people are justabsolutely incredible.
(51:40):
I'd love to talk about understanding tone in the world
you're working in an auditioningfor.
You've directed episodes of Grey's.
We've talked about love, resident love, Doctor Odyssey,
new hit love, three very different medical dramas with an
emotional dynamic. I want to talk a little bit more
for the actors, how you would encourage them to immerse
themselves in the world that they are entering into while
(52:01):
still bringing themselves to that audition.
Yes, I think that by watching the show you also, it's almost
like when I said just read the script and read the script and
read the script and see what comes in your right brain.
Like what things happen. It's like if you watch the
Gilmore Girls, you you can't help but notice they talk a mile
(52:23):
a minute. And so if you're watching,
you're listening, you're paying attention, you're like, great, I
got to speak a mile a minute. When I go into that audition.
That's part of the, that's part of the gig for Doctor Odyssey.
You're like, I better look like 1,000,000 bucks.
I better look so good. I mean, especially if you're
like a person that's on the cruise, you know, it's like that
show was all about the beauty. The you know, it's everything is
(52:46):
so over the top. If you're going in for the pit,
you want to like wear no makeup and look like, you know, you're
sweaty and you know, it's like everything has a different vibe
and tone. If I was going in for the pit,
like I might like overlap some of the dialogue as you were
doing it because just that senseof what I've seen of that show
(53:06):
is and it's like supposedly in real time and it's happening
really fast. Like I would just be like, oh,
maybe I'll just overlap. And even if it doesn't say it,
like just have it happen. So just like by watching, just
watch, I'd say just watch and just take what you're taking.
And it doesn't have to be like take notes and be really
specific. Just like I like to go about
(53:27):
working on things by saying likehow interesting, you know, like
don't get it perfect. Just be like how interesting.
Oh, they're talking a mile a minute.
How interesting. And just go about it that way.
Michael I can't believe an hour is already blown by.
We ended every episode the same way.
What is one thing you wish you could go back?
I told you I talk a lot. I love it.
I this episode was just for me. Everybody else can listen to it,
(53:49):
but this one was for me. What is one thing you wish you
could go back and tell your younger self?
Oh. Man, I think I would tell my
younger self that you are are enough just as you are, and that
the hard work you do is great, but you don't have the hard work
(54:15):
you do. Isn't is not the validation of
who you are. It adds to the process.
But the end of the end of the day, after all that, just show
up and be you and you're enough.Between you and I, this is one
of my favorite episodes. Like truly, this was just such a
joy and like, your energy is just vibrant.
(54:37):
It's been so lovely having you on the podcast.
Thank you for making the time. Thank you, listen, thank you for
doing it. And by the way, like you doing
this, this is quite a feat. This is insane.
This is amazing and and like what a what an exploration and
what a how interesting, you know, take on like looking at
life and diving in and making something happen.
(54:59):
Hi everyone, thanks for listening and being the absolute
best part of our creative community here at What's My
Frame? If you'd like to learn more
about our guests, please check out the show notes and please
join us on socials at What's My Frame?
To stay in the know for upcomingevents, I'm your host, Laura
Linda Bradley. We'll see you next Monday.
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