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Wannabee traffic cop...not!


Mick

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When I first learned that William Friedkin of "Exorcist" and "French Connection" fame was to direct an episode of "CSI", I was intrigued and quite honestly excited. I also had some misgivings about how a movie director used to large budget productions would handle the physical, budgetary and time confines of episodic TV. I must confess to thoughts of long hours, endless setups and grandiose ideas that would be hard to justify on a TV show known for its economy of grandeur.

What a pleasant surprise then, when he turns out to be a funny, energetic motivational seventy four year old with the attitude and enthusiasm of a guy half his age. He made the actors bring their "A" game without them realizing it and also made the days fun and lively for the crew. He calls evryone "Mo" regardless of how much money they make and all in all has uplifted the working days of the cast and crew here. A couple of seasons ago we had the pleasure of Quentin Tarantino directing two back to back episodes and the experience with him was just as pleasant and motivating.

I have heard the expression "traffic cops" applied to episodic TV directors and in some cases it's justified, but it doesn't have to be like that as these fine craftsmen have exemplified. If I ever get the chance I'd love to take a leaf out of the book that these gentlemen have written for us wannabees, and take some of the "been there done that" out of the job. On that note the update on my directorial debut is that I've been turned down by the New York film fetival, but accepted for screening by the Vines Film Fest here in Santa Monica. One and one with seven to go. We're still early in the first quarter so fingers crossed and mixed metaphors at the ready. Trust me, if I ever get where I want to be I'll be the most sound conscious director since talkies were introduced.

Cheers

Mick

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Hey Mick, interesting observations concerning film directors working in TV. Other than pace and budget and talent$$$ of actors, I think the job is the same. Some just bring more experience, passion, and energy than others. But I think there is a degree of traffic cop to the job regardless of the scale of the screen. Concerning William Friedkin, I worked as an additional mixer w Kirk Francis on the Friedkin film "Blue Chips" doing all the basketball scenes. We rolled two Digital Nagras(4trks each) and 2 stc Nagras to accommodate all the actors we had wired for the games. What a cluster. Friedkin was great to the sound dept. and he hired Kirk and Mychael Smith(boomer) on other films. He does have energy and brings it for sure....  Calling everyone Mo is a New York film thing. If not Mo, it's cuz as in cousin. Jeff n Don worked w Friedkin and have some great stories as I recall. When your time comes to direct, My bet is you will bring the A game cause you've seen too many phone it in and you know you can do it better. If you turn into a big time director and forget your roots, we will hunt you down and toss a cream pie in your face in front of the whole crew. Good luck.

CrewC

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  • 2 months later...

Hey Mick the day I worked with you it must not have been William , because the director that day made the whole crew tence . So it must have been nice to work with a gentelman. God bless & good luck in the future .

                          Hope to see you in the future

                          Keith Birchfiel

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