ABSTRACT
Joanna Johnson starts her interview by talking about her days in film school, specifically the Critical Studies department at USC. She talks about how that led to studying acting, and then to her own career as an actor before she was able to transition into writing on shows such as Hope and Faith. Johnson credits her training in the editing room with preparing her to direct, and says young directors should not only study editing but avoid going to film school – she thinks it’s more important to study liberal arts and live life. Johnson talks about supervising other directors’ cuts as a writer-producer on The Fosters, and how she became more forgiving and empathetic after directing her own episodes. She also explains how directing has informed her writing and vice versa, and how she learned to trust her instincts as a director. She discusses the importance of collaboration and concludes by saying she would probably not pursue a career directing on someone else’s show.
