ABSTRACT
Kevin Dowling begins by telling the story of how he first got into television directing after spending the first part of his career directing theater and feature films. He discusses the pros and cons of television versus movies, and explains how approaching television scripts as though they were plays was and is the key to directing episodic TV. Dowling moves on to talk about Necessary Roughness, a show he played a key creative role on, and discusses how he played a similar role in the early stages of the Amazon series Bosch. Continuing on the subject of Bosch, Dowling explains his philosophy regarding Los Angeles locations, and then transitions into a discussion of whether or not his on-set tone changes depending on the genre of the piece he’s directing (for the most part, it doesn’t). Dowling also explains how he approaches sex scenes in a way that puts actors at ease, and discusses his approach to violence, particularly on the AMC Western series The Son. He finishes by communicating some of the pitfalls young directors hoping to transition to episodic television should avoid.
