Here’s more thoughts about directing from Garry Marshall taken from his book, Wake Me When It’s Funny:
“Michael Eisner once said, ‘Garry Marshall doesn’t direct a movie. Hosts a movie.’ That’s pretty accurate. Just as on my television shows, I run a loose ship. I want everyone to get along while they’re working because I hate tension while I’m working. I don’t care if two people kill each other at the wrap party as long as they can get along during the shoot. Movie sets are extremely intense and it’s critical that petty squabbles are kept to a minimum. One way to do this is to make sure each person feel as if he’s one of the most important players on the team. I let anyone make a suggestion on a film, from the smallest star to the biggest Teamster, because everyone is part of the process. I have no use for people who play it safe and refuse to give suggestions. On my set everybody can speak if he waits his turn.”
Garry Marshall
“I once worked with a cinematographer who told me that I didn’t command enough authority to be a film director. One day he brought me a ladder and asked me to stand on to of it. He wanted me to yell at the actors and scream at the crew. Stand tall on this perch, he said. This is the way you should control the set. I climbed up the ladder, yelled, and almost fell off. It just wasn’t my style. I wanted to control the whole set while sitting in the corner, with my eyes closed, sucking on a toothpick (a habit I adopted after I quit smoking). You have to find a way to work that suits you.”
Garry Marshall
“A director has to be part psychiatrist, part teacher, and part parent to everyone on the set. Part lover is not such a good idea because it represents a loss of control on the set. Many people entering show business find the responsibilities of being a director overwhelming and they go on to others jobs. There are many talented people who have directed one picture—some very good pictures—and have never been heard from again.”
Garry Marshall
Related posts:
Garry Marshall’s Directing Tips (Part 1)
Directing Tips from Peter Bogdanovich
Directing Non-Professional Actors
Kazan on Directing (Part 1) The first of eight posts
