Report- Questions for Directors.

Following my previous post regarding the types of questions I may ask any directors I should happen to find and interview, I have decided upon these questions, followed by a brief description of why I am asking this. There are two sets of questions however as I have champed my research slightly as I am now also going to interview an aspiring director(s) as well as professional if possible. So without further ado, here they are:

Questions to ask pro director.

• How would you best describe your career path up to this point in terms of how you became a director? For example, did you make your own things then get noticed or did you start at the bottom of a crew and work up.

This is fairly obvious as this is the crux of what I am trying to ascertain from my report so as such this question will get straight to       the heart of what I want to find out

• Do you believe there is ‘best way’ for someone in my position (a year from graduating from a film degree) to get to be a director such as yourself?

Similarly to the first question, this is to get straight into the heart of my subject to find out what it is that gets someone to the top of the game and how they get there.

• What do you feel are the most useful skills for a director to have?

This is mainly to see if I personally have what it takes to be a director but, more than this the report will benefit from it as it seems that anyone who wants to become a professional director can read the report and also find out if they have what it takes.

• Do you feel you are where you want to be in your career, and if not what do you think the next step for you is?

This is to look forward beyond directing, if they are at the top, or to see where they go next if they are professional but still on the up, meaning for example if they are a TV director then do they have any desire to move 'up' to feature films.

• What would be a piece of advice you would give to someone like me who wants to be a director so that they can improve as a director?

This is another personal question for me but the report will benefit also because if the advice there give is something people can do for example take an acting course, then it is useful information for me to add to the report.

• How often are you working and what do you do between jobs?

This is useful because it is very rare that directors are working all year round and as a result I think it is useful for people to know what the in between times are like.

• And finally, what are you currently working on and would there be any room for me to possibly do some work experience as a runner or assistant?

All I can say about this question is that shy kids get nothing.

Questions for aspiring director

• Do you believe there is a ‘best way’ that someone goes about climbing the film industry to become a director?

This is much like the first question to a professional director in that it gets straight to the heart of what it is that I am wanting to find out from the report and as such instantly cuts into this.

• What are the next steps for you on your career path?

As they are not yet in a position to be considered professional, it is important to ascertain where they go next as the early stages of progression may well be the most important ones.

• Where do you aim to be in ten years and how do you think you will have gotten there?

This is to get a sense of the persons ambition and what they deem to be successful in their career, by doing this it helps me get a better handle on the responses I am being given and it will also allow my readers to see if the information fits their ambitions.

• What skills and traits do you feel make a good director?

Just a useful thing to know and as I said before it is mainly to see if people have those qualities in themselves.

• Are there times when you doubt that you want to be a director, if so, how do you get past these and  continue pursuing the dream?

I think this is a very useful question, as the road to being a director will not be an easy one and as with anything of this nature there will be times when giving up seems like the best option and as such it is important to know how to get past this feeling.

• Given that I will be following a path not dissimilar to your own, what advice would you give me regarding post-graduation and where I go next?

This is useful as it can be hard for many people to leave the structure of education and be put out into the real world to get a job in an industry you have no history in, so this question helps to combat that in some way.