Conversations from the Sundance Institute Labs | Roundtable on Mentally Preparing to Direct with Ira Sachs (FRANKIE), Karyn Kusama (DESTROYER) & more
About this Event Recording
Go behind the scenes to learn from Sundance Institute Advisors in our Conversations from the Labs series. This collection of videos will deepen your understanding of all the creative disciplines that are supported through our Labs including Feature Film Directing and Writing, TV Writing, Emerging/Interdisciplinary Media, Documentary, Producing and Film Music.
In this video, four directors—Ira Sachs, Keith Gordon, Karyn Kusama and Kasi Lemmons—explore the ways in which you mentally prepare to fulfill the role of director. Lemmons (Eve's Bayou) discusses her experience as an actor working for directors Jonathan Demme, Spike Lee and John Woo, and how she learned that intensive preparation before the shoot allowed her to be present and free when on-set. Sachs (Love is Strange), who got his start as a theatre director, shares how he adapted to film directing by listening and responding to his actors, building the space around them to make their job of imagining the world easier. Kusama (The Invitation) speaks about the various rituals she’s developed over the years—things as simple as taking a bath or reading a book—to adapt and cope with the anxiety. She emphasizes the importance of a “feeling” read during prep, when she reads her script once a week to understand her film on a deep emotional level. Gordon (Waking the Dead) describes his approach of embracing disasters on set; as long as he is rooted strongly in the story, he is able to adapt to any challenges that may come up during the shoot. Finally, the directors discuss some specific directing tools to use on set, including giving actors direction privately to protect the space for them, using blocking to help solve performance challenges and much more. The conversation is moderated by Sundance advisor Gyula Gazdag.
Other conversations in this ongoing series include those with editors Michelle Tesoro, Joi McMillon, Teri Shropshire & Dylan Tichenor; cinematographers Stephen Goldblatt, Robert Elswit, Brad Young and Charlotte Bruus Christensen; writer/director Miguel Arteta, writer/director Walter Salles, writer/director Randa Haines and more.
Event RecordingTeam
Keith Gordon
Director / Actor
As an indie filmmaker, Gordon starred in, co-wrote, and co-produced STATIC (Best Actor: Madrid Film Festival), adapted and directed THE CHOCOLATE WAR, (IFP/Spirit Award nomination: Best First Feature), adapted and directed A MIDNIGHT CLEAR (IFP/Spirit Award nomination: Best Screenplay), produced and directed MOTHER NIGHT from the Kurt Vonnegut novel and starring Nick Nolte, adapted and directed Scott Spencer’s WAKING THE DEAD (IFP/Spirit award nomination for Best Screenplay), and directed THE SINGING DETECTIVE starring Robert Downey Jr., Mel Gibson, and Robin Wright. For television, Gordon has directed multiple episodes of FARGO, THE LEFTOVERS, HOMELAND, NURSE JACKIE, DEXTER, THE KILLING, THE BRIDGE, WILD PALMS, NIGHT VISIONS, AND GIDEON’S CROSSING, ALONG WITH EPISODES OF BETTER CALL SAUL, LEGION, MASTERS OF SEX, DISPATCHES FROM ELSEWHERE, HOUSE, RUBICON, THE STRAIN, HOMICIDE, FALLEN ANGELS, and many more. Pilot episodes include THE RETURNED (also Executive Producer) and RECTIFY (also Co-Executive Producer). Last century, as an actor, Gordon had leading roles in John Carpenter’s CHRISTINE, Brian De Palma’s DRESSED TO KILL, BACK TO SCHOOL, supporting roles in numerous films including ALL THAT JAZZ, and multiple more both on and off-Broadway theater. He’s mentored at the Sundance Lab since the 1990s and has taught at AFI, Film Independent, and USC. He has written and podcasted about film for multiple outlets, and hosted a film-themed show for National Public Radio.
Kasi Lemmons
Kasi Lemmons is an award-winning director, writer, actress, and professor who has been a staple in Hollywood for nearly three decades. Her acclaimed 1997 feature directorial debut, Eve’s Bayou, was recently inducted into the National Film Registry, and is considered among the first to showcase the beauty of African American Southern culture. The film received the Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature, and the National Board of Review bestowed her with a special first-time director award. Eve’s Bayou marked Samuel L. Jackson’s debut as a film producer and helped launch the careers of actresses Megan Good and Jurnee Smollett.
Lemmons’ sophomore feature, The Caveman's Valentine, opened the 2002 Sundance Film Festival, while her third film, Talk to Me, earned the 2008 NAACP Image Award for outstanding directing. She also adapted Langston Hughes’ musical Black Nativity for the big screen in 2013.
Her 2019 opus, Harriet, is a deeply resonant and powerful drama based on the life of American icon Harriet Tubman. Starring Cynthia Erivo in the titular role, Harriet earned two Oscar nominations, two Golden Globe nominations, and ten NAACP Award nominations. In addition to her directing on Harriet, Lemmons most recently executive produced the Netflix limited series Self Made starring Octavia Spencer and directed two episodes. Self Made earned 3 NAACP Image Awards.
Her sixth film, I Wanna Dance With Somebody starring Naomie Ackie, opened Christmas ’22 and thoughtfully tackles the triumphs and the struggles of the superstar Whitney Houston. The film soared to become the number one most-watched movie on Netflix on its debut weekend.
As an actress, Lemmons appeared in notable films such as Jonathan Demme’s Silence of the Lambs, John Woo’s Hard Target, Rusty Cundieff's Fear of a Black Hat, and Spike Lee’s School Daze.
Lemmons has worked extensively as a mentor and educator and currently serves as an Arts Professor in the Graduate Film Department at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. She has shared her passion for writing and teaching with institutions across the world, including Yale University, MIT, USC, UCLA, AFI, Los Angeles Film School, and The University Pristina Film School in Kosovo. Lemmons holds an Honorary Degree, Doctor of Letters from Salem State College. She has served on the board of Film Independent since 2004.
Along with Academy-Award nominated composer Terrence Blanchard, Lemmons added librettist to her formidable body of work, creating the stage adaptation of Charles Blow’s New York Times bestselling memoir Fire Shut up in My Bones for the Opera Theater of Saint Louis. Fire Shut Up In My Bones opened The Metropolitan Opera’s 2021–22 season, the first by an African-American composer and librettist ever performed at The Met. Fire Shut Up in My Bones went on to win a Grammy for Best Opera Recording.
Ira Sachs
Director
Ira Sachs (he/him) is a filmmaker whose work includes the features Frankie, Little Men, Love is Strange, Keep the Lights On and Forty Shades of Blue. A 2013 Guggenheim Fellow, he has been an artist resident at both Yaddo and MacDowell, as well as a participant in the Sundance Screenwriters Lab in 1999. In 2009, in recognition of the impact of the AIDS epidemic on queer artists, Sachs founded Queer|Art, a non-profit arts organization dedicated to the support of LGBTQ+ artists across disciplines and generations
Karyn Kusama
Director
Karyn Kusama most recently directed the first two episodes of AMC's horror anthology series, THE TERROR: THE DEVIL IN SILVER, of which she is also an executive producer. The show is set to premiere in 2026. Karyn was also an executive producer of Showtime’s coming-of-age survival drama, YELLOWJACKETS. The show has garnered ten Emmy nominations to date, including one for Karyn’s direction of the pilot episode.
Prior to that, Karyn helmed the Golden Globe-nominated film DESTROYER starring Nicole Kidman and written by her frequent collaborators, Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi. Her feature credits include indie thriller THE INVITATION, cult horror comedy JENNIFER'S BODY, sci-fi love story AEON FLUX, and her Cannes and Sundance-award winning debut, GIRLFIGHT. Karyn has also worked extensively in television, directing episodes for such series as THE MYSTERIOUS BENEDICT SOCIETY (for which she won a Children’s and Family Emmy Award), DEAD RINGERS, HALT AND CATCH FIRE, THE OUTSIDER, and THE MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE.
In 2018, Karyn launched Familystyle Film, her production company with Hay and Manfredi, where they produce for film and television across multiple genres.