I was a 'wet behind the ears' young director in my mid-twenties in Tokyo, Japan for pre-production meetings for an upcoming television event. Walter Bennett, my boss and the executive producer, gave me some final words of advice before going into a meeting with the Japanese officials. "Thomas, keep your mouth shut and be a good listener!" I did. We both did. By doing so we earned the respect of our hosts who, I later learned, had often been disappointed in Americans who jump to conclusions and blurt out their positions before hearing everything in a negotiation.
Once I was on location at Pikes Peak in the Colorado Rockies, directing a celebrity stand-up scene for an upcoming Christmas special. Wanting to have some 'bonding time' with my young son David, I had brought him along from our home in LA.
Everything was set. I called 'Action'. The celebrity did his part well. Great take! I was just about to end the scene when I (and everyone else) heard a five year old little boy's voice from over my shoulder confidently call out "Cut!" Everyone chuckled at the youthful interjection. Trying to appear as serious as I could, I walked over to David and quietly informed him that what he had done is 'what they pay daddy to do'. He dutifully promised not to do it again! David learned to be a listener that wintery day on Pikes Peak. (Little did either of us know that a few years later, that little boy would be calling his own cues on his own shoots as a film director in his own right!)
Knowing when to be a good listener is important to becoming a good anything -- but especially, it seems to me, as a film and television writer or director.
While I was still in college, I had the opportunity to visit NBC Studios in Burbank for several days as the guest of Carl Gibson, a veteran NBC lighting designer, who seemed to think I had potential worth encouraging. Carl got me in the control rooms of the network's biggest shows where I watched producers, directors, technicians, and performers creating music and variety specials, comedy revues, daytime dramas, "The Tonight Show". I sat within a few feet of some of the biggest names in network television production and watched and listened as they communicated (or didn't) with each other, how they dealt with problems (or made them worse), how the language of their craft flowed in short-hand conversation between them. At night I crammed a notebook with what I learned each day. I was a 'kid' no one of importance. My anonymity allowed me to roam the halls of the vast NBC Studios unnoticed. I could ask dumb questions (and I did!) and no one thought less of me for my ignorance. In fact, they went out of their way to share their knowledge with a kid thirsty to learn.
What I learned was invaluable. Much of the core technique I use today in directing multi-camera television events was formed in those NBC sessions by being a good listener and observer. That would be almost impossible to do now. Established directors seldom sit in on other directors at work. It's almost an unspoken professional courtesy not to do so. Yet how I treasure those times when I have been able to do just that. As instructive as those experiences have been on what to do, they have often been equally as valuable in observing what NOT to do.
If you are young, just getting started, or at any age in your career, and you have the opportunity to 'be a good listener' and learn from others, jump at the chance. It doesn't happen often enough. The rewards will be incalculable -- not to mention the business cards and phone numbers you may pick up along the way that may turn into future professional relationships or even friendships.
My friend Carl Gibson left NBC a long time ago to start ACADEMY LIGHTING CONSULTANTS. He's still lighting big shows in Hollywood and knowing Carl, still mentoring young 'would be' directors. This one would just like to say 'Thanks again, Carl...if you're listening!"
