‘Watchmen’ director among women making Emmy splash
LOS ANGELES — An awkward youth is coaxed into a carnival’s house of mirrors for what looks to be an innocent flirtation, but the “Watchmen” scene quickly turns emotionally grueling and, ultimately, destructive.
How that was achieved highlights the collaborative effort needed to make TV a cinematic experience — a comparison that director Steph Green is in a position to make.
An Emmy nominee for the “Little Fear of Lightning” episode from HBO’s limited series, Green’s movie credits include the 2009 Oscar-nominated short film “New Boy” and 2013’s “Run & Jump,” with Will Forte.
But the scale of the graphic novel-based “Watchmen,” she said, exceeded the film and TV projects she’s worked on. While TV typically sticks to a time- and cost-conscious schedule, HBO allowed the leeway needed to devise the intricate fun house mirrors for the drama’s fifth episode.
“A lot of what we see on TV can be so hurried, and the choice might have been made, ‘Let’s just use VFX (visual special effects) and fake reflections,’ ” she said.
Instead, cinematographer Xavier Grobet, also Emmy-nominated for the episode, was able to pursue his vision of a real mirror maze.
The team built a modestly sized maze of oneway looking glass that would give actors Philip Labes and Julia Vasy “a completely immersive experience and only see mirrors around them and not see us,” Green said.
Moving the camera from behind one set of mirrors to another allowed for different reflective shots — and a remarkably innovative take on the movie trope of a fun house that harbors mind-bending peril. “It was really ingenuity,” Green said.
So is “Watchmen” as a whole, earning a leading 26 Emmy nominations. Four of the limited series category’s six directing nods went to women.
The gender split contrasts with that of other Emmy directing categories. Out of seven comedy series nods, two went to women; among drama series nominees, three of eight are women; in the variety series category, it’s five men to two women.
Might Green speculate on why she and her sister directors fared so well in limited series?
“I don’t know if there’s a reason other than we’re getting more involved in some of the most exciting work, and limited series are so often where that really bold work is happening,” she said.
A San Francisco native, Green moved to Dublin to pursue a master’s in film, which led to several productive years working there. But she realized it couldn’t provide the opportunities available in the increasingly robust U.S. TV industry. Her film work abroad gave her the chance to prove herself when she returned to California six years ago.
Among her boosters: director Dan Attias, writerproducer Joseph Weisberg and FX. Green said the channel actively sought women directors and provided her “first shot” at a high-profile project, hiring her to direct an episode of Weisberg’s “The Americans.”
“Steph was the perfect fit for ‘Watchmen,’ ” showrunner and executive producer Damon Lindelof said, calling her “extremely talented, and more importantly, fearless. Episode five feels like it lives within the series, but its unique and wonderful glow is all attributable to Steph.”