What's It About?

When I was younger I wanted more than anything to become a theater director. When Carnegie-Mellon accepted me to the oldest graduate program in the U.S., I was very proud and excited -- especially since I had applied to 8 other programs that didn't accept me! I eagerly anticipated my first directing class with Drama Chair and Tony-Award winning director (for The Two Gentlemen of Verona) Mel Shapiro.

In the first class, Mel told us the secret to becoming a good director. "The first thing," Mel said, is you have to know what the f*** the play is about." I had never heard a professor use that particular expletive in a class before, and I admit it distracted me from fully contemplating the beauty and simplicity of that statement. That's the first step, not only for directing, but for all story telling. You have to know what it's about, or it's easy to get lost and end up with a mess instead of a program.

Once a content company licenses your program, all of sudden you'll be working with an army of collaborators -- designers, actors, writers, producers, prop masters, location scouts, company executives, and others. You must be able to articulate to them what it's about, so that they don't set your story about oil fields in Oklahoma in Beverly Hills, or dress your set with modern furniture when the family in your story collects antiques.

It also guides you while you develop your idea. When you must write an extra scene because the teleplay is too short, or cut something because it's too long, remembering what it's about will help you write a scene that fits or make the cuts needed to enhance the story.

Remember that other people working on the project may make a decision based on their own narrow understanding of the story. For example, it's said that the actor who plays the small part of the psychiatrist in 'A Streetcar Named Desire' (he only appears in the last scene)was asked what the play was about. He said, "it's a play about a man who takes a woman off to the crazy house." He may have been right from his perspective, but you need to worry about the big picture.

Write what your project is about in simple, declarative sentences, and put it above the computer where you're writing. Keep it with you in your wallet so that when an idea strikes you can write it down while it's fresh and know if it fits your current project. Memorize it so you can tell others and observe their reaction. You must protect it to the death.