At a moment when the industry is asking what the price of nice is on set, veteran TV and film director (The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, The Office) Ken Kwapis is giving readers the nitty gritty of the entertainment industry in his book But What I Really Want to Do Is Direct (out now). Kwapis spoke with EW about writing his book. We also check in on his thoughts on the current TV and film landscape amid COVID-19 and allegations of toxic workplace behavior in Hollywood.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: You're very thorough when describing your directing process, which is a no-BS approach that takes into account the nuances of delicately handling an entire crew. But What I Really Want to Do Is Direct feels like the crash course film school book people need when they may not be able to get back to film school. Would you agree?
KEN KWAPIS: Oh yeah, well, production opportunities are going to be limited for the next semester or two. But, I think at the end of the day ingenuity will prevail. I expect what we'll see is a lot of students who come up with amazing ideas for films that involve or feature one or two people.
Like that Sam Levinson flick with John David Washington and Zendaya?
Right! I mean, look. There are so many great stories that we can point to over film history that only have one or two people. I was recently thinking of the wonderful movie Misery, a Rob Reiner film. At the end of the day, these are not big obstacles, for someone who's passionate, to overcome.
Throughout the book, you describe how you promote having a non-toxic set. You even describe how to sniff out bad faith executive meetings. With the recent stories on the toxic workplace situation on Ellen, among others, why is it more important than ever to have an inclusive workplace environment?
There's a lot to tackle with that question. When you're in film school, you learn a lot of stories about tyrannical directors. Enshrined in film lore are stories about angry eruptions, about directors working a crew to death to get a shot. I feel like there's a huge misunderstanding [in the industry]. Obviously, we see it in every endeavor — politics, show business. There are a lot of people who truly feel that the crew and cast do their best work when they're confused. When they're being punished. It's honestly not that hard to create an atmosphere where people actually feel like they're able to contribute and feel acknowledged and respected.
Another lesson people can take with them from your book is how you work the confessionals scenes in a sitcom. You look at The Bernie Mac Show, which you worked on. Malcolm In The Middle had characters who spoke to the camera. Obviously The Office and Parks and Rec. Why is that such a prevailing theme for your work?
Well, first, there's a big difference between the characters in The Office talking to the camera or to the documentarian compared to someone like Frankie Muniz or Bernie Mac addressing the camera, right? Weirdly enough, in The Office, it's very realistic. No one is breaking the fourth wall. You're watching an interview. I think the challenge with The Office was to make sure that the interview pieces always felt like they were bits of a documentary. While filming [the interviews], I would engage with the actors in a dialogue. I'd ask them questions about their character and how they would respond. Finally, I will kind of tee up something that would prompt the scripted line.
Speaking of The Office. You got to direct Creed Bratton, who has an equally fascinating part on the show as he does a music career!
He's got a great new record. The songs are personal. And I also get the sense that he's kind of in a retrospective mode. He covered a The Grass Roots song, which is the band he started with.
Wait, tell me about the piece in the book about how apparently Creed might have hooked up with Janis Joplin while on tour back in the day?
Well, as we know from The Office, he did date Squeaky Fromme. [Laughs]
As far as with Janis, I can't say. But, like I said in the book, the fact they knew each other just added to the mystique.
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