Advance Praise for Directors Tell the Story

This is a precise and smart book about directing in general and directing television specifically.

Sally Field

Rooney and Belli, by dint of their considerable and varied directing experiences, have compiled a bible about the technical and emotional aspects of being a director. I wish I would have had this book when I started my directing career!

Mark Tinker

Executive Producer/Director

Private Practice, Deadwood, NYPD Blue

I’ve had the pleasure of being directed by both Mary Lou and Bethany on multiple occasions. As clear and precise as they are as directors, I’m pleased to say they are even more so as writers describing the craft of directing. Their step-by-step approach includes even the smallest detail and yet is still interesting—and informative—to those of us who’ve been on sets for years. Even better, they manage to convey the subtleties of how a director can alter the mental and emotional state of a set to create the best environment for a cast and crew to create art.

Jason George

Actor

Off the Map, Grey’s Anatomy, What About Brian, Eve

It assembles information in a way I have never seen before and has a level of subtlety concerning the process of directing that I haven’t read in any other book. It is great about describing the challenges, the thinking and ultimately the practice of directing for television. There is nothing quite like it—it is the best, most grounded explanation for the complex art of directing I have read.

Michael Niederman

Chair, Television Department

Columbia College Chicago

There are quite literally no other books like this one. Most of the other “Directing” books out there are either “interview” books or “Indie Filmmaker” books…but there are very few “How-To” and/or “Tell it Like it Is” books by working professional directors. The authors have very successfully presented both the fundamental concepts of Hollywood Directing, and then walk you through a very robust process by which to succeed at it!

Dave A. Anselmi

Director, Producer, Instructor

PracticalMysticProductions

The writers make you, the reader, feel as if they are simply having a conversation with you. A conversation full of good advice, useful exercises, and instructive concepts. I’m gratified to see the words “respect for actors” as a priority because without them, we have nothing. Mary Lou and Bethany emphasize the truth that it’s our job, as directors, to tell the story and it’s the actors’ job to tell the truth.

Anne Drecktrah

Professor

Virterbo University