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From : TVLEGENDS
Added: Sep 3, 2009
Jay Sandrich is an Emmy-award winning director of such iconic television shows as The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Soap, and The Cosby Show. He describes his philosophy for Directing as "..move the cameras, dont ever move the actors. Make a scene work, then worry about how youre gonna shoot it." Sandrich spoke at length about his earliest professional experiences, working as a Second Assistant Director and later First Assistant Director at Desilu on programs including I Love Lucy for much of its latter years, and witnessing the tumultuous off-screen chemistry of its main stars. He acknowledges that his first lucky break was nepotism- being hired by Desilu because Lucille Ball remembered working with his father (Director Mark Sandrich).  He also talked about working with director/producer Sheldon Leonard on programs including The Danny Thomas Show and The Andy Griffith Show where his experience working with comic actor Don Knotts inspired his goal as a Director that the "laughs came out of the humanity of the character", rather than a laugh track. Next, he describes his experiences working with producer Leonard B. Stern on the sitcom Get Smart, and his decision to leave that show after realizing he just didn't like producing as much as directing. He teamed up again with Leonard Stern on He & She, where he learned the value of collaborative work between a director and writer: "I learned that sometimes you can bring writers in instead of shutting them out like some directors want and things work so much better. I can say as a director 'this scene isn't working' but I can't fix it. I don't have that ability to write the words." Mr. Sandrich details his long-term position as director of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, a break he calls "the luckiest day in my career", and chronicles his directing style and philosophy, as well as the evolving role the women's liberation movement played on the show. He talks about the "disaster run-though" of the show's first episode, the clashes with writer/producer James Burrows on-set, and the challenges of working with actors from very different backgrounds.as well as his experiences on the controversial program Soap . Finally, he discusses his work as the director of the popular 1980s-era sitcom The Cosby Show. The five-hour interview was conducted by Karen Herman on December 4, 2001 in Los Angeles.. To see the entire interview collection, visit http://emmytvlegends.org
Category : Entertainment

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