Having known Bobby Kashif Cox and Chanelle and Kristie for 20 years, it was an absolute yes when asked by Laurie and the Kashif team to come on board to lead a workshop for directors around how to more effectively collaborate with actors.
What a thoughtful ask, to bring an actor into the room with directors so they can have the most well-rounded perspective. I was honored.
As I prepared for The Directing Breakdown Lab, I asked myself: who are the directors I’ve ultimately enjoyed collaborating with in the professional world? Who made me feel empowered and clear of their vision so I could work my best to fulfill it? What were the qualities they all shared?
The answers resulted in a lab that began with penning a Culture Manifesto: a personal statement that defines how a director desires to curate their set environment and the relationships with their collaborators.
The day of the workshop, I grinned ear to ear, feeling at ease as I entered into one of the most diverse rooms of creatives I’ve been in; I thrive in those spaces, and clearly, so do they.
We began with a few minutes of getting more acquainted, then chatted about how they wanted communication on their respective sets to work. How much play versus work, what happens when the pressure is on and time is running out. Is there some ritual they want to create for their set? How do they want to feel and how do they want everyone else around them to feel when they’re engaged with the vision? I could see wheels turning. The idea of having the autonomy to cultivate this environment was empowering.
After taking time to answer these questions and write their manifestos, the directors shared them with the room. I was blown away by the creativity and varying voices that emerged; the beginnings of my understanding of what a dynamic room of artists I was in. And something had shifted. Being intentional about how they wanted to engage while leading had reminded them the importance of the energy they bring. We moved forward with newfound clarity.
We then spent a good amount of time talking through how to establish trust with actors on set quickly, how to run a rehearsal and give adjustments when needed.
Next came roleplaying. I was fortunate enough to have a room full of working actors waiting next door to engage with the directors for several scenarios. In addition to the pure comedy that emerged, we presented them with scenarios of different challenges directors may be faced with on set. An actor who wants to take control, one who is nervous, who needs lots of direction, who doesn’t trust the director, an actor struggling to arrive at a specific emotional beat. In one particular instance, we pushed through as a director had a challenging time bringing me (improv’ing as an actor who didn’t trust him) into his vision and after a bit of a deflation, he decided to take it as a lesson which he’d apply if and when it came up again on set in the future. It was the perfect buffer between talking theoretically about the work and actually engaging in rehearsals with actors for the latter half of the day.
We’d spent so much time tackling challenges and questions in real time that we weren’t able to get through all that I’d hoped, but it was clear an impact was made and the directors felt more prepared to move forward with their own projects.
I spent the latter half of the day giving notes on scripts and observing rehearsals in preparation for shooting. It struck me immediately: what Kashif is providing these artists is supremely rare. Kashif’s own culture manifesto, of sorts: a safe and supportive place to feel completely seen, respected, and encouraged to grow. In their own words, “here at Kashif, there are no starving, struggling, tortured artists; only resourced, thriving, communal artists.” What a wondrous self-fulfilling prophecy at work in real time. I have every bit of faith that this group of inspiring directors will generate world-shifting work, for having been given this gift. And I can’t wait to be a witness.
