Eyes on TV Director Andi Armaganian

There is no straight path to directing television. Andi Armaganian’s ran through 22 years as an editor, a $100,000 feature she could not afford, and the one word you can never say when someone finally offers you the chance to direct.

The hosts met Andi as an editor on Smallville, back when it still cut on film. She spent 22 years in post before the Berlanti camp asked her to direct, did the Warner Bros. directing program, and went on to direct Arrow, Supergirl, Stargirl, and multiple Star Treks. She explains why editors make great directors, and how she made herself indispensable by giving directors an escape route in the edit.

Then the real job: why broadcast TV is cut to the exact frame, what it is like to be the guest director dropped into a machine that already has its crew and cast, how the business shrank from 22 directing slots to about four, directing Rescue: HI-Surf from a jet ski in the open ocean, and the best advice she gives every newcomer. Do not mess up the coffee.