By Kavishna Wijesinghe
Bobby Roth, the television and film director, screenwriter, and producer who is behind extraordinary creations like “Lost”, “Prison Break”, “The Mentalist”, “Grey’s Anatomy”, and Marvel’s “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” spoke to Junkyard Theory last Friday (7) on his extensive career in filmmaking.
Having screened his movies in over 100 international film festivals and winning countless awards, Bobby’s foray into filmmaking had humble beginnings.
Arrival into the industry
Bobby shared that while he was from a family where they had no artistic influence, he went off to UC Berkeley in such a time there were many different artistic movements in society, which encouraged him to take up writing. Later, he transferred to USC Film School and then UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles) Film School, where he made his first feature film. Being a newbie, his audacious move to enter his debut feature into the Cannes Film Festival in 1976 won the attention of many in the industry.
After gaining some exposure in the industry with his chance to write, direct, and produce at Universal, Bobby went back to being an independent filmmaker with “Heartbreakers” (1984). This film caught the eye of renowned film producer Ray Stark and there onwards Bobby started his film voyage.
His motivation to keep working assisted his transition into episodic television where he was soon hired to direct episodes for “Prison Break”, “Lost”, and “Grey’s Anatomy” among many TV series.
Bobby’s approach
“Tech counts for very little,” Bobby says, but he also mentions that the wonders we can do with mobile phones have become so diverse. Earlier, shooting films was hard and expensive and the amount of energy put into finding the materials and tools were pretty high. However, he also believes that filmmakers had better approaches back then than they do today. Bobby believes it’s better to be focused on storytelling than the technicalities of filmmaking and that it takes a lot of time and practice to become a good filmmaker.
He runs by the famous quote by German philosopher Karl Korsch: “It’s not the role of art to change the political landscape, it’s the role of art to prepare people psychologically to accept the change in that political landscape.” Bobby also discussed that he makes his films in such a way that the curiosity is aroused to keep the excitement flowing and he adores the inexactness of the art.
However, he is a firm believer in putting in the necessary prep work and rehearsals so that a director is mentally prepared when they go on set. Therefore, it’s no wonder that his own masterclass is aptly named “A Director Prepares”. He also believes that a director should facilitate a safe environment for collaborators on the film to bring out their creativity.
Bobby reiterated multiple times that preparation is key. When he took over directorial duties for the popular show “Lost”, he watched all 55 episodes that were telecasted earlier in order to learn the history and to become familiar with the flow of the characters.
Television and big screen
According to Bobby, filming TV shows and feature films differs, since the prep time for each is very different. Unlike features, the director and the crew usually get seven days of prep time for network television shows and seven to nine days to shoot it. Bobby reveals that the actual challenge is to successfully get the potential out during that limited timeframe.
Therefore, he’s vigilant to prepare ahead of time by reading scripts, reaching out to the actors, and imagining the whole creation combining original and dynamic ideas inside his head. “In feature films, the director himself invents everything, whereas in TV, they have to work on what’s already been invented and make the best out of it.”
Television vs. streaming
When questioned about where he sees the future of long-form storytelling going now that streaming is taking over the world, Bobby shared that this new genre of visual storytelling is special because they get to develop characters over longer durations on screen. “Most importantly, people don’t have to wait for an episode to release on a weekly basis and it’s different from watching a movie.”
How to join his masterclass
Bobby shared that young filmmakers who are striving to learn from his expertise can join his online masterclass simply by registering through his website “bobbyroth.net”. There are 10 episodes, each around 20 minutes, and anyone can learn about a range of topics from imagination, scripts, and casting to a couple of episodes on directing as well as how to get hired in the industry.
The full conversation with Bobby Roth can be found on the Junkyard Theory YouTube channel.
In 2015, filmmaking collective High School Junkies started creating short films out of passion and soon gained momentum as a film production house that championed frugal filmmaking. Their second short, EIDETIC, became the first-ever Sri Lankan film to be screened at the San Diego Comic-Con, and has subsequently been screened all over the world. They host guests from Hollywood on their webinar, Junkyard Theory.
