matt shakman
‘spoils of war’ director matt shakman named geffen playhouse a. d. | deadline
matt shakman is the new artistic director at geffen playhouse. (geffen playhouse )
shame that matt shakman won’t be back, his style is excellent in my opinion .
matt shakman, lin - manuel miranda, dick van dyke and gil cates jr .
that said, i think that in this case, matt shakman is probably absolutely correct .
here' s what director matt shakman revealed about the show' s stirring final scene .
matt shakman was born on august 8, 1975. he is a director and producer, known for
matt shakman, who directed “the spoils of war, ” spoke with variety about season 7’s biggest battle thus far .
matt shakman (born august 8, 1975) is an american film and television and theatre director and former child actor .
the geffen playhouse has a new artistic director: matt shakman, a veteran director with credits on the stage, in movies and on tv .
director, matt shakman, talked to variety and inverse about filming that extraordinary dragon battle sequence in his directorial debut on game of throne s .
los angeles’ geffen playhouse has announced that theatre, film, and television director matt shakman has been named its newest artistic director. shakman will join the geffen staff in putting together the 2018–2019 season beginning september 20 .
“it was an extraordinary directing from matt shakman, who came in with a lot of pressure on his shoulders, ” showrunner david benioff told entertainment weekly. “
acclaimed theater, film and television director matt shakman has been named artistic director of the geffen playhouse, the non - profit theater' s board of directors announced today .
for more matt, go see cut bank in theaters april 3rd and follow him on twitter @ mattshakman .
cut bank director matt shakman has something in common with 35 mm film fanatics martin scorsese and quentin tarantino. for his movie debut the director insisted on shooting on film rather than digital .
director matt shakman has an eye for the setting—the alberta locations look great—but the town should be a character à la david lynch’s “blue velvet” and here it is simply a backdrop to the action .
matt that’s really subjective. he could have watched every episode and think that this is his favorite. it’s personal preference .
- christmas is ruined (2005)... (as matthew shakman )
margie is played by kaczmarek, who speaks highly of shakman as a director .
since 2002, shakman has mostly been directing for television. among his credits include
mr shakman even managed to coax a different expression out of emilia clarke’s face .
but to really drive his points home, shakman turned to classic war films .
as far as shakman is concerned, good people has some of those same qualities .
sallie patrick on twitter :
wish matt shakman were still on twitter so he' d see how his 1st # got ep blew up the internet! 2nd ep next wk. goat director & lovely person❤… urltoken
“we discussed early on that the center of that flame would be so hot that it would carbonize almost instantly, ” matt says .
“the battle, i think, was 18 main - unit days, roughly around 5 second - unit days, and then several weeks of the effects - unit shooting back in belfast, ” director matt shakman tells variety .
the director matt shakman made his “game of thrones” debut sunday with an episode full of thrilling action set pieces, including daenerys targaryen’s fiery dragon - and - dothraki assault on the lannister army and arya and brienne’s electrifying sword fight .
if you watched the game of thrones episode “the spoils of war” earlier this year and thought “wow, whoever directed this is going to get to make a big movie in the very near future, ” congrats. you were right. and it looks like director matt shakman will make his big screen debut with an adaptation [ … ] the post ‘ the phantom tollbooth ’ movie coming from ‘ game of thrones ’ director matt shakman appeared first on / film .
matt shakman is a game of thrones newbie, but if anybody had doubts that he could direct an episode of the show, they were silenced when “the spoils of war” aired this past sunday. shakman sat down with variety to talk about making the episode, particularly that action - packed battle at the end of it .
matt shakman, who directed this month’s “the spoils of war” episode of “game of thrones” featuring the epic dragon battle, has been named artistic director of l. a. ’s geffen playhouse, the theater’s board of directors announced monday .
geffen playhouse' s board of directors announced that matt shakman will be the company' s artistic director. he will join the staff on september 20 and begin work on building the 2018 - 19 season with executive director gil cates jr .
haha, i remember when directors were announced and there was quite negative response from people on this site, especially due to absence of certain directors (not from me of course). and now matt shakman did such a great job overall .
if we’re posting matt shakman interviews, you should post the one where he talks about what sansa’s look meant after the arya / brienne ‘fight’ (urltoken). then perhaps people will stop projecting onto sansa imaginary emotions (“jealousy”) that weren’t there .
it’s great to see matt shakman getting such widespread acclaim from everyone. he deserves every bit of it. he directed an absolutely masterful episode, one of the very best of this brilliant show, and now, he gets to reap the rewards !
but if it looked a bit familiar, that was by design. the new york times interviewed the episode’s director, matt shakman, about his plan for the scene. as it turns out, the plan came from two well - known films .
unfortunately, it looks like season 7 will feature shakman’s only directorial gigs on game of thrones. asked if he will be returning for season 8, shakman says, “i will not be. ”
game of thrones could have channelled dragons like from smaug in the hobbit films or the 400 - year - old vermithrax pejorative in dragonslayer, but director matt shakman’s biggest inspiration for the sequence were the helicopters in apocalypse now. he told the hollywood reporter :
the ominous name of shakman’s theater comes from his appreciation of james ellroy’s novel, the black dahlia .
rosanazugey: if we’re posting matt shakman interviews, you should post the one where he talks about what sansa’s look meant after the arya / brienne ‘fight’ (urltoken). then perhaps people will stop projecting onto sansa imaginary emotions (“jealousy”) that weren’t there .
lord parramandas: haha, i remember when directors were announced and there was quite negative response from people on this site, especially due to absence of certain directors (not from me of course). and now matt shakman did such a great job overall .
“it’s a dream come true to join such a vibrant cultural institution, ” shakman said in a statement .
what attracted shakman to good people is the story. that’s what drives him to become involved in any project .
shakman received the los angeles drama critics circle’s milton katselas award for career or special achievement in direction last month .
after the initial read of good people and the subsequent reads thereafter, shakman came away with an array of questions .
shakman has made a name for himself in the entertainment industry, but he dares not pat himself on the back .
shakman drew inspiration from a number of war films, perhaps most notably, apocalypse now for its use of smoke .
“we are thrilled to welcome matt shakman to the geffen playhouse as our new artistic director, ” board co - chairs martha henderson and pamela robinson said, announcing the appointment. “his unique artistic vision, coupled with his directorial and entertainment business experience, makes him an outstanding cultural fit for our theater. ”
while directing is one of his loves, shakman says if that’s all an audience sees, he hasn’t done his job .
by naming it after an old hollywood crime and noir novel, shakman says he gave the theater “a bit of history” .
the script appeared on hollywood’s 2009 black list of the best unproduced films and has been in shakman’s hands for five years .
“we are thrilled to welcome matt shakman to the geffen playhouse as our new artistic director, ” commented geffen co - chairs martha henderson and pamela robinson on behalf of the board of directors. “after a comprehensive nationwide search, matt clearly emerged as our first choice. his unique artistic vision, coupled with his directorial and entertainment business experience, makes him an outstanding cultural fit for our theater. he and gil cates, jr. make an incredibly powerful team to lead the geffen into the future. ”
on behalf of the board of directors, co - chairs martha henderson and pamela robinson said ,
we are thrilled to welcome matt shakman to the geffen playhouse as our new artistic director. after a comprehensive nationwide search, matt clearly emerged as our first choice. his unique artistic vision, coupled with his directorial and entertainment business experience, makes him an outstanding cultural fit for our theater. he and gil cates, jr. make an incredibly powerful team to lead the geffen into the future .
shakman, an experienced director with credits on both coasts, joins geffen executive director gil cates, jr. on september 20 .
after moving from ventura to los angeles, shakman helped to start the fledgling firefly theatre, along with his friend steven klein .
i think shakman did good work, but he not a sapochnik or marshall. what happened to marshall, not been back .
this wednesday’s episode of it’s always sunny in philadelphia, “charlie work, ” will leave you stunned. it’s one of my favorites already: fast - paced and much of it filmed in a single shot. matt shakman directed the episode, as well as 36 other episodes of sunny and many other episodes of our favorite tv shows .
“he suggested maybe i come work on the show, ” mr. shakman said. “i thought at first he was kidding. ”
in his “thrones” directing debut, matt shakman managed to upstage series veterans jeremy podeswa and mark mylod and deliver an hour of television completely driven by directorial vision. scene after scene, his decision making elevated every line of dialogue and every performance. simply put, it was the kind of directing that proves why “thrones” really is extraordinary television .
“the horror on the ground is much larger than it has been, i think — the damage and the destruction — from the last time we saw a dragon attack in season 6, ” matt explains .
matt shakman, a theater, film and television director who helmed the celebrated august 6 “spoils of war” episode of hbo’s game of thrones, has been named artistic director of the geffen playhouse in westwood. shakman succeeds departing a. d. randall arney, who announced his intention to move on in february after 17 years with the nonprofit theater, which has consistently offered a polished alternative to l. a. ’s other major nonprofit theater, center theatre group’s mark taper forum .
exclusive: tristar is setting matt shakman to direct the phantom tollbooth, a live - action / hybrid adaptation of norton juster ’s classic children’s book. shakman is the artistic director of the geffen playhouse who spent five years as executive producer of it’s always sunny in philadelphia and directed two game of thrones episodes last season, “east watch” and “the spoils of war. ” he chose this over a number of offers as he steps up to a big feature. the script is by…
before this past sunday, most people knew matt shakman — if they knew him at all — as the director behind episodes of shows like fargo, mad men, and it’s always sunny in philadelphia. he had a respectable career, but little in it would suggest that he was up to directing an action specular like “the spoils of war. ”
this is shakman’s first time directing at the geffen. a much larger theater than the 30 - seat black dahlia, the gil cates theater boasts 495 seats. it’s not the first time shakman has directed at a large house. still, he doesn’t take the opportunity lightly .
shakman turned 42 today. between the two episodes and all the hype. must have been some glorious celebration. long may he direct !
matt shakman, the director behind two recent watercooler episodes of “game of thrones, ” has been named the artistic director of los angeles’ geffen playhouse. he’ll join the staff next month, working alongside the geffen’s executive director, gil cates jr. , to begin programming the 2018 - 19 season. he fills a role about to be vacated by randall [ … ]
shakman opened the black dahlia theatre in the pico corridor in august 2000. for a while he did a series of workshops and small performances .
to prepare for “the spoils of war, ” shakman revisited earlier episodes of game of thrones, including “the battle of the bastards” and “hardhome. ” those two episodes were critically acclaimed, but shakman told the new york times that he wanted “the spoils of war” to have a distinct tone .
“the beginning of this battle in ‘the spoils of war’ is more similar to the battle of the bastards in that you have lines colliding, horses hitting men on the ground. so it’s more traditional warfare, ” matt says .
when i first saw tonight' s “it' s always sunny in philadelphia, ” i instantly had questions for the episode' s director, matt shakman, about how they pulled off the various technical challenges involved in “charlie work. ” he was kind enough to provide a detailed explanation, coming up just as soon as i bang the stool on the floor three more times…
“i don’t know, you’d have to ask someone else why i was chosen, ” says shakman, who seems to weigh his answers before speaking .
shakman donated the $ 1, 000 check he received with the award (funded by the katselas theatre company) back to the black dahlia theatre .
matt shakman, the director behind two recent watercooler episodes of “game of thrones, ” has been named the artistic director of los angeles’ geffen playhouse. he’ll join the staff next month, working alongside the geffen’s executive director, gil cates jr. , to begin programming the 2018 - 19 season. he fills a role about to be vacated by randall arney after 17 years in the post .
shakman describes it as a “simple play. ” it’s about everyday people who live in south boston, trying to make their own way in the world .
we often hear about child actors who ultimately find themselves at career dead - ends, leading to disappointing or even tragic lives. yet for some prodigious talents, such as highly regarded director - producer matt shakman, success as a young thespian was a precursor to greater career heights. an energetic, multitasking professional, shakman has found creative success as the founder and artistic director of the award - winning black dahlia theatre in los angeles while simultaneously enjoying a flourishing career in directing for television. under shakman' s helm, the dahlia opened its latest production last week: the world premiere of jonathan tolins' secrets of the trade, a seriocomic showbiz saga, starring john glover, amy aquino, and bill brochtrup .
with his success, some fans may be wondering if shakman will return to direct an episode of the show’s eighth and final season, but no such luck .
shakman also directed the next episode of season 7, “eastwatch. ” can he reveal anything about that? “i hope people enjoy the episode. ” ditto .
shakman said he referenced game of thrones battles that came before his, as well. that long handheld shot of bronn’s death - defying move across the battlefield drew from the battle of the bastards, directed by miguel sapochnik in season six. shakman said he and another series director neil marshall were inspirations for the sequences .
i hope you’re right about some of those. for whatever reason, d & d seem to really like mylod and podeswa, despite the fact that none of their episodes have been great. i’d rather see david nutter, michelle mclaren, jack bender, matt shakman or even alex graves (who was unfairly pilloried for one unfortunate scene and then blackballed from the show) back than either of them, to be honest .
i hope you’re right about some of those. for whatever reason, d & d seem to really like mylod and podeswa, despite the fact that none of their episodes have been great. i’d rather see david nutter, michelle mclaren, jack bender, matt shakman or even alex graves (who was unfairly pilloried for one unfortunate scene and then blackballed from the show) back than either of them, to be honest .
even with the theater gig, shakman will continue to direct for tv and film. he is a helmer and producer for fx’s long - running comedy series it’s always sunny in philadelphia and has also worked on the good wife, fargo and mad men. shakman founded los angeles’ black dahlia theatre and served as its artistic director from its inception in 2001. among his awards and distinctions, shakman was awarded the milton katselas award for career achievement in direction by the los angeles drama critics circle in 2011 .
before coming on game of thrones to direct last night’s “the spoils of war, ” matt shakman was best known for his work on dramas like fargo and the good wife, and for directing literally dozens of episodes of it’s always sunny in philadelphia. originally, “spoils” was due to be directed by david nutter, who directed the dragon - heavy “the dance of dragons” back in season 5. unfortunately, nutter ran into health problems, and shakman stepped in. fans could be forgiven for wondering if he had the chops for the job, but after last night, all doubts were put aside .
the term “cork in someone else’s river” was uttered by austin pendleton, an actor who wrote orson’s shadow, the inaugural play staged at shakman’s black dahlia theatre in 2001 .
kevin garvey, i don’t think mylod does a great deal of planning for his episodes. shakman said he did six months for the loot train and it certainly showed .
director of a musical matt shakman ,
hey, morgan !
( black dahlia theatre) michael matthews ,
the color purple: a musical
( celebration theatre) william selby ,
forbidden broadway: greatest hits, vol. 2
( musical theatre west) rick sparks ,
i love lucy live on stage
( rockahn, llc) patrick pearson ,
rooms: a rock romance
( the chance theater )
all in all, shakman spent the bulk of six months preparing for this battle, which took 18 days to shoot. and as complicated as it was to incorporate the dragon, seeing the dothraki in the field of battle was another major moment. talking to the hollywood reporter, shakman described how he approached depicting dany’s band of warrior horsemen :
shakman took some time just for us to answer the ew community’s biggest questions about what he does and how he does it. and we cannot be happier that he did :
adding onto that sentiment, in an interview with inverse, shakman emphasized the need to expand beyond the wish - fulfillment element of daenerys’ spreading fire and blood with her dragon .
the haters would be glad to find out that sheeran’s solider was one of those burned to a crisp in episode 4, but were he and his band of polite, rabbit - and - wine - sharing lannister soldiers even at the loot train battle? were they diverted from their riverrun peacekeeping assignment sometime between episodes 1 and 4? matt shakman, who directed “the spoils of war, ” weighed in on the question in an interview with mashable .
me neither. since matt shakman apparently won’t direct any further episodes, he went out blazing and we can’t thank him enough for providing us with such a stellar s7e4, but we will never know, what of his “off - days” looks like. podeswa has done just fine so far and maybe that even included an off - episodes of his? ! we just don’t know yet, but i’m sure he will still have a few tricks up his sleeve !
“matt is very smart and very specific in his direction and he sets a very high bar, ” says kaczmarek. “he is a joyful director but cracks his whip and lets his great expectations be known. we all feel we are doing our most creative work in years. ”
“i am delighted to welcome matt to the geffen, ” commented cates. “his passion for extraordinary storytelling, his strong relationships with artists in theatre, film and television, and his commitment to fostering community will be immensely valuable as we continue to advance the mission of the theater. ”
“i am delighted to welcome matt to the geffen, ” said cates. “his passion for extraordinary storytelling, his strong relationships with artists in theater, film and television, and his commitment to fostering community will be immensely valuable as we continue to advance the mission of the theater. ”
shakman will work alongside geffen executive director gil cates jr. , the los angeles theater announced monday, starting sept. 20 and getting down to business on its 2018 - 19 season .
shakman, the founder and artistic director of the black dahlia, says he took pendleton’s words to heart. in the process he has become a seasoned and respected theatrical and television director .
i am delighted to welcome matt to the geffen ,
said cates .
his passion for extraordinary storytelling, his strong relationships with artists in theater, film and television, and his commitment to fostering community will be immensely valuable as we continue to advance the mission of the theater .
exclusive: usa network has passed on olive forever, its comedic crime drama pilot from insurgent and the babysitter writer brian duffield, awesomenesstv and its former ceo brian robbins. i hear universal cable prods. , which produced the pilot, plans to shop it elsewhere. olive forever was an outlier for usa with its young lead. written by duffield and directed by matt shakman, the project follows the exploits of olive (emily rudd), a high school student, con artist, cat…
circling back to “the spoils of war, ” shakman confirmed to mashable that ed sheeran’s kindly lannister soldier — the one we met in the premiere alongside a bunch of other friendly, booze - sharing lannister soldiers — probably wasn’t present for the loot train attack, which should please some fans and bafflingly infuriate others. “i don’t think literally those soldiers were there, ” shakman said .
the geffen playhouse today announced that it has added three directors to its upcoming 20182019 season, the first from new artistic director matt shakman. tony award nominee michael arden will direct charles dickens' a christmas carol, adapted by and starring tony award winner jefferson mays obie award winner jo bonney will direct the world premiere of jose rivera' s the untranslatable secrets of nikki corona and obie award - winner robert o' hara will direct the world premiere of inda craig - galvan' s black super hero magic mama .
shakman talked to vulture about working with the actors, the stunt crew, and showrunners and co - writers david benioff and dan weiss to drive home the horror of a whole new form of warfare .
“i loved old hollywood, ” says shakman. “when i started a theater, i was keenly aware of trying to create an organization that felt it had longer, deeper roots than i did. ”
the directors guild of america won’t be announcing the film nominations for the dga awards until tomorrow, but this morning they revealed the tv honorees and it goes without saying “ game of thrones ” ruled. “ game of thrones, ” “ curb your enthusiasm ” and “ better call saul ” lead wga awards tv nominees the hbo drama series took three nominations for episodes directed by alan taylor, matt shakman and jeremy podeswa. continue reading ‘ game of thrones ’ simply dominates the 2018 dga awards tv nominations at the playlist .
“i did it for quite some time, but it didn’t end up coming to fruition despite a lot of groundwork, ” says shakman. “the interest of new plays was coming around at that time. ”
shakman founded the l. a. - based black dahlia theatre in 2001 and served as its artistic director. under his leadership, productions such as hey, morgan; theatre district; nocturne; and orson’s shadow garnered a number of los angeles drama critics circle and la stage alliance nominations and awards. in 2011, the los angeles drama critics circle awarded shakman the milton katselas award for career achievement in direction .
shakman will continue to direct for television and film while serving in his new role. he recently directed two season 7 episodes of hbo’s “game of thrones” — “the spoils of war” and last week’s “eastwatch. ”
a ventura native, shakman is a son of a doctor and a homemaker. in high school, he acted and directed. at yale university, he studied art history and theater. he graduated in 1997 .
the roots of the dahlia trace back to shakman' s years at yale .
during my college studies ,
he says ,
i met steven klein. he ran the yale undergraduate shakespeare company. i directed the scottish play, which steven was in and produced .
during their college years shakman and klein, the dahlia' s staff producer, didn' t discuss the possibility of running a theatre together, though shakman always had interests in this area. when their paths crossed again in los angeles, the two launched a theatre collective, the firefly, collaborating on experimental projects that meant a lot to them. in 2001, shakman and a small group of colleagues formed a company and began preparing to open the 30 - seat black dahlia theatre on pico boulevard, converting it from a tiny storefront. klein joined this effort not long thereafter .
even though shakman won’t be back for season 8, he directed another episode of season 7: this upcoming sunday’s “eastwatch, ” which mclachlan promises has “some lovely crowd - pleasing scenes in it. ” stay tuned .
“the spoils of war” marked matt shakman’s (it’s always sunny in philadelphia, mad men) directorial debut on the series — he shot this coming weekend’s “eastwatch” as well — and presented one of the biggest, bloodiest, burning - est battles in the show’s history. for the first time, we saw daenerys targaryen unleash the fury of the dothraki horde and a full - grown dragon on westeros. and for the men on the other side of the battle, most notably nikolaj coster - waldau’s jaime lannister and jerome flynn’s bronn, the experience was utterly horrifying .
shakman says the team works well. some pick up the slack when others are heavily occupied with other career projects. says shakman ,
for each show, we usually depend on the talents of one or two of us who oversee the production, more or less turning over their life for the period. then they might take the next play off, but everyone is always willing to help paint sets and do things like that .
it’s not uncommon for actors to want to stretch their creative muscles and be taken more seriously on the business side of things as their careers grow to new heights. many actors, from those who started in the business as children, including fred savage, jason bateman and matt shakman, to the likes of zach braff and tony goldwyn, took the initiative to establish themselves as directors in order to increase their chances at career longevity. this television season, jesse williams, alex o’loughlin, justin baldoni, jussie smollett and ben feldman are among the actors that took advantage of the
the directors guild of america awards has announced the nominees for outstanding achievements in television in 2017, and unsurprisingly game of thrones rules the roost. the hbo series nabbed three of the five spots available for dramatic series, with stranger things ’ the duffer brothers and the handmaid’s tale’s reed morano scoring the other two slots. the game of thrones episodes singled out were the “loot train battle” episode “the spoils of war”, directed by matt shakman, the “ jon snow and his pals go on a suicide mission” episode “beyond the wall”, directed by alan taylor, and the finale “…
i was speaking in general, not for shakman specifically. i don’t know if it was the first or the second thread about the directors when i basically stopped following wotw for months because i was so disappointed by this negative attitude .
if the writers intend sansa to be jealous, then the writers should write it in the script. that’s what they do. and then shakman would have known that sansa’s reaction was one of jealousy and not merely surprise at the transformation .
but the triumph of shakman’s direction in “the spoils of war” extends beyond the climactic moment. his choices were uniformly strong throughout the entire episode. even a shot - reverse - shot conversation between littlefinger and bran was heightened by shakman’s escalating close - ups, each cut making the tension tighter. when bran uttered one of littlefinger’s most famous lines, “chaos is a ladder, ” shakman pulled a jonathan demme by cutting into a tight close - up of each character staring directly at the camera. it’s a simple but startling choice, one that rattles the viewer as much as it does littlefinger, who must surely be worried that whatever bran can dig up as the three eyed raven could ruin his mission for power .
shakman founded los angeles’ black dahlia theatre and served as its artistic director from its inception in 2001. it was named one of “a dozen young american companies you need to know” by american theatre magazine and “best small theatre” by los angeles magazine .
shakman also referenced the epic dystopian science fiction film children of men, concluding that he “looked at a lot of different references” to find inspiration. check out the full interview here; it’s a fascinating look behind the scenes of hbo’s biggest show .
i referred to matt shakman above via his 44 episodes of it’s always sunny, which are his most prominent credit. but i left out that he’s directed episodes of everything from fargo to mad men to you’re the worst to the good wife, and his episodes have often added a necessary cinematic flair to even the scuzzy interiors of sunny. he’s one of those tv directors who’s been around for ages (since 2002), but mostly working out of the limelight, bouncing between comedy and drama. (also, he starred as “the son” in the late ’80s family sitcom just the ten of us, which i just learned. )
matt shakman is set to direct tristar' s live action / hybrid adaptation of the norton juster classic children’s book the phantom tollbooth, the hollywood reporter has confirmed. phil johnston wrote the latest draft of the script, originally by michael vukadinovich. donald de line and ed mcdonnell are producing, with tristar head hannah minghella and nicole brown overseeing. first published in 1961 with illustrations by jules pfeiffer, the phantom tollbooth centers on milo, an apathetic child who is bored by everything. when a tollbooth mysteriously appears in his room, he drives through it and discovers the magical lands beyond — which is full of intriguing places ...
according to a release, that means helping
stage new work and revivals of classic plays with a focus on exceptional storytelling and audience experience .
shakman will join the geffen on sept. 20 to begin work on the 2018 / 2019 season .
since 2002, shakman has mostly been directing for television. among his credits include mad men, six feet under, new girl, brothers & sisters, house m. d. and it' s always sunny in philadelphia (also producer) .
like an army of hapless humans facing down a fire - breathing dragon, the rest of tv was no match for game of thrones in this year’s directors guild nominations. the hit hbo fantasy scorched the competition when the 2017 dga award nominations were announced on wednesday, landing three of the possible five nominations in the drama - series category. jeremy podeswa (“the dragon and the wolf”), matt shakman (“the spoils of war”) and alan taylor (“beyond the wall”) scored nods for their episodes — meaning that nearly half of season 7’s seven installments were honored by the dga. rounding out the dga drama nominees were the duffer brothers ,
but direct it he did, and it’s been a huge success. shakman spoke to inverse about how the battle at the end of the episode — daenerys’ attack on the lannister supply train — was different than other times we’d seen the dragons in action .
“after a comprehensive nationwide search, matt clearly emerged as our first choice, ” board co - chairs co - chairs martha henderson and pamela robinson said in a statement. “his unique artistic vision, coupled with his directorial and entertainment business experience, makes him an outstanding cultural fit for our theater. he and gil cates jr. make an incredibly powerful team to lead the geffen into the future. ”
finally, let’s talk about that cliffhanger. obviously, shakman didn’t reveal whether jaime will survive his dip in the lake, but he did say that the episode ended as writings david benioff and dan weiss envisioned, and revealed tidbits about how they filmed it :
matt shakman: when the guys wrote it, they were influenced by true detective. there was a one - shot in that, which i think influenced them to include a large part of “charlie work” as a one - shot. … so rob called me up when i was working on fargo and said, “hey, we’re doing this episode, and it’s all going to be in one shot. so get ready. ” i was excited. … since then, and since the score was created, which has this sort of jazz sound, birdman came out. so it has this sort of strange, unintentional birdman homage to it even more than true detective .
“i don’t think there is any point in leading with a big concept, ” says shakman. “˜i’m not interested in making people aware of my direction. if it moves them and they understand it and it resonates with them, then my work is accomplished. ”
on monday, mr. shakman, who also oversaw next week’s episode, discussed the meaning of sunday’s sword fight, the movies that inspired the closing battle sequence, and the challenges of directing a character who isn’t there. following are edited excerpts from the interview .
describing the leading character, shakman explains, “all she wants is a job. she has hit bottom economically. it’s about a world that is offering her nothing. she goes about trying to provide for herself and her child in the simplest, most direct way possible. ”
by juxtaposing the high - flying spectacle of drogon burning the lannister army alive with the gruesome reality of actually being on the receiving end, shakman toyed with the audience’s allegiances to daenerys and jaime lannister and crafted a battle sequence of unrelenting suspense. daenerys was equal parts hero and villain, and drogon was equal parts savior and destroyer. as “thrones” gets closer to its end game, the more we’re going to be seeing characters we know and love in direct conflict. we can only hope these encounters are as well staged as what shakman achieved here .
about an hour before his noon rehearsal, a bearded and smiling shakman — donned in jeans, black kicks, a black t - shirt, checkered shirt and black jacket — looks younger than his 36 years as he stands in the geffen, just outside the gil cates theater .
the smartest decision shakman made in crafting this battle was in making sure the aesthetics of the scene changed depending on which side you were experiencing the events through. the shots of daenerys atop drogon were some of the most grandiose and epic the series has ever done. a wide shot of the dragon flying across the frame from left to right and laying waste to the army below him was a particular jaw dropper. in these moments, daenerys was glorified as the franchise’s most badass hero. but that’s not how shakman viewed her while directing from the lannister perspective .
outside of the films shakman and mclachlan cited specifically, the influences of movies like 300, troy, the hobbit films, the lord of the rings: return of the king, the revenant, and gladiator can clearly be seen throughout, the nerdwriter noted in a video breakdown .
hmm, the only negative comment on shakman i could find was hot pink lipstick saying that his name sounded like a frat boy’s name, which is not at all a criticism of his actual directorial abilities. most of the complaints were mylod, although some loved him, too .
shakman founded los angeles' black dahlia theatre and served as its artistic director from its inception in 2001. under his leadership, the theater was named one of
a dozen young american companies you need to know
by american theatre magazine and
best small theatre
by los angeles magazine. productions such as hey, morgan, theatre district, nocturne and orson' s shadow garnered numerous los angeles drama critics circle and la stage alliance nominations and awards. in 2011, the los angeles drama critics circle awarded shakman the milton katselas award for career achievement in direction .
“in charting that simple story, lindsay - abaire showed us south boston and other suburban boston communities and used it as a way to talk about our nation as a whole, ” surmises shakman. “he also tells a human story about what we’re forced to do to make ends meet. ”
he wasn’t, and mr. shakman, who has also directed episodes of “ mad men, ” “ the good wife ” and “ fargo, ” among many others, eventually found himself in cáceres, spain, surrounded by hundreds of extras, stuntmen, horses and plenty of fire .
shakman has staged several shows at the geffen, including the west coast premiere of david lindsay - abaire’s good people, in 2012, and the world premiere of jeffrey hatcher’s adaptation of frederick knott’s wait until dark in 2013. most recently, he directed the geffen’s production of joshua harmon’s bad jews .
as for shakman himself, he says that he wanted “to tell the story of what it would be like to be on the ground in the middle of a dragon attack, to see what it’s like; to be in a napalm attack, to see the birth of a new weapon. ”
shakman is perhaps most widely known for his television and film directing credits, having helmed two episodes of the current seventh season of game of thrones (
the spoils of war
and
eastwatch
) as well as being a director and producer of it' s always sunny in philadelphia .
shakman has directed several productions at the geffen, beginning with the 2012 west coast premiere of david lindsay - abaire’s tony award - nominated “good people. ” he also helmed jeffrey hatcher’s world premiere adaptation of frederick knott’s “wait until dark” in 2013 and joshua harmon’s comedy “bad jews” in 2014 - 15 .
shakman says there aren’t a lot of playwrights doing that kind of writing. “when i read good people and his other plays, i’ve been impressed that he figured out what shakespeare figured out at the end of his career, ” explains shakman. “he spent the beginning doing comedy and then drama and tragedies. by the time he got to the end of his life, he realized, ‘um, maybe i should write plays about all those things, ’ you know, the tempest, a winter’s tale, plays that are as funny as they are moving and as suspenseful as they are dramatic. ”
dahlia isn' t a membership company .
i didn' t want to have that kind of a structure ,
explains the gracious and articulate shakman .
i wanted a company that was free to make all decisions that we felt were best for our key artistic mission — developing new works — rather than trying to satisfy the needs of each member in a large group. i wanted to find the best plays to produce and then find people to be a part of them .
yet simpatico artists return to work with the theatre .
that' s especially true with designers ,
says shakman .
alongside his theatre career, shakman has continued to direct for film and television. he recently helmed two episodes of hbo’s game of thrones and is a director and producer for fx’s long - running it’s always sunny in philadelphia. his directing credits also include episodes of the good wife, fargo, and mad men .
cates noted that he' s
delighted
to welcome shakman into the geffen fold, adding, “his passion for extraordinary storytelling, his strong relationships with artists in theater, film and television, and his commitment to fostering community will be immensely valuable as we continue to advance the mission of the theater. ”
born and raised in ventura, calif. , shakman began acting on camera at age 4 and attended boarding school in nearby ojai for high school. he then received his theatre training at yale university while performing during summers at the new jersey shakespeare festival. he subsequently launched his career by
pounding the pavement
in new york, which he continued for two and a half years, landing gigs as assistant director and acting off - broadway. after running a new shakespeare company in vail, colo. , with a colleague for a year or so, shakman returned to california in the late 1990s to pursue new career avenues .
however, it sounds like he really gave it his all. before starting production, shakman had lunch with game of thrones veteran, david nutter who told him “you’re about to be given the keys to the best ferrari in the world; all they want you to do is put the pedal to the metal. ”
shakman is no stranger to the geffen playhouse. in 2012, he directed the west coast premiere of david lindsay - abaire’s tony award - nominated good people, followed by jeffrey hatcher’s world - premiere adaptation of frederick knott’s wait until dark in 2013. most recently, he directed the geffen’s production of joshua harmon’s bad jews .
jaime lannister’s portrayal in the sequence resembled tom hanks’s character in saving private ryan. amid the carnage on omaha beach, the sound faded away to focus on captain miller’s shock. “that’s very much what jaime was like in the middle of the battle as he sees these people carbonized and turned to ash, ” shakman said .
too bad shakman won’t be back for season 8. but at least he directed one of my top episodes in the series (easily in the top 5, but the exact placement i can only do after got is over and i start a rewatch from the beginning). looking forward this sunday to his second venture .
“i looked at saving private ryan, the opening battle on the beach, where the sound drops out and tom hanks is watching men being burned alive and shot to death, ” shakman said. “that to me was very much what it should feel like for jaime, watching men die left and right around him. ”
with that much danger on the battlefield, shakman wanted the audience to fear that any one could die at any minute. “i hoped the people watching it would fear for jaime, that they would fear for daenerys when she was on the ground, that they would fear for drogon, that they would fear for bronn, ” he said .
in addition, shakman founded los angeles' s black dahlia theatre, serving as its artistic director from its beginning in 2001. the los angeles drama critics circle awarded him the milton katselas award for career achievement in direction in 2011. even in his new role at the geffen playhouse, however, he will continue to direct for television and film .
“ [ the final scene ] was the first time we saw a battle with the dragons between people that we actually like, ” shakman said. “we’ve seen them in heroic situations—daenerys taking on the slavers in meereen and watching from above as she deals death from the sky. but this was a chance to frame it in a different way. ”
shakman did a terrific job of putting us in the middle of the battle, particularly with that long take where bronn was scrambling to get to the scorpion. and then there was that breathless moment at the end, where jaime charged daenerys in an attempt to take out the dragon queen and end the war for good. “there’s a point where we think someone is going to die — either jaime or dany, ” shakman said. “and when he charges it’s meant to be the most beautiful death you’ve ever seen. he’s charging through the ash and, in a way, tilting at windmills like don quixote. then he’s obviously saved at the last second — from the dragon fire at least. ”
matt shakman ( born august 8 , 1975 ) is an american film , television , and theatre director , and former child actor . he is most well known for his work on it 's always sunny in philadelphia , fargo and game of thrones . 
matt shakman (born august 8, 1975) is an american film, television, and theatre director, and former child actor. he is most well known for his work on it's always sunny in philadelphia, fargo and game of thrones.
matt shakman (born august 8, 1975) is an american film, television, and theatre director, and former child actor. he is most well known for his work on it's always sunny in philadelphia, fargo and game of thrones.