Zachary Quinto starred as Dr. Oliver Wolf on “Brilliant Minds” for two seasons on NBC. For the June 3 episode, he stepped behind the camera as well, picking up his first directing credit.
It’s fairly routine for actors, writers or cinematographers on a show to temporarily assume the director’s chair. But it does not sit well with the Directors Guild of America, especially as fewer shows are getting made and fewer directing jobs are available.
The DGA maintains that doing two jobs at once shortchanges the director role while taking a job that could go to a career director.
So, under a tentative agreement reached last week, “affiliated hires” will be allowed to direct no more than two episodes per TV season. For a show with fewer than eight episodes, only one “affiliated hire” will be allowed to moonlight as a director.
The agreement is the product of a compromise with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, and is riddled with exceptions and loopholes. It is hard to state how much effect it will have. But to the extent that it is effective, it could limit career opportunities for actors and others who want to transition to directing.
