How Did You Become a Director?

For many of us working in creative industries (and even those that aren’t), we assume that competition simply comes with the territory of becoming successful. We have been taught the only way to get ahead is to push others out of the way as we climb the proverbial ladder to the top. But it doesn’t take long to realize this only perpetuates the stressful and high pressured environments that lead to burnout, exhaustion, and downright depression. With so many of us working from home now, it’s more important than ever to foster mentorship and create learning environments with our co-workers and colleagues. These are the types of environments that allow people to learn the skills they need to transition to new roles and advance their careers.

Today’s episode is the second in a series of three where I talk to editors who’ve made the challenging transition to director (here’s part 1 with David Rogers). Andi Armaganian is a seasoned editor, who’s edited such shows like Smallville, Supergirl, and Arrow (here’s her IMDb page). In the past two years Andi has successfully transitioned to director and has added shows such as MacGyver, Hawaii Five-0, Legends of Tomorrow, Flash, Blind Spot, and Stargirl to her list of directing credits. She has done all of this by building genuine friendships with the people she works with. She believes in working hard while also teaching and sharing her knowledge and experience with anyone who wants to learn. Preparation and a willingness to ask stupid questions have earned her the respect of her colleagues and built a reputation for being easy and fun to work with. By her own admission, Andi simply doesn’t know how to work in an environment where the cast and crew are not like family.

If you want to learn what it takes to make a major transition in your career and how to do so by building lasting friendships and being nice (rather than stepping on others to climb to the top), then Andi has a multitude of knowledge bombs to inspire you to forge ahead and take the next major steps in your career.

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Here’s What You’ll Learn:

• Why Andi hung out with the cast of Caddyshack as a kid and what it had to do with her getting into the film business.
• Andi’s unusual trajectory going from producing to editing.
• Lessons Andi learned from raising $40 million to edit an animated feature only to get the plug pulled before it was completed.
• The one thing Andi attributes to her ability to learn and get new opportunities. HINT: I talk about this all the time.
• How Andi made an impression as an Assistant Editor on Smallville and set a new standard of work for everyone.
• How Andi fosters a team environment in every show she works on so that by week 2 everyone feels like family.
• The importance of making friends even in competitive situations such as re-cutting a fellow editor’s work.
• The secret to keeping good connections and maintaining a network of colleagues and friendships.
• It’s more valuable to be the most recent person rather than the most qualified person when it comes to networking.
• How Andi deals with imposter syndrome as an editor turned director.
• Her best advice for being a well liked and successful director. HINT: It involves getting in the trenches.
• What the catalyst was for making the transition to directing.
• The secret to building strong relationships with creative people from actors to producers.
• How Andi feels about being the “token female hire”.
• Andi’s thoughts on ageism and how it affects the work environment.
• Her best advice for young editors and directors starting out – BE SPECIFIC.

Useful Resources Mentioned:

Caddyshack trailer

The Antiquity of Film

Film Bin

Andi’s website

Continue To Listen & Learn

Ep125: From Scraping Up Cigarette Butts to Editing, Directing, and Producing Emmy-Winning TV Shows | with David Rogers

Ep106: On the Vital Importance of “Being Nice” | with Jesse Averna, ACE

Ep113: The Importance of Setting Boundaries, Advocating For Yourself, and Asking For Help | with Janace Tashjian

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Guest Bio:

Andi Armaganian is a Los Angeles based director whose credits include Stargirl, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, Hawaii Five-0, Supergirl, Arrow, Blindspot, The Flash and MacGyver.

After watching her mother on set as an actress (Caddyshack, A Night in Heaven) Andi grew up with a desire to work behind the scenes. She started as an independent film producer and moved over into editing shortly after moving to Los Angeles.

Since, she has edited more than 100 episodes of television, as well as features, documentaries and animation. Andi became a director in 2017 after completing the Warner Brother’s directing program.

She enjoys being a mentor and role model to up and coming women in the industry.

Show Credits:

This episode was edited by Curtis Fritsch, and the show notes were prepared by Debby Germino and published by Glen McNiel.

The original music in the opening and closing of the show is courtesy of Joe Trapanese (who is quite possibly one of the most talented composers on the face of the planet).