EPISODE 85 - MICHAEL LERMAN - Assistant Director

Team Deakins has a great conversation with assistant director, Michael Lerman (1917, DOCTOR STRANGE, SKYFALL). Michael breaks down the job in detail starting from the beginning in prep through the shoot. He tells us it starts with the schedule which is a challenge that never ends during the production. He shares the importance of location scouting for the director, cinematographer and production designer, as well as his role of protecting the director’s time so they can spend the time they need with the many departments. He talks about the need of being both a “director’s AD” as well as a “producer’s AD”. We also discuss the importance of marrying 2nd unit and main unit and how this applied to the opening sequence of Skyfall. We cover a lot of ground in the episode so don’t miss it!!