Directing Actors

By Judith Weston (Anniversary Edition, Michael Wiese Productions, 2021)

Directing Actors could serve as an introductory textbook for training film/television directors; however, for me, it served as inspiration for how to teach elementary students leadership skills. In fact, it has influenced my entire understanding of leadership and how to facilitate it among students.

This book provides two advantages over more traditional leadership programs: level of specificity and degree of authenticity. Some student leadership programs provide generic guidance, like “leaders establish trust,” and then the students practice with a trust fall. In contrast, Weston explores how directors can inspire and lead actors to truthful performances with specific, actionable guidance, called result directing.

Good directors provide instruction and feedback that actors can use. For example, Weston writes:

Actors hear directors saying, “Yes, you should be mean to him, but not that mean.’’ Can you hear how hard it would be to interpret that direction? Verbs can help . . . do you want the actor to punish? To warn? To complain? Each of those verbs give a different level of intensity to the line.

Rather than simply saying “leaders give good feedback,” Weston explains how to provide useful feedback. Teachers can use this guidance to improve their feedback to students, and they can teach student leaders these principles.

In addition to specificity of support, Directing Actors describes how effective directors lead within the film and television industry. Students also could be given opportunities to practice leadership within their own authentic contexts.

This article appears in the May 2024 issue of Kappan, Vol. 105, No. 8, p. 7.