Jeremy Podeswa made his Game of Thrones directorial debut with a pair of episodes in season 5: “Kill the Boy” and “Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken.” He continued with seminal season 6 episodes like “The Red Woman” and “Home” and capped off his Game of Thrones career by helming the premiere and finale of season 7. He spoke about his time of the show with The Sun Daily.
"I would say it is the most complex production I have ever done. Logistically, it is very complex because we had to shoot in so many different countries, so much visual effects and an enormous cast. Every episode has some very specific challenges but it is a great thing to do. We are working with amazingly awesome people at every level and it is amazingly well run."
In the movies, the director is where the buck stops. But a director on a TV show has to carry out the vision of the showrunners, in this case David Benioff and Dan Weiss. Podeswa considers it his job to flesh out the scenes that aren’t described in great detail on the page — like the Night King’s destruction of the Wall — in a way that adheres to that vision. He needs to “get inside the creator’s head. It is not only to do a good show but also elevate what the show is.”
"I think when you get involved in a show, you become a student of that show. For me, it is important to study the show and find out what makes it tick so you know the storyline and be intimately familiar with the characters. You also have to understand the show’s cinematic language and what makes it very specific."
In Podeswa’s case, he trained up for Game of Thrones with work on several other HBO dramas, including Carnivale, Six Feet Under, Rome, and Boardwalk Empire. (He was actually supposed to direct an episode of season 3 before family commitments intervened.) You may not think there’s much in common between Game of Thrones and those shows, but Podeswa sees a link. “Six Feet Under and Game of Thrones could not be any different in terms of content but what they do have is an authentic style and vision that is true to each show,” he said. “It is the quality of the storytelling and complexity of the storytelling that draws people in. You really care about these characters because they are so real to you.”
Finally, as the director behind Jon Snow’s resurrection, Podeswa has gotten a first-row seat to the social media circus that often surrounds Game of Thrones, and he’s happy to be part of the party.
"For me, it is fun to be in the dialogue. I think the audience was quite satisfied about how it was handled. I think the fact that the audience was so affected and had such strong feelings is very exciting. For the most part, I am excited about what fans think."
Podeswa isn’t directing any episodes for season 8, but his legacy is pretty secure. There’s no getting away from being the guy who brought Jon Snow back from the dead.
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h/t The Sun Daily