Changing Direction: A Practical Approach to Directing Actors in Film and Theatre

The second edition of this elegant and accessible primer offers a helpful reference and resource for directing actors in film, television, and theatre, useful to directors, actors, and writers. Combining underlying theory with dozens of exercises designed to reveal the actor's craft, Lenore DeKoven discusses constructing the throughline; analyzing the script; character needs; the casting and rehearsal processes; as well as the actor and the camera.

Distilling difficult concepts to their simplest form, DeKoven explains how to accurately capture and portray human behavior on stage and screen, offering creative solutions to issues she has encountered or anticipated after decades of experience. Excerpts from interviews with acclaimed actors offer insight into their work with directors, what inspires them, and what they really want from the director.

This second edition incorporates the film Moonlight (2016, Barry Jenkins) for analysis of the directing concepts discussed.

Lenore DeKoven has had a distinguished and varied career in film, theatre, and television on both the east and west coasts. From 1988 to 2008, she taught in the Graduate Film Division of Columbia University’s School of the Arts, and has also taught at UCLA and New York University. She is a member of the Directors Guild of America, a former Vice President of the League of Professional Theatre Women, was one of the Founders of NY Women in Film and TV, and has directed and produced plays and television in New York and LA. In 1981, DeKoven created Our Workshop East, a development gym for actors, writers, and directors.