First Time Director. Gil Bettman

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      FOREWORD

      by Robert Zemeckis, Director, Cast Away; What Lies Beneath; Contact; Forrest Gump; Back to the Future I, II & III; Who Framed Roger Rabbit; Romancing the Stone

      By writing First Time Director, Gil Bettman has done for directing what Lajos Egri did for screenwriting when he wrote The Art of Dramatic Writing—, put out the first book which explains how the craft is practiced professionally. Until I picked up First Time Director, I had never read anything that went right to the heart of what a director must do to succeed. Most texts on directing are filled with information about things that most directors never concern themselves with — not the case with Gil's book. He has lucidly set down the ABCs of directing so that dedicated students can learn exactly what will be required of them when they step onto a set.

      Better yet, the book is tailored specifically for the director taking on his or her first professional assignment — the only logical approach for a textbook on directing. Success on the first assignment is crucial. Without it, it's effectively impossible to launch a career. Since no textbook can teach like on-the-job experience, especially in a three-dimensional medium like directing, you don't need a textbook after you have survived your first professional assignment. The fact that Gil Bettman has built this truth into the approach of his book is both brilliant and good common sense.

      I always knew Gil could write and direct. I set up a deal for him to write and direct a film for Universal, and later on, one for Warner Bros. As is often the case, neither project made it onto the screen. But First Time Director proves that he has found a great way to put his talents as a writer and a director to good use. People who are as good as Gil is at writing and directing are usually too preoccupied making Hollywood movies. But in Gil's case, the film industry's loss has been the film student's gain. First Time Director reveals to those still on the outside what's going to be expected of them when they get on the inside, and it is spot-on accurate, because it has been written by somebody who has been there and done that. I wish somebody had handed me this book the day I got out of USC.