Russ Also Attended the Trek “Directing School”
2 min read
Like other Star Trek actors, Tim Russ decided that he too wanted to do some directing.
“It was around the second season of Voyager,” said Russ, asked when he realized that he wanted to direct. “I knew the option was there to do so. I approached Rick [Berman] like the others had before me. And he laid out the routine to get a slot.”
Russ had to go through an internship before he got his chance to direct. “Mostly the internship required observation of directors on set, sitting in the editing bay for hours watching rough assemblies of scenes, and sitting in on production meetings etc,” he said. “I also just watched the directors who were working on the episodes week to week, while I was already working on set, and asked questions, etc.”
The actor’s chance came with the fourth season episode Living Witness. “I thought it was a very good story,” said Russ. “I was lucky to have been given that one. It dealt with history, which is a favorite subject of mine. I had the rare opportunity to shoot my regular castmates as their ‘evil’ selves in the false version of an historical moment. So, I designed the shots and angles more extreme on the characters, to give them a more sinister look.”
Although Russ went on to direct other shows and movies, that was it for Star Trek: Voyager. When asked why he didn’t direct further episodes of the show, he said, “Because, by that time, everybody wanted a slot to direct. And I’d started my internship later in the series run. By that time, lots of people put their hats in the ring. I almost got one more, but it’s up to the producer’s discretion as to who the slots go to.”
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