'Monarch, Legacy of Monsters', Director, Mairzee Almas

0:08Jawad MirIn today's episode, I'll be speaking to director Mirzi Almas, who directed three of the nine or 10 episodes of, Apple original series Monarch: Legacy of Monsters. It was such a fun conversation. We talked about films. We talked about her beginning, and obviously the dir… the episodes that, she directed. They were four, five, and six, episode four, five, and six. So without further ado, enjoy the conversation with Mirzi Almas of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters. How did you become a filmmaker? What inspired you?

0:42Mairzee AlmasOh, boy. I started as an actor.

0:45Jawad MirReally?

0:45Mairzee AlmasYou know? Yeah. I loved it. And I was in Vancouver. I grew up in Vancouver, Canada, and, there wasn't a lot of, filming at the time, when I was a young kid just out of high school. So I did quite a bit of theater. I went to theater school, and I was doing a commercial and ran into an old buddy of my brother's, who was a dolly grip on the film crew. And I was like, "What is happening back here?" And so I, did my part in front of the camera, and then I sort of was hanging out in the back and talking to the director, and for the first time really paid attention to what was going on in the film set, and I was sold. I was just like, "This is so interesting. There's so many different creative people here all kinda thrown together, and they're, working together and making this work." It was so exciting to me. And as an actor, you don't have a lot of control often, or certainly I didn't, over what, when you worked, and this just felt, like a whole new world that was opened up to me. So I started working as a production assistant on commercials mostly, and, found myself in the production office.

2:05Mairzee AlmasAnd at the time, of course, y… young women, there weren't a lot of roles for women on set, other than hair, makeup, wardrobe, and script continuity, you know? It mostly was all the dudes. And so I was in the office, and if you could answer the phone politely, and if you could put together a PO form, you were never leaving the office. And I kept saying, "I just wanna go to set, and I wanna be on set." And it was just, "Yeah, no, answer the phone." Said, "No, put the PO together," and, you know, whatever. And so occasionally I get to take the film in to the post house on my little motorcycle in the middle of the night after we'd finished filming. But, anyway, long story short, I ended up going back to film school, back to school at Vancouver Film School and started again.

2:50Mairzee AlmasAnd so then I went and started again after film school at the bottom of the rung on set as a production assistant, and then just worked my way up. And I was pretty rapid rise into the AD field at the time, just because I really understood the workflow from being, having been in the office. And I, eventually became a first AD, and I was a first AD for many years, and I worked with many different directors, and I loved the whole process of the director. And, again, there's, I think my manager counted at one point I'd worked with something like 200 different directors.

3:28Jawad MirGood for you.

3:28Mairzee AlmasBut only two women in my entire career as an AD, just to give you an idea of it. There was no, there, very few.

3:36Jawad MirRight. Yeah.

3:37Mairzee AlmasSo I didn't think, I mean, I would, wanted to be a director, always wanted to be a director, but that was pretty unrealistic, you know? So at the time I thought, "Oh, I, you know, whatever." But I so enjoyed the whole process of it. I would ask the directors I worked with, what their process was, because I really noticed as an AD, when we're prepping a show, whether it was a movie or a television show, I would watch the director prep all the other departments. But I wouldn't actually see the insides of why they were making the choices they were making. Occasionally, I'd get to kind of, you know, we'd be standing on a set somewhere, and I'd see them working out how they're gonna block something, but I really didn't understand why they were making those lens choices or why they were choosing what they chose. And I'd had a good background from the Vancouver Film School, for sure, but it was fascinating to me. So I would ask these directors, "Hey, I see you prepping everybody else, but what is behind the choices you're making?"

4:42Mairzee AlmasAnd they all were so different. And in fact, for a time, I kept a little book that I would write it out in. And, because I was working on pretty big shows, they were often, the directors came from all over the world, and they weren't usually local. And I would say to them, "Hey, I have a car, and on Saturday, if you would like, I can get us into the studio so you can work and do your shot listing on the set, or I can drive us to the location, and I can get permission to get in, and I can, you know, and I would love to do that." And they would say to me, "Mirzi, you idiot. You al… you spend so much time at work already. Why on earth do you wanna spend your weekend doing this," you know? And I would be, "'Cause I love it, and I want to see how you do what you do. It's so fascinating to me, and I, one day would love to be a director, you know, and I would, I just wanna watch. I wanna learn." They were all super open. I mean, these guys, they were all, you know, the usual.

5:43Mairzee AlmasAt the time, the directors were all, like, middle-aged white dudes, you know? And, but they were so giving and so loving. And, we, I would run around in the rain with an umbrella in a cemetery with, you know, my Write in the Rain paper, writing out the shot list while I'm acting it out with the director and trying to work things out, and I would ask them questions about, "Why this lens? Are you thinking about a frame rate?" you know, what exactly... You know, we were doing a lot of visual effects, special effects, stunts, like really complicated stuff too. So understanding how that technical stuff Can be, impli… done, explored, done, but still use an artist's view behind it, and why and how and oh, so excellent. So I learned a ton from these guys. And then, finally I got an opportunity to direct an episode of Smallville, and at the time it was a very big show, a… and…

6:43Jawad MirYep

6:43Mairzee Almas... In television. And we did a lot of visual effects and a lot of special effects and a lot of stunts and a lot of, very technical stuff that demands the director understands how everything integrates. And, so I got my script. I was super excited. And so I read it, and I was super lucky because it was a terrific script, amazing script by, Caroline Dries was the writer. She's amazing. And, so I immediately emailed my director friends that were on that show that, you know, understood Smallville and, had NDAs in place for Smallville, and I asked them if they would look at my script and tell me if they saw any big bridge out ahead or d… d… did they have any advice for me. And…

7:37Jawad MirRight

7:38Mairzee Almas... Of course these were working directors. They're super busy. They don't have time for this. Like, you don't have time to have dinner, you know? You're, you're so busy.

7:47Jawad MirYeah.

7:47Mairzee AlmasSo I said, "I know that, you know, if you just have a little quick glance at it and give me any of your quick thoughts, I would really appreciate it." Of course, I got back from these guys these tomes of notes, so supportive, saying, "All right, Maris, this is great. You're gonna do great, buddy. This is, you know, be careful of this. Watch this. If you have questions, make sure you talk to them now." And they gave me a whole bunch of, sort of support, and, just saying, "You got this. You know what you're doing. You got this." And it was su… it was super fun experience, and it was a really well-received episode, and that was sort of the beginning of it from then on.

8:30Jawad MirGood for you that you took that initiative, and that's something that is so important, in our industry, right? Is just taking…

8:38Mairzee AlmasYeah

8:38Jawad Mir... That initiative, going the extra mile, because they, because you're doing something that nobody else is doing, and that puts you 10 steps if not 100 steps ahead of everyone.

8:48Mairzee AlmasYeah, absolutely. And I t… you know, I have genuine passion for this industry, genuine passion.

8:53Jawad MirYeah.

8:53Mairzee AlmasWhere when I would think about it would make my heart squish. I would feel like somebody was holding my heart and squishing it. When I was standing on the outside when I was in the production office standing at the window looking down at the set and wishing I could get down there, I literally would be short of breath and have somebody was stepping on my heart, so wanted to be part of it. And I genuinely love all the elements of it. It is so fascinating to me, and I love working with, film crews because we're sort of like the, island of, you know, forgotten toys or broken toys or something. There's something about a film crew where we are, generally think outside of the box, really enjoy and, that every single day is different. Every single day is different than yesterday. And so in Canada, you know the saying, "Keep your stick on the ice." You know, keep your attention up.

9:54Mairzee AlmasPay attention. Keep your head up and be, ready to jump in. And this idea that there is an auteurism to filmmaking, well, for sure there is a singular vision that ha… the director has to employ, but that vision can be in some evolution, and it generally needs to, you know, as we move along. But this is an incredibly collaborative art form…

10:26Jawad MirYes

10:26Mairzee Almas... Where we need everyone, all of our department heads, and not just the ones in the art department, not just the ones in the creative, aspects of filming. The guys in the technical fields are incredibly creative as well, and when we're doing any project, it's important to recognize firstly that because of the hours of a film set, which are generally start at 12-hour day.

11:00Mairzee AlmasThat's the start, and most people come in before and leave after that. So there's big, long days. So, one thing I always remind myself of and know, like I know, is that every member of your crew is tearing off a day of their life calendar and handing it to you.

11:20Jawad MirYeah.

11:20Mairzee AlmasSo when you think of that and understand that's how much people want to be here…

11:28Jawad MirYeah

11:28Mairzee Almas... That there is a, respect for people… ... That I have. And understand that most people, after a big, long day on a film set, they wanna know that they were doing something cool.

11:45Jawad MirYeah.

11:45Mairzee AlmasThey want to do great work. Nobody wants to go home and say, "Whew, I got away with doing nothing today," you know, not on a film set. Pe… people want to contribute, and even if that is their, the caterer being as creative as they can be to make sure people are fed and paying attention. "Oh, the weather got really cold. Let's make sure," let's, the craft service person, "Let's get some hot ginger out to everybody and drinks," you know? "What, let's, what can we do to help?" And that's everybody, from my special effects guys to my production assistant sitting in the, locky… the parking lockup. You know? Everybody is contributing, and, there are so many elements of creative contribution in the crew that are small that people don't recognize. Like even how the grip will carve the light with a flag. And just a little bit more, and then watch how the actor is turning just so.

12:46Mairzee AlmasMaybe if I just pull it back a little bit, it's gonna work a little nicer. And then the DP's like, "Yeah, man, that looks great." Or the dolly grip, the guy that pushes the camera dolly, that person, male or female, that person is operating the camera operator essentially, and their ability to understand or feel the scene is super important. And I will often say to my operator, to my dolly grip, "Hey, you guys, let's, you know, let's just really feel this right now. Obviously this is the... I'm trying to build tension in the shot right now. So just pay attention to the actor, what the actor's doing and just try and stay with them, or try and keep the frame a little short-sighted the whole time so we worry about what's gonna happen behind them." You know? And so we'll do that. The crew will help me achieve what I'm looking for, especially if I'm clear with them about what the purpose of this shot is, what we're trying to do with this shot.

13:55Mairzee AlmasAnd, then it's, it always amazes me the different levels of things that my special effects guy comes, in and he's like, "Oh yeah, I laid, I laid the ground fog really low at this par… part so that you'd be really worried, Maris, 'cause you said you wanted to be concerned about the space behind the actor, that the audience is gonna get nervous that somebody's coming up on them. So I, you know, I laid in the fog a little bit differently this way." I'm like, "That's excellent. That's amazing. Thank you." You know? So there's so much talent on a film set.

14:28Jawad MirYeah. Yeah, th… so true. I mean, one of the things that I always find i… interesting is that, you know, whether you have a small film set or a big film set, people almost if not all the cases, 99.9%, are living in that world. Even on a commercial set, you know?

14:47Mairzee AlmasYeah.

14:47Jawad MirJust to make sure that this is being taken care of, and everything else, all the side problems, they may have come from a bank appointment where they owe $20,000 or an argument with their spouse…

15:00Mairzee AlmasYeah

15:00Jawad Mir... Or whatever that is, but when they're in that zone, it's like everything else goes away. I mean, how many professions where you can pull that off? Like just to…

15:08Mairzee AlmasRight

15:09Jawad Mir... Have that feeling of a child and enjoying it and loving it. Yeah, there'll be some moments where you'll get, you know, ups and downs, but it's just about resolving it, and that energy and that gratification that you get, it's almost like creating, giving birth, right? It's like you're…

15:27Mairzee AlmasYeah

15:27Jawad Mir... Just literally creating…

15:29Mairzee AlmasYeah

15:29Jawad Mir... Something from the scratch and then seeing it on the big screen, the most beautiful feeling in the world. Even if you've made a garbage movie, let's just argue, but it's still that there's so much effort of a team that goes into it. There's still some pride in there, for sure, and that's very cool.

15:44Mairzee AlmasAbsolutely. The achievement is herculean, if you think of all the moving parts. And a lot of, your audience won't necessarily understand how, film sets work.

15:57Jawad MirYeah.

15:57Mairzee AlmasBut it very definitely i… has been modeled on a military hierarchy, and it's because things are moving and changing so quickly that when a different idea has to be pursued or a change has to happen, there isn't time to bring everybody into a room and say, "Hey, you know, fourth company grip, and you know, third visual effects guy…

16:21Jawad MirYeah

16:22Mairzee Almas... This is what we're doing and why we're doing it." We don't have time for it. It just has to move fast, and the amount of money that is being spent per second is

16:33Jawad MirYeah

16:33Mairzee Almas... Pretty stunning. So efficiency is very important. Everybody has to be super prepared, but you have to be really agile to adapt and sh… shuck and jive, you know, as you need to. And the only real way to do that is to have a hierarchy in place. So if I suddenly say, "Drop that camera, move it over here, do this," we don't have time to get into why that decision is happening or the trucks need to move or something. We just don't have time. There has to be a trust in your, department head and in the hierarchy to just do it and g… you know, do what needs to get done because we are moving so quickly. And that's not to say that people can't have questions. Of course they have, they can, and they do. And, you know, that's all completely valid.

17:33Mairzee AlmasBut in general, the hierarchy is in place just to keep moving and to be awake. Everybody is so awake, and just as we demand that or ask that try to create it, that opportunity for our actors to be present, to be right here so that we can see their, performances in their eyes, in their breath, and they're really present, so is the crew, so are the camera people, so is the DP, so is the director. We are so present in these moments. When I'm watching a performance in the monitor, I will find myself crying. I'll find myself, super un… undefended, unguarded. While I'm shooting, I'm in a bit of a space where I'm… So open to the emotions of my actors, and even to the crew about what we're all doing.

18:36Mairzee AlmasWe're trying to keep ourselves, everybody present. And it feels when, somebody comes in and maybe they're not connecting to the material very well or they're, for whatever reasons, they're struggling, maybe they're afraid and they're a new actor that can only hear their heartbeat in their ears and they're, you know, all off, get kind of lost, it's really apparent. We can all feel it because all, I know for myself, and usually with my director of photography for sure, is that our hearts are unguarded and we're present.

19:14Jawad MirYeah.

19:14Mairzee AlmasSo it's then when that happens, it becomes a lot more obvious. So then I have a bunch of, you know, ways to try and help that actor breathe it out.

19:25Jawad MirYeah. And I think it… it's also because before I moved to Monsters, sorry, Monarch: Monster… Legacy of Monsters, that one of the also thing is, element is I feel that when you're on the set as a director, and I don't know about, I'm, I'm sure it's about you too and everybody else, but at least for me is that because I'm so zoned out, right? And even if I'm not vulnerable or emotional in my real life in front of the world, in that moment, I have no clue who the hell is around, and there's no sense of embarrassment or anything. And then when that happens and everybody else feels it, that's when you know that you're so... I wouldn't say that's when you know, but you're just so involved and you're s… you're into that character, you're into that story, and nothing else matters and nothing else exists.

20:18Mairzee AlmasYeah, exactly. 100%. 100%. And it's so zoned in really to this, you know, this box.

20:24Jawad MirYeah.

20:25Mairzee AlmasAnd there's a safety on set to be that way. There's an expectation, and it's the same thing with the actors is there should be a safety, that they are allowed to try things that may not work, to just be and be present and don't have to defend an emotional response. The crew is supportive of, them being present, just being super present. And when you're present, you're unguarded and you fuck things up occasionally. You, they may go too far or they tried something and it didn't work or whatever. And I will always, with my actors, ensure that they know I have their back. They can try things. We can fail. It's okay. We can…

21:17Mairzee Almas... We'll, we'll come back and we'll try something else. But, it's really important it's safe environment, and that is the crew also supporting that. The crew has to help this be a safe environment.

21:32Jawad MirYeah.

21:32Mairzee AlmasAnd they are, you know? And it's just how people, there's so much respect for each other on set. It's an amazing, environment that y… I just, I've never seen it anywhere else.

21:45Jawad MirYeah. I agree. I don't even think it probably even exists in some cases. Like, I mean, one can argue even at your homes, like in your families, eh…

21:53Mairzee AlmasYeah

21:53Jawad Mir... Because you're, it's t… totally different because, you know, you're just doing one thing. And mo… you know, moving on to Monarch, because it had so many timeline, well, actually not so many, multiple, two of the timelines but different directors, and the way the story moved from episode one to episode 10, episode, 10, it has to be planned in such a way where it was everything is interconnected. So were you…

22:23Jawad Mir... Were you at any time, w… well first of all, were all the episodes being shot somewhat simultaneously, if not at different, you know, closer to each other? And were you in touch with other directors, especially the ones that would come before your episodes and after your episodes?

22:41Mairzee AlmasI was. Well, we don't shoot them all simultaneously.

22:48Jawad MirYeah.

22:48Mairzee AlmasBasically how a film crew works in episodic television is your shooting crew, once they start, they shoot all the episodes in order until the end. So every day your shooting crew is always shooting, but while the first episode, or what we did are, were blocks. So the first two episodes, while those were being prepped, no… the crew had, was not started shooting yet. And then the minute that was ready to start shooting, obviously the crew starts. So when the crew started to shoot episodes one and two, then the director to prep episodes three and four began. And so that…

23:34Mairzee Almas... That director was prepping three and four while one and two shot. And then once one and two were done, episode three and four started shooting. So as far as the crew knew, they're shooting with episodes one and two one day, and then the next day is now episodes three and four. Just seamlessly keeps going for them. And then while episode three and four is shooting, then, episodes five and six are prepping. And so there's a leapfrogging of the director while the shooting crew carries on…

24:06Mairzee Almas... All the way through. And so what that allows, one of the great things about that is that if you're, doing one of the inner episodes for sure, you have access to the guys shooting on the floor and, w… so you can connect with them and the actors, and you can watch what they're doing on set. And then when you are shooting, invariably the next director would come to your set… And, chat and ask questions and sort of we would all collaborate with each other and try and, you know, support each other. Because in… invariably what happens is that w… we have all the scripts, I read all the scripts before I started my prep, so I understood what was going on. And I, you know, I would make sure that I u… understood where my scripts sat in the greater story and what the job of those scripts w… were, and how they, how I would take what the other episodes did and where I push the audience into the next, block, for sure.

25:15Mairzee AlmasSo there's a lot of collaboration, but things are discovered on set that may not have been anticipated in the script. So then scripts are evol… you know, they evolve. And, things are discovered. And it's not just that there's a location problem, for example, where it was written with this in mind but we couldn't get that, we ended up with this over here. So we, you know, we, you have to, again, you have to be very, agile, and things are always kind of adjusting and shifting. And so there's a lot of collaboration between the directors

25:48Jawad MirYeah

25:48Mairzee Almas... Chatting with each other about what's working, what maybe isn't or needs a bit more help or whatever. But this was a great property. These are great scripts, really terrific story with some, fabulous directors, actors that I had never worked with or had ever seen their work. And I was super, surprised and excited by especially the young actors, and Kurt of course was a dream to work with. Abs… like literally a dream. Absolutely fabulous. And, I think that the younger actors, you know, learned a lot from watching him. A lot. I would sit there, my, director of photography and I would laugh occasionally. We'd watch Kurt do something, and then watch the other younger actors sort of, "look what he's doing. Oh, I'm gonna do that too." It was, like we had this one situation where we had to do hair and makeup come in and do their little touches, and they needed to get a little bit of dirt on the actors.

26:58Mairzee AlmasAnd so they, the wardrobe pe… people have a little, like a bag made out of nylons that they have dirt in it, and they sort of pat at you to get the dust. And we're in a hurry. And Kurt was like, he just dropped to his knees and rolled around in the dirt and got up, done.

27:16Jawad MirThat's awesome.

27:17Mairzee AlmasAnd the other actors were like, "Oh, I better do that too." And so he just, he just taught them, you know, about their ownership of the process, that they were part of the process, that they weren't... Now, not to say that these people didn't know this already. They did.

27:34Jawad MirYeah.

27:34Mairzee AlmasThey were fabulous. They were, everybody was terrific. But he just really brought home to, reminded everybody that we are a team. They're, we're all together in on this. It's not like the crew is over here and the actors are over here. It was just there was a real sense of integration between the first team and second team, you know? It was great.

27:54Jawad MirRight. I'm, I'm gonna come to the opening scene of episode five, but just wanna make an interesting, point. When I, when I finished the first episode, I mean, you know how in the credit that shows up, Wyatt Russell and then Wyatt flips to Kurt and Russell…

28:10Mairzee AlmasYeah

28:10Jawad Mir... Remains there? It didn't, like I just didn't think much of it. And I didn't even, I didn't even realize that was his son until the second episode because what happened to me when I was watching the second episode, somehow I remembered this old Disney movie. I think I'm guessing it's from the 1960…... 1960s, where Kurt Russell was in it. It was called Now You See Him, Now You Don't. It was literally about invisibility. He discovers an invisibility formula and it's a comedy…

28:39Mairzee AlmasYeah

28:39Jawad Mir... And it's, I'd seen it dozens of times. And then it hit me, he looks exactly, Wyatt Russell looks exactly the same way as Kurt did in that movie.

28:50Mairzee AlmasRight.

28:50Jawad MirAnd that's when I was like, "Wow." I mean, I mean, and they both…... Did a phenomenal performance. And which leads me to the opening sequence of episode five, I think, where they're at the ball and, you know, the two protagonists. It's episode five, right? If I'm not mixing it up. Is it six or five?

29:07Mairzee AlmasI think six actually. Six.

29:09Jawad MirOh, episode six.

29:11Mairzee AlmasYeah.

29:11Jawad MirI absolutely loved that scene. It did so much…

29:13Mairzee AlmasSo are we, can, when is this gonna air? Because this is not…

29:17Jawad MirI'm gonna, I'm gonna post it afterwards. Don't worry. No problem.

29:21Mairzee AlmasOkay.

29:22Jawad MirYeah.

29:22Mairzee AlmasOkay.

29:23Jawad MirNo worries. But I absolutely loved that scene. Aside from of some of the monster sequences and some other se… scenes, I thought that was one of my favorite scenes in the entire series. The way you executed that, it could even be a short-form short film by itself. And which is how I judge a scene, like it can it stand on its own, and I thought it was brilliantly done. Make a comment…

29:47Mairzee AlmasOh

29:47Jawad Mir... About that first of all.

29:48Mairzee AlmasThank you. That is so sweet of you. Yeah. That was super fun for everyone involved, as you can well imagine. Everybody was e… excited about this because it's a, sort of it lived unto itself. So the art department, the location that we found, and, Wyatt I think was doing some dan… he was practicing at home. And in fact, what was really fun on that particular day is we had a bunch of extras in and everybody's in period dress and, without getting too into it, but…

30:28Jawad MirNo problem

30:28Mairzee Almas... What was super fun is, Goldie Hawn showed up on set to support her son.

30:35Jawad MirOh, cool.

30:35Mairzee AlmasBecause I guess she was, they had, you know, he's… He's practicing dancing. She wanted to come out and support her boy, and just I was really struck with what a lovely family. They were genuinely a lovely family. So she's there to see her boy dancing, and then his wife and new baby were also came to visit set, and it was just, such a warm and generous sense in that space for everybody. So I think that's one of the reasons the scene was very successful, because everybody felt…

31:16Jawad MirInteresting

31:16Mairzee Almas... Like we were gonna have so much fun. It was e… exciting. Wyatt had worked hard to you know, he's a hockey player trying to figure out where to put his feet as a dance and to dance, and so that was kind of, it was all very fun.

31:34Jawad MirYeah. What was there a particular, I don't want you to go into this scene, any scene. Was there anything that you worked on in those two episodes whereas we talked about you gotta improvise on a set almost all the time, if not most of the time?

31:50Mairzee AlmasYeah.

31:50Jawad MirWas there a challenge that came across? And if so, whatever that was, how did you sort of tackle it, and how did you know, deal with it?

32:04Mairzee AlmasWell, I think in all cinema, television, cinema, whatever, you know, whenever there's a fight scene or a love scene or a dance scene or any sort of these kind of scenes, they're, it's not just a fight scene. It's not just a love scene. It's not just a dancing scene. It's a scene first and foremost. It has a beginning, a middle, and an end. There's conflict. There's, may be resolution, there may not be resolution, but there's a lot going on, within these beats. Otherwise, it's just an interlude. And you know how…

32:53Mairzee Almas... I'm sure you've done this, where you're watching TV and you're watching a main character getting into a fight, and you know the main character's gonna live because they're the main character in the series, you know, that it carries on. So right there, the stakes are diluted. You know it's going something, you know how it's gonna end, or you have a suspicion. So the challenge to the filmmaker is then to not make this an interlude, not just make it a little f… beat that is of itself, it has no bearing. The challenge is to find where are there stakes here? What can the audience learn from this character? Is there a new piece of information? Is there a new texture about this person, that the audience is now going to have, sort of a privileged witness of? That they, an intimacy perhaps, a moment when the character's mask drops for a beat…

33:52Jawad MirYeah

33:52Mairzee Almas... And we get to see the real authentic them in this horrific situation or a challenging situation. And so those are s… those are things that are s… woven into the subtext, not so much in the text. And so the approach I would take with those is firstly understanding that those events are a scene, they're not an interlude, and then working with the actor to understand, where they are in their journey. And because as an actor, they have to look at each piece, each episode, each scene actually, and say, "Why am I different at the end of this episode or this scene than I was from the beginning of this scene, and why? What happened in this scene or this episode that changed me?" And w… we're always making sure, especially with our female characters, but with all characters, we're always making sure that there is an agency to that character so that they have opportunity to make a choice somewhere that helped the change happen.

35:03Mairzee AlmasSo historically, female characters were always sort of in a place of reaction. They, things were happening to them, and they were always just… ... Sort of rolling with it. And there's been a real concerted effort in the last, you know, 10 years specifically, but maybe a little longer, to give women more agency in their character. So they're not always in response. They're, they're making choices in reaction to what's happening as opposed to just being, you know, thrown off bridges all the time. So, with the, with the actors and w… w… talking about their characters, we will chart sort of, I'll say, "Okay, so how, what, where is the pivot for you in this scene? Where do you think it is? Where does your character have a choice?" And it may not be really apparent initially. And so we'll have a conversation about this, and hopefully we'll be having these conversations during prep, because this is important stuff for them as they're thinking about it and as they're kind of crafting their performance throughout the entire episode or series. And, you know, hopefully what the audience is gonna receive is a rollercoaster ride, a fun rollercoaster ride, not a just a drive, but they're gonna see chills and spills.

36:21Mairzee AlmasIt's gonna go up, it's gonna go down, it's gonna g… you know. And so, and keeping it very authentic to the character. So in these situations, sitting with the, actors and chatting about where there might be a big pivot in the scene where they've have a big choice, and I might say, "Well, I think it's kind of in this area." And they'll say, "Yeah, maybe. I think maybe it was earlier." And I'll go, "Okay, great." because I don't need to be right, I just need to know, we just need to agree so I can point the camera at that moment. But then, you know, sometimes what happens is we're blocking that scene and discover that's not the moment. Neither one of us was right. It was somewhere else. And that's fine, too. And I'll go, "Okay, yeah, we're gonna have to adjust this a little bit." Because I might be trying to, choreograph the camera work to build at that moment, and so now this will adjust how my intention was and how I was gonna film it, you know? Or, and how they were gonna perform it maybe even. So, it's important for the filmmakers to really understand script analysis and have a good grasp of, where they are in the script, and what, again, what the job of each scene is, and where are your characters, and where's the audience?

37:39Mairzee AlmasAnd that's something I was noticing with some of the bigger stars that I've worked with in, over the years, is, they tend to really have a great grasp of where the audience is. Not just where their character is, but where those... Like Kurt would common… commonly say to me, "Hey, Meras, where's the audience right now? Where do you want the audience?" And it would adjust how he's, you know, maybe if we're misdirecting somebody or if we're drawing them in or something. He would actually ask those questions, and I've been really, I don't know that, there's only a handful of actors I've worked with that are sort of in that space. They understand their journey very thoroughly, and now they're really helping with, me, the director, managing the audience's ride, which I think was, you know, amazing. And that's, of course, he's a movie star. That's why.

38:37Jawad MirYeah. That's, that's pretty cool. Visual effects wise…

38:44Mairzee AlmasYeah

38:44Jawad Mir... Was this the biggest project you've ever done?

38:49Mairzee AlmasNo. No, I would say no.

38:52Jawad MirNo? Okay.

38:53Mairzee AlmasNo.

38:53Jawad MirSo which one was it?

38:54Mairzee AlmasIt's, it was a big one, and it had some big, it had some big elements, for sure, and the VFX here that one of the things that was so spectacular is that there's this amazing, VFX, you know, assets that they have, that were spectacular. So those were very big, and I think that those assets as they were awe inspiring. But it's not, it's not a show that every shot is of the effect, and not every shot is, you know, difficult…

39:31Jawad MirRight

39:31Mairzee Almas... Because the actors are in a green environment and have no concept of where they actually are. So there was, we did a lot to make sure we were trying to ground the space so that the actors were in the proper situations, so as much as possible could be, real for the, for their performances.

39:52Jawad MirThat's awesome. That's great. But what was the biggest one that you worked on with visual effects now that you mention, said it, this one isn't? Just curious.

40:01Mairzee AlmasI guess I'm gonna say Shadow and Bone where…

40:08Jawad MirOkay

40:08Mairzee Almas... We had, I, in the season finale of season two, there was just almost every shot had elements to it that had to be managed and, you know, worked on. So it was great. It was super fun. But ev… you know, relentlessly everything was the effect. And just to be very mindful because, you know, once you're into the VFX, it's like money, which is great, and, you know, but it needs to be spent wisely so you don't s… you know, just kind of let it filter away. I would say about, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters is that it is a very high quality, high budget show that is, amazing to watch, and the VFX are spectacular. It, they were super smart.

41:08Mairzee AlmasWe didn't use every little tiny thing that had to have V… VFX elements, but we had a lot of them, but they're all very well executed I would say.

41:20Jawad MirYeah. And I thought, I, your, I agree with you 100% because it's less is more, you know, quality versus quantity.

41:27Mairzee AlmasYeah.

41:27Jawad MirBut I think for me the biggest thing was I really loved, and this is where my curiosity kicks in, right? And that's, y… do you have extra 10, five minutes or you have to leave at 1:00?

41:37Mairzee AlmasNo, I'm good. I'm good.

41:38Jawad MirOkay. One of the things about curiosity is, like, you know, when you're not shown that much it kind of builds your anticipation. So there, that scene in episode one I think where it was, like, flashbacks initially I think…

41:51Mairzee AlmasYeah

41:51Jawad Mir... In episode one where, Godzilla at the Golden Gate Bridge, I just thought I wanted to see more, but I'm glad I didn't see more. I mean, that…

42:02Mairzee AlmasYeah

42:02Jawad Mir... To me was really, it stood out. And obviously it's kinda like throughout the series you'll see, you know, an episode some monster here and there, and it's not overly, shown. Like, you know, for example, now I don't know which, episode this is. Now if I say this I'll have to wait until the, that episode airs. Where they go inside the ship. Was that before…

42:25Jawad Mir... Your episode? Was that your episode or is it before that?

42:28Mairzee AlmasNo. That's one that's already aired.

42:30Jawad MirOkay, good. And then that…

42:31Mairzee AlmasI think that's three or four

42:33Jawad Mir... The mo…

42:33Mairzee AlmasIt's Julian Holmes's... Episodes.

42:36Jawad MirOkay

42:36Mairzee AlmasHe was the director on those. He was terrific, yeah.

42:39Jawad MirWhere that monster comes out, I thought, "Okay, now there's gonna be this whole chase sequence," right? Which pa… ... Part of me, slightly a small part of me wanted, but I'm glad it didn't happen. It just ended right there, which was really cool. So it was, that's one of the things, again, I said earlier, the grounding part of the series, and you just said, too, is so pivotal and so important, and I absolutely loved it.

43:00Mairzee AlmasYeah. Yeah. I mean, it's, it does, it teases the audience a little bit, but it really does pay out, too. It doesn't cheat the audience in those…

43:09Jawad MirYeah

43:10Mairzee Almas... Titan moments at all. Those are, you know, well-earned, but they're not just throwing them around willy-nilly either. You know? It's, it…

43:19Jawad MirYeah

43:19Mairzee Almas... They're really well-earned. They're well-constructed. The assets are amazing to use, the Titan assets, and, I think that the, it keeps bringing us back to the real story, which is about family, and it's about how, what lengths people will go to for their loved ones, and extraordinary lengths, and lengths you don't even recog… realize that you would do. And it really keeps always coming back to, family and, the cost, and sacrifices that we're willing to, you know, go into for the people we love.

44:00Jawad MirYeah.

44:01Mairzee AlmasAnd it just, I think that is…

44:02Jawad MirYeah

44:02Mairzee Almas... So relatable. Every single person on this planet understands what it means to have a connection with people and what we do to keep them safe, especially in a, in a, you know, in this fantasy world where the terrors are real, you know?

44:23Jawad MirYeah.

44:24Mairzee AlmasSo it's, it's, I think it's r… it's just a really interesting, such an appealing take on this material. I mean, I remember watching the original Toho ones, you know, way back, and l… liking it because, you know, it's, "Oh my God, it's Godzilla," and the…... You know, and the people, "Ah!" And the hilarious filmmaking of the day, you know? Just hilarious. And the dreadful, subtitles or not sub… the, it, the dubbing over the Japanese…

44:58Jawad MirOh, God

44:59Mairzee Almas... People.

45:00Jawad MirYeah.

45:00Mairzee AlmasJust fabulous. So funny, right? So entertaining. And but it was not about any actual human connections. It was just, "Ah!" Monster stepping on things, and power lines falling over, and flames, and y… you know, just so fun in that ridiculousness of it. This is such a different take on it.

45:24Jawad MirYeah.

45:24Mairzee AlmasAnd it just keeps drawing everything back to these people, and the families, and their own personal responsibilities to each other, and to the world, and to the greater good, and it really knocks on those themes that we relate to. I know that, for example, my sister was never a monster person. She didn't like any of those things, but she has, she loves the series. She absolutely loves the show.

45:53Mairzee AlmasAnd she just so connected with, Kate, the, yeah, Anna's character, Kate especially. She's really connected with her and how she's trying to process through her traumas and how she's still trying to push through it, and keeps getting, you know, hit by obstacles but is m… moving her way through it, and finding a way to break open her heart a… again, and a little bit more in the face of, what e… everything she knew to be true has sort of been thrown out the window, and her whole world has changed, and what does that mean? I think it's, it's done a terrific job of that.

46:38Jawad MirYeah. Yeah, no, so true. Just few, closing, questions and just in general, w… what's the greatest fear that you have on the set or in post-production or in pre-production?

46:59Mairzee AlmasGreatest fear? You know, I can't say that I have any. I mean, in prep…

47:05Jawad MirWhen, w… when I say fear…

47:07Mairzee AlmasI might have…

47:07Jawad Mir... I don't mean, like, being petrified. I just mean, like, that…

47:10Mairzee AlmasYeah

47:10Jawad Mir... Nervousness, right?

47:12Mairzee AlmasWell, in prep, early in prep, I will certainly look through any physical stuff that, stunt things that, look like they could go sideways, and, you know, our, we never ever wanna put anybody in physical danger. The, requirements of stunts, though, will require, a stunt person. Generally, that means because that person is skilled in a certain area that the actor is not, and that we can be working with an actor and the stunt person can be off rehearsing, and rehearsing, and they have a certain skill set that will make them successful for that stunt. And, w… we will do everything in our power to make sure that stunt person is also not in any real danger that is beyond what, you know, what we are setting up for, whether it's a high fall or a fight sequence or, you know, whatever. But so in prep, I would say that things that could pers… could possibly cause, injury on set, those are the biggest things that we pay attention to in prep right off the top.

48:25Mairzee AlmasWe're going through those, we're looking at them, and we're saying, "How do we do this in a way that will not, harm anyone and won't put stunt people in harm's way either, for that matter, and certainly no actors in harm's way?" So those are, those are the biggest things. When I, if I look at a script and I see that, you know… It, y… y… you know, the journey, there has to be an engaging journey for the audience. That's the other part, is that you gotta make sure that there is a change for your actor, your characters are changing somehow. And sometimes that's not really apparent in the script, in some scripts. Not these scripts. These scripts are great. They all had great journeys. But sometimes they're, they're not all that fleshed out. And so that's kind of a bridge out a head warning. You gotta go in there and say, "Okay, we, w… what's the intention? How do we help this person to have, some sort of journey?" 'Cause you as an audience, you wanna watch somebody go through something and come out the other side different than they were.

49:31Mairzee AlmasSo what is that? So that's like at a script level. You, that's something that has to have a lot of attention paid to it. In post-production, what's fun is, and one of the things you have to do as a filmmaker, is release the expectations of what you had. Because they say, you know, you've got one movie in prep, you've got another movie in what you, that you're shooting, and you've got a la… another movie in post-production.

50:04Mairzee AlmasAnd so, you know, we obviously, there's a very measured a… approach to how we, shoot something. Like if there's a cutting pattern in place, there's a lot of pr… preparation and I know exactly what I'm gonna shoot. But then when you sit in post, you really as a director have to put away what you were d… what happened to you on set and what you imagined you saw on set, and all of that emotional stuff, put it away and now come at the material cleanly again and look at what you actually have. And then be flexible to allow that to maybe the small adjustments that you, maybe there was something you didn't see. There's this little spark of something, a connection of something that you're like, "Oh my God, I didn't see that on the performance on that day." So, that's the post-production thing to kind of breathe, say, "Oof, I know what I got.

51:07Mairzee AlmasPut that over here and let's look at what we have."

51:11Jawad MirYeah. One thing that we all, we are all attracted to stories that somehow resonates with us at a deeper level. Sometimes we don't even realize it until maybe in production or post-production or even after the film comes out.

51:31Mairzee AlmasYeah

51:31Jawad Mir... You know, like for example, you know, it changes every different phase of your life depending on wherever you are in life in terms of your maturity or… What would that be in your case, whether it's this series or any series, that moment where it sort of dawned upon you that this is me, or this is something I can connect with? Like a small element in the script or when the…

52:00Jawad Mir... Somebody's pitching you.

52:04Mairzee AlmasI think what I would connect with is the potential for honesty, and I know this sounds so flaky, but it's, it's really very true, is that when a situation or a performance is really honest… ... It connects with people regardless of gender or age or culture or where they are in the world, or we all recognize a humanity's an honest human moments.

52:42Jawad MirYep.

52:42Mairzee AlmasAnd the, it doesn't, they are those transcendent moments in all art, you know? And, I think what I will feel is a potential when I read a piece, I'll feel a potential for, a real humanity. Even if it's very dysfunctional, even if it's very broken, it's, it's like seeing in the villain the injured child.

53:15Mairzee AlmasAnd if that villain can play a deep need, it is far more, connecting to us. Like on Shadow and Bone, I had a, you know, this ba… the big bad guy, but his heart w… was so n… he was in such need to find a partner and someone to, he was so lonely over centuries, you know? He really needed that. In Smallville with Lex Luthor, again, you know, really, both of those actors did great jobs in those roles because they didn't play into any stereotype. They didn't play into, "I'm just a bad guy 'cause I'm a bad guy." They…

54:00Jawad MirYeah

54:01Mairzee Almas... They played into this idea that, "I know what is best for everyone. I know what's the best course of action, and these are really difficult choices to have to make, but I'm strong enough to make this choice. I've got broad enough shoulders to wear the cost of this, where a lesser person would not be able to shoulder the weight. I'm willing to do it because my heart is big enough." And when you find, when I find a script or a piece that allows for people to be really real, and that's what our search will be for the whole piece, is to get as honest and real performances as possible. And that doesn't mean melodrama. It can be hidden behind a mask. And we'll, then I will hopefully find moments where that mask drops a little bit and we see the true fear, the true cost from the performer, you know, the character.

55:02Mairzee AlmasYou see the cost for a moment, and that's where we suddenly connect with our humanity and we care about this person. We have a lot of senses that give us information, and we know it's a play, we know it's false, we know it's television, yet we recognize through that when the actor is connecting to something that is, universal, and that's what the pursuit is. And that's if I see that in the potential in the script that I'm in.

55:40Jawad MirYeah. It's, it's funny you mention that because one of the, I mean, there are so many examples, but one of the examples that I thought of that, there was that moment that happened in a film that I was working on. It was a feature documentary, following a protagonist, named Ahmed who left Afghanistan be… after he c… came on the list of Taliban, on a hit list, and he left his pregnant wife and his kids to save his life, and he ended up in Europe's worst refugee camp. So that was a story that was sort of got me in, you know, to a certain level. But there was a moment, and this was completely not planned, we, it was randomly one morning, you know, I filmed with him secretly inside a camp and everything, and randomly one morning I said, "Let's go to the beach." This was in Greece. It was a small island called, Mytilene, part of Lesbos Island. "Let's go to the beach, and there's water, and you, that's how you kinda came here, and I just wanna get that as a backdrop, and I'll just interview you for, like, 10 minutes."

56:47Jawad MirAnd he started talking, and at that point, somehow he deviated into a something really deep and he, like, how he left them, and it was the first time he spoke to someone, I think, that he felt guilty, and he lost it on camera. And that's when I was like, "Holy crap. What just happened?" And that feeling, knowing that moment was this is that story, that feeling that I was asking you about, like, that feeling became huge and enormous where somebody's made a big decision and now they regret it. And I mean, how many people's lives are not like that, right?

57:32Mairzee AlmasBut you recognize the humanity in that. Like, I bet at that moment it's not just witnessing someone else's. What happens when it's really honest is you don't, you no longer are a witness. You are now sharing in the empathetic. You feel the same emotion. You feel, you feel the depth of that. And…

57:54Jawad MirYeah

57:54Mairzee Almas... As humans, you know, w… when we watch TV or movies or read books or whatever, we're having, we have so many lives that we get to live.

58:05Jawad MirYes.

58:05Mairzee AlmasAnd s… you know? We g… we get to share in these experiences. And so when a actor's very good and they are unafraid in their roles to be what they really are, not the stereotype, it allows us to step inside that character…

58:27Jawad MirSo true

58:27Mairzee Almas... And feel as deep as it is. It's like in, you know, Sophie's Choice, if you remember that film, that great film.

58:36Jawad MirYeah.

58:36Mairzee AlmasIf they told us at the beginning of the movie what her choice had been, we would not be able to watch the movie.

58:45Jawad MirYeah.

58:46Mairzee AlmasSo great would be the pain that most of us would be unable, just turn it off. Turn it off. Can't, no, won't, go, can't be in there again because it was so connective, that moment. And, so when we l… get to know who she is and we get to feel all the, th… this fragility of her and then realize why, it's, it brings ar… so much more weight to it. But again, it's because we could not have watched, no one would've watched it after that first moment if that, if they told us that at the beginning. We just couldn't.

59:20Jawad MirYeah.

59:20Mairzee AlmasIt's just too connective, you know? And the same thing with, how when we watch things if you will, if it's a big, bad emotion, you know, you have to be mindful of that because the audience will turn it off. If they've connected so perfectly, they don't wanna be there for very long, and if it looks like they gotta stay there, they're not gonna do it. Just moments.

59:45Jawad MirYeah. Yeah. Hu… 100%. Lastly, what's next for you that you're able to talk about?

59:52Mairzee AlmasI'm not really able to talk about much I'm afraid. I do have something coming, in the Witcher universe that, will be coming up I guess in about a year, but it's, it lots of visual effects as well, so it takes a while for the effects.

1:00:12Jawad MirYeah

1:00:12Mairzee Almas... But yeah, I'm not, I'm sort of, I got a, several things…

1:00:16Jawad MirRight

1:00:16Mairzee Almas... But I'm not to talk about any of them I'm afraid.

1:00:20Jawad MirNo, that's fine. You're busy. That's all that matters.

1:00:22Mairzee AlmasYeah. Yeah.

1:00:23Jawad MirThat's good.

1:00:23Mairzee AlmasYeah, very busy. Yeah.

1:00:25Jawad MirIt's been great talking to you, Miry. I would love, I've never seen Smallville. I know my brother and sister used to love it.

1:00:34Mairzee AlmasYeah.

1:00:34Jawad MirI probably, if you can tell me which episode it is, I would love to see that episode at, and would love to chat with you again if you have time in the future.

1:00:45Mairzee AlmasSure. Which one, though? First one? Very first one?

1:00:48Jawad MirThe very first one that you directed, the one that you were telling me about earlier.

1:00:52Mairzee AlmasYou bet. You bet. Oh, God, what was it called? Started with an I.

1:00:58Jawad MirIt's probably on IMDb.

1:00:59Mairzee AlmasSo…

1:00:59Jawad MirI can always look it up

1:01:00Mairzee Almas... It totally is. It was so much fun. It was such a awesome episode. It was so beautifully written. And, it was written by, as I said, Caroline Dries. Oh, God, now I can't remember. Episodes. It was season four maybe.

1:01:26Jawad MirOkay.

1:01:26Mairzee AlmasI don't even remember. Season 4A.

1:01:27Jawad MirI'll figure it out.

1:01:28Mairzee AlmasYeah.

1:01:28Jawad MirI'll figure it out. Yeah, and that would be…

1:01:30Mairzee AlmasStarts with an I. I-N... Yeah.

1:01:34Jawad MirYes. She wrote 19, oh, no, she was executive story editor for 22 episodes and she was story editor for 19 episodes. Interesting. Okay. No, I will, I will do that, maybe, you know, in the next coming months we can, we can chat again.

1:01:49Mairzee AlmasYeah, it was so much fun. Absolutely.

1:01:51Jawad MirYeah.

1:01:51Mairzee AlmasYeah, no, I'd love to. Love to. It's, it's, this has been super fun and, hopefully I didn't give away too much. You know, I have to be careful. And now this is, we talked a little bit about episode six, so you can't play it next week.

1:02:03Jawad MirYeah.

1:02:03Mairzee AlmasIt has to be after whenever that is, the 15th I think.

1:02:05Jawad MirWhen, whenever, yeah, whenever that it's airing, that, the day it airs, that's when it goes up, so nothing to worry about.

1:02:12Mairzee AlmasOkay. Okay. Thank you, I appreciate that. Yeah, that was super fun.

1:02:15Jawad MirNo problem.

1:02:16Mairzee AlmasYeah.

1:02:16Jawad MirYeah.

1:02:16Mairzee AlmasGreat.

1:02:17Jawad MirLikewise. Thank you so much. Take care.

1:02:19Mairzee AlmasThank you. Bye.

1:02:20Jawad MirBye.