The Last of Us certainly took the world by storm when it first began airing this January, and since its historic release fans can’t seem to stop talking about that episode. You know the one. It tugged at our heartstrings, made us weep, and somehow transformed the apocalypse into an even more depressing Hellscape— I’m talking about the Bill and Frank episode.
Peter Hoar served as director for that bit of groundbreaking television, and during The Hollywood Reporter’s latest Directors Roundtable talked about how he was able to pull it all off.
First of all, look at all the firepower this Round Table episode has going for it. You’ve got Mark Mylod (Succession), Paris Barclay (Netflix’s Dahmer — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story), Liz Garbus (Yellowjackets), Karyn Kusama (Dead Ringers), Jake Schreier (Beef), and Peter Hoar.
These folks have been responsible for some of the most popular stories playing today. Before asking about their creative exploits, the interviewer in charge wondered if any of them had ever found themselves in “director’s jail.” Although Hoar (admirably) didn’t seem to have a clue what that meant, colleague and Succession superstar Mark Mylod was quick to explain.
It’s when you can’t get a gig! I made a horrible pilot when I first came to the States. I’d come over to do one episode of Entourage, and ended up staying and jumping into that producer-director role. Toward the end of that run, I took on a pilot, which I won’t name and never should have done. The script wasn’t ready to go. I was bland and vanilla in my choices, and consequently, so was the pilot. It quite rightly didn’t go forward. I found it difficult to get a job afterward, and was in a tricky situation financially. That and a terrible movie I’d made the same year forced me to reexamine my choices and completely change direction away from straight comedy.
Director’s jail sounds a lot less fun than a round table, and making a few shoddy career moves seems like a one-way ticket straight to it. Still, adversity is all a part of the creative process and failure is as much of a teacher as success.
Like you, Paris, that which scares me ultimately will be the thing I’m drawn to. But it took me a while to get there. I got out of [the rut] by just pitching the heck out of doing the American version of Shameless and then, when I got that pilot, making sure it was as extraordinary as I could possibly make it. I was really hungry by then. I’ve remained hungry.”
It’s sweet that Peter Hoar didn’t seem to have a clue, but is anyone surprised? He’s crazy talented. The moral of the story for anyone who doesn’t want to find themselves in any sort of proverbial jail is to remain hungry, remain humble, and be ready for opportunity when it comes a-knocking.
