Becoming... Film/TV Director Rosemary Rodriguez "The Walking Dead" "Law & Order SVU" "Acts of Worship"

Mentors on the Mic: Your guide to pursuing a career in the Entertainment industry

01/24/22 • 58 min

Rosemary Rodriguez is a film and television director. In 2001, she wrote, produced and directed a feature film called Acts of Worship, about a young woman struggling with drug addiction. The film was nominated for, and won, numerous independent film awards and screened at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival. In 2015, she directed the film Silver Skies starring George Hamilton. In 2004, she started directed Television on the show Third Watch. Her TV credits are numerous and include Law & Order, Rescue Me, Castle, White Collar, Blue Bloods, The Good Wife, Elementary, Jessica Jones, Sneaky Pete, The Tick, and more.

In this episode, we talk about:

• Her “late start” directing and saving money from her corporate job to fund her first film Acts of Worship

• How Acts of Worship is semi-autobiographical and how living on the streets fueled her in her path

• Her advice for any actor or creative

• Why she was overwhelmed at Sundance and how she started directing TV

• How she beats herself over “wasted time”

• Are directors part of the casting decisions in TV and how long she normally has to prepare for a given project

• How it took 20 years for her to direct a film she hasn’t personally financed

• Her definition of success and why it made me tear up

• How and why being a director informs what she chooses to read

Guest:

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