ViacomCBS to Give Episodic Directing Gigs to Directors Initiative Participants

The 18th iteration of ViacomCBS’ Directors Initiative has added an important new benefit: the guarantee that all program participants will direct an episode of television on CBS.

“The ViacomCBS Directors Initiative gives television directors the access, exposure and opportunity to be successful in this industry,” ViacomCBS executive vice president of entertainment diversity and inclusion, global inclusion Tiffany Smith-Anoa’i said in a statement, noting that Morenike Joela Evans from last year’s class recently helmed episodes of the company’s iCarly reboot and How I Met Your Father. “The success of this initiative has created a growing community of support, where past participants, who are now in positions of influence, are mentoring and hiring current participants.”

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Smith-Anoa’i also credited her former colleague Jeanne Mau, who moved to NBCUniversal in August. “[Her] tireless efforts and dedication to this program have made it the success that it is.”

Alumni of the ViacomCBS Directors Initiative include Zetna Fuentes (Madam Secretary, Jane the Virgin), Laura Belsey (NCIS: New Orleans, Criminal Minds), Lily Mariye (Criminal Minds, MacGyver), Kevin Berlandi (Bull, Criminal Minds) and Jennifer Derwingson (NCIS: New Orleans).

In 2019, NBCUniversal’s Female Forward and Emerging Director programs became the first industry initiatives to guarantee participants a broadcast network episodic directing credit, a crucial foot in the door for building a career.

The five directors of ViacomCBS’ 2021-22 Directors Initiative, who will be soon be helming their own episodes on CBS, are:

Julie Herlocker

The former Grimm post producer made her episodic directing debut in 2017 in its final season, the only member of the NBC fantasy drama’s crew ever to earn the chance to direct. Her career as a post producer included working on series including Las Vegas, In Justice, Taken, The West Wing and Millennium. A recent graduate of the DGA’s DDI Mentorship Program, her directing credits include the short films Peter’s Ashes (2014), 7AM Wednesday (2020) and A Close Call (2021).

Steven J. Kung

The Dear White People writer directed an episode of ABC’s Fresh Off the Boat in its sixth season. A first-generation Taiwanese American, his other directorial credits include the 2003 feature A Leading Man, 2005 documentary short Spew: The Competitive World of High School Debate and commercials and industrials for The Global Healthy Living Foundation, Essential Qi, the Victory Fund and his alma mater, University of Virginia. The Virginia Beach native and MFA graduate of USC’s School of Cinematic Arts is an alumni of both the Disney ABC Directing Program and the DGA Mentorship Program, co-founded the DGA LGBTQ+ Committee and serves as co-chair emeritus of the DGA Asian American Committee.

Joy T. Lane

The New York City-based filmmaker is a veteran script supervisor who has worked on Starz’s Power Book III: Raising Kanan, IFC’s The Whitest Kids U Know, MTV’s Wild ‘N Out and NBC’s Blindspot, the latter of which gave her first two episodic directing credits. A North Carolina native, she began her career at Greensboro’s CBS affiliate, then moved to D.C. to work on various series for PBS and Discovery.

Pat Santana

The Barcelona native studied arts and design and worked in advertising for more than ten years before moving to Los Angeles for filmmaking. She was selected for Werner Herzog’s film workshop in Peru in 2018 and Ryan Murphy’s Half Initiative a year later. Currently working as a commercial and content director for such clients including Netflix, Hallmark and Wendy’s, Santana also is developing her Herzog workshop short into a feature, Mal Aire, which has been selected for the Torino Lab Next, as well as series Shame On You, which recently received a development grant.

Bao Tran

Rotten Tomatoes’ Tomatometer currently has Tran’s feature directorial debut, The Paper Tigers (98% fresh), the top-ranked action comedy on its site and one of its top Asian American movies. A mentee of famed action director Corey Yuen, Tran previously edited the Vietnamese hits Cho Lon and Jackpot, and his 2008 short Bookie was praised by Screen Anarchy for its “flawlessly realized world populated by entirely fleshed out and believable characters, driven by a compelling narrative and brought to sumptuous life.”