News has been leaked about the directing responsibilities for the sixth season of HBO’s “Game of Thrones” (via Entertainment Weekly). The list returns a few standouts from last season and adds a few new names into the mix.
Episodes 1 & 2 will be handled by Jeremy Podeswa. He directed one of my favorite episodes from season five, “Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken“. He’s been working with HBO for a while having also directed episodes of “True Blood“, “The Newsroom“, “Boardwalk Empire“.
Episodes 3 & 4 go to “Game of Thrones” newbie Daniel Sackheim. Recently he’s contributed great work for the the FX original series “The Americans” including the standout season three finale. His work on “The Americans” proves he can handle meditative episodes with punches of action, a description that usually applies to mid-season “Thrones” episodes.
Episodes 5 & 6 will also be helmed by a newcomer, Jack Bender. Bender is famous for his work on “Lost” and could be considered to be as vital to the success of that series as its creators. Recently he’s bounced around directing multiple episodes of “Under the Dome” and “The Last Ship“. Based solely on his “Lost” work, I’m excited to see what he can bring to the table.
Episodes 7 & 8 are set to be directed by the returning Mark Mylod. He contributed the season five episodes “Sons of the Harpy“. Having mostly concentrated on comedy directing several episodes of “Entourage” and “Shameless“, he’s an interesting choice to bring back to lead episodes close to the end of the season.
The final two episodes, including the always pivotal episode 9, will see the return of Miguel Sapochnik. This is an obvious choice considering the critical acclaim “The Gift” as well in season five).
Season six is the most mysterious season yet with most of the major events from the books having been depicted on screen by the end of season five. The more information coming to light about the production only assures that my interest and anticipation for the next season stays high during the long wait until next April.
What do you think about these choices? What do you think about their assignments? Will Sapochnik be called upon to deliver another episode like “Hardhome”? How do you think the new comers will fare?
