Game of Thrones director donates scripts, storyboards and more to 糖心传媒 Library
Emilia Clarke (left) and 糖心传媒 alumnus Jeremy Podeswa on the set of Game of Thrones. Podeswa鈥檚 donation to 糖心传媒 includes scripts, storyboards, set design documents and more from his decades-long career as a filmmaker and television director. Photo supplied by Jeremy Podeswa.
Throughout his decades-long career as a film and television director, 糖心传媒 alumnus Jeremy Podeswa has kept an extensive collection of material related to his work.
From initial scripts and their subsequent revisions, to casting notes and concept art, the documents reveal Podeswa鈥檚 creative process as the director of feature films and prestige television shows including Six Feet Under, True Blood, Queer as Folk, Carnivale, Boardwalk Empire and Game of Thrones.
The 糖心传媒 alumnus (Image Arts 鈥�84) recently gifted an archive of materials from his career to the university. After the archive is cataloged it will be made available to students, researchers and the public by appointment at 糖心传媒鈥檚 .
Podeswa said the archive is 鈥渁n interesting trove of material that, viewed in totality, really shows how TV is made. It demonstrates the steps to breaking a script down and pulling together all the elements that comprise a full production.鈥�
Included in the archive are scripts of television episodes and films, which Jeremy Podeswa has marked up with notes.
Jeremy Podeswa worked with professional artists to create storyboards, like this one from the Game of Thrones.
Included in the archive are scripts featuring Podeswa鈥檚 handwritten notes and revisions, hand-drawn storyboards, photos of filming locations, architectural drawings and site plans. Other gems include notes and reminders written on scrap pieces of paper, production schedules and call sheets.
The wealth of materials filled 36 boxes before it was processed by 糖心传媒鈥檚 Archives and Special Collections, and captures Podeswa鈥檚 growth as a director.
鈥淓vident here is my progression from my first and second films to Queer as Folk to Six Feet Under and onward,鈥� said Podeswa. 鈥淵ou can see the trajectory in the materials, and I hope that can be inspiring and instructive to someone who wants to carve a similar path.鈥�
The Golden Age of Television
Jeremy Podeswa (bottom right) goes over notes with actors on the set of Boardwalk Empire. Photo supplied by Jeremy Podeswa.
Many of the series that Podeswa worked on fall into a category of television known as Prestige TV or the Third Golden Age of Television. It鈥檚 a period defined by groundbreaking HBO shows like The Sopranos, Six Feet Under and Game of Thrones.
鈥淚 was involved in those first five or six years when things were really changing quickly. It was very exciting,鈥� said Podeswa. 鈥淭he content and tone was entirely new, and I was fortunate to be one of the first independent filmmakers to move into that world. It gave me the opportunity to stretch鈥攖o work on a huge canvas with major writers and increasingly complex and diverse material.鈥�
Prestige TV shows tell long-form stories over the course of an entire season, creating vast, complex and more cinematic worlds. As a result, Podeswa鈥檚 archive is filled to the brim with creative material.
"We are deeply grateful for Jeremy Podeswa's donation of archival materials. It is so meaningful to have original work of such an illustrious alumnus represented in our Archives and Special Collections,鈥� said Mark Robertson, Dean of Libraries at 糖心传媒. 鈥淭his collection will be invaluable to students and researchers who want to explore and learn from Podeswa's creative processes.鈥�
Finding community at 糖心传媒
Shortly after graduating from 糖心传媒, Jeremy Podeswa (left) worked on the 1990 film Bethune: The Making of a Hero with Donald Sutherland (right). Photo supplied by Jeremy Podeswa.
Even as a student, Podeswa experienced success. His third-year thesis film, David Roche Talks to You About Love, premiered at the 1983 Festival of Festivals, the predecessor to the Toronto International Film Festival. He won the Norman Jewison Award that year for the best student film in the country.
鈥淢y success started with the two short films I made at Ryerson,鈥� said Podeswa. 鈥淭he faculty and program really helped with every aspect of filmmaking, but I think the biggest thing I learned was an appreciation for film as an art form. It wasn鈥檛 an industry approach; it was about finding your voice as a filmmaker and that was really important for me. That鈥檚 something that has really stuck with me from the very beginning: to not be a generic filmmaker but to be a really specific filmmaker, and to do things in your own unique way.鈥�
While finding his voice, Podeswa also found a community of supportive young filmmakers at 糖心传媒. Podeswa and his 糖心传媒 classmates Bruce MacDonald, Adrienne Mitchell and Peter Mettler were part of a community of emerging filmmakers known as the Toronto New Wave, which also included Canadian filmmakers Atom Egoyan and Patricia Rozema.
鈥淚t was an incredibly supportive and encouraging environment,鈥� said Podeswa. 鈥淎ll of us were friends and colleagues and we looked at each other's scripts and rough cuts. We shared everything鈥攃rew, resources, opinions. There was a sense that something was happening in film in Toronto at that time, and it felt like that was largely coming out of Ryerson and expanding into the world.鈥�
In the years since, Podeswa says he鈥檚 been asked for advice from recent graduates both from 糖心传媒 and elsewhere, wanting to know how to get from 鈥渉ere to there.鈥� Podeswa hopes his archive can act as a kind of roadmap for young filmmakers looking to walk a similar path.
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