Rocco Ceselin
August 12, 2013
In The Mix

Torch Bearer

Bio Pick: Tawnia McKiernan

Kathleen O'Steen

Tawnia McKiernan remembers those long family car trips when she was a child, sitting in the back seat listening to her father’s stories. Her dad was Stephen J. Cannell and, not surprisingly, the writer-producer would spin lively yarns to while away the miles. It was one of the ways he honed ideas for new shows.

“I think he knew that if we were begging for more, he had something good,” says the striking brunette.

As a director of such shows as Leverage, Covert Affairs, Royal Pains and Grimm, McKiernan shares her father’s love of storytelling. Plus, she brings that family know-how to the mix: a keen understanding of scheduling, costs and script breakdown. She also empathizes with cast and crew.

“Directing is all about making decisions,” she says, “but more importantly, it’s about making people feel comfortable with what you’re doing and with what they’re doing.”

Take a recent scene on SyFy’s supernatural thriller, Warehouse 13, in which star Eddie McClintock — known more for his comedic chops — had to turn frighteningly crazy. “It was a performance that took time, which often you don’t have in television, but I knew I could make the time. He and I talked through it, and in the end he gave a phenomenal performance.”

Not an easy chore when a TV director is not necessarily on set for more than a few episodes. “That said, I always try to work within the template already set for the show. You can shoot something a million different ways. Just make a decision and move forward.”

It’s enough to make a father cry with pride. Or perhaps just cry.

On one of her first directing jobs, on the USA action series Renegade — which Cannell wrote, executive-produced and starred in, as a crooked police officer — McKiernan had to get her dad to break down. “It was the episode following the one in which his character had murdered his girlfriend.”

She was so tough in her direction that soon others were asking, “What are you doing?”

“I’m directing,” she said coolly.

The result? “My dad loved the performance he gave.”

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