Fill 1
Fill 1
June 11, 2015
In The Mix

The Way Forward

A director who’s broken boundaries looks to give others a voice.

Dinah Eng

Drama appeals to director Larry Teng, one of the few Asian Americans to call the shots behind the camera on television.

Having worked in various producing jobs on NBC’s Ed, he broke into directing while a coexecutive producer on NBC’s Medium. Now also a coexecutive producer on USA’s Graceland, he took a break to speak to emmy  magazine contributor Dinah Eng.

What was it like, directing for the first time?

I had worked with editors to re-cut episodes of Medium after directors turned in their cuts, which laid a good foundation for directing. Patricia Arquette was an early mentor.

She said, “Let the actors play a little and find a version of the scene. Along with your vision of things, it’ll make a good marriage.

When Medium ended its run, CBS hired you to direct an episode of Hawaii Five-O under its Directing Initiative, to help diverse talent break into network television….

It was my first freelance gig. It was also my first time being exposed to a primarily Asian cast. I was really embraced by the local crew, who are used to middle-aged Caucasian directors.

I learned a lot on that episode, and they asked me back for the next season.

Did you enjoy freelance work?

It was cool. I liked working on different shows, like Person of Interest, Criminal Minds, and Blue Bloods. It’s like being asked to paint different pictures. It was amazing to travel and work in different cities with actors I really respected.

Asian Americans are the smallest class of directors in the DGA — only 2 percent of 776 episodic directors. What made you decide to become a director?

Growing up Chinese-American, all my friends were white. Being the ethnic guy meant always trying to assimilate.

TV shows like Full House and Growing Pains had all-white families, and my Chinese-American home was nothing like that. But the family life in those shows spoke to me.

So I decided to do something creative, and visual storytelling drew me in. I’ve been able to create opportunities for myself, and I want to do that for others.

For example, I met Lucy Liu while directing Elementary, and I just hired her to direct Graceland. Like anyone else, I just want be recognized for my talent.

Now you’re a coexecutive producer on USA’s Graceland….

It’s been great to be able to both direct and spearhead the creative direction of the show. It’s important to me to make sure the actors feel they have a voice on the series. Character-based dramas are the most satisfying for me.

Graceland is a dark, serialized drama driven by moral dilemmas, which I love. I’m living a dream.



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