In bookstores now, a new book by Charles Wilkinson
The Working Director
"The Working Director is instructive and enlightening, offering countless real-world tips on how to stay calm, cool and collected in one of the world's most stressful jobs. A must-read for anyone seriously considering a career as a director of film or television."
"Wilkinson covers every demanding, necessary detail of pre-production, casting, storyboarding, mixing, editing, and choice of music. Above all, he emphasizes a perfectionism that is evident in the meticulously organized approach he brings to a book that should prove highly beneficial for aspiring directors."
bio
Charles started his career in entertainment at the age of 6 with his brother Will in a singing act that played weekly television for 5 years. They recorded and made personal appearances on a number of national variety shows.
Charles dropped out of high school in mid grade 12 and made his way to the West Coast where quite by chance he got a job working in a photo-lab. He became intrigued with the story-telling power of still photography, an interest that quickly grew into a desire to make the pictures move. He applied to Capilano College, convinced them to overlook his lack of a diploma, and began a general arts degree with an emphasis on communications and film.
Charles applied for and received transfer credit to Vancouver's Simon Fraser University Film Workshop — a school that had trained filmmakers like Phillip Borsos (The Grey Fox) and Sandy Wilson (My American Cousin).
The time at film school convinced Charles that film was both the most difficult and challenging as well as the most effective means of telling stories to a mass audience. He also acquired technical skills that would carry him through lean times when no directing work was to be found. Prior to graduation he directed his first commercial film, a documentary for the National Film Board of Canada. The film — Tiers… a Story of the Penitentiary won numerous international awards and was released nationally as a theatrical short. After graduating he worked at sound design, picture editing and music scoring.
While shooting his second documentary — also for the NFB — the Federal Applebaum/Hebert Commission decreed that documentary was a dead medium and that the lion’s share of support would therefore be going into dramatic film production. Charles decided to shoot a dramatic feature at the same time as his 2nd documentary, and on the same budget. The documentary — The Little Town That Did — was released to considerable acclaim and festival recognition. The feature — My Kind of Town — received a national theatrical release, awards and nominations at various festivals and returned substantial revenue to the investors. Although the critics were mostly kind, Charles regards the film as an embarrassingly flawed work with a few remarkable moments. Regardless, the film launched him as a dramatic director.
Charles has since directed 6 independent features, several of which have opened festivals, won awards, all of which have earned sold and played well internationally. He's directed numerous TV movies and episodes. He's also continued writing feature length screenplays, 5 have been produced to date.
Charles’ popular directing book - The Working Director, has just gone into 2nd edition, He has signed with Red Deer Press to publish Peace Out — an everyman approach to energy, he has published numerous magazine articles, has been awarded a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of British Columbia, teaches screenwriting and film history at Capilano University, and continues to direct film and television programs. His most recent, the feature documentary Peace Out is currently winning acclaim on the international festival circuit.
