People often ask me what it’s like to be a woman in the directing world and who are my women role models in the business. While there are many women whose work I admire (Kathryn Bigelow, Kari Skogland, Nancy Meyers, Deepa Mehta, Holly Dale, Sophia Coppola, Sarah Polley, Lena Dunham, Euzhan Palcy, Gail Harvey, Julie Dash etc.) I consider Eleanore Lindo to be my role model. Eleanore is best known for directing Degrassi, Murdoch Mysteries, The Border, Heartland, Radio Free Roscoe and the Roxy Hunter TV movies.
I met Eleanore after winning the Emerging TV Director Award from Women In Film and Television and the Director’s Guild of Canada. The prize was a mentorship with a director. At first I was a little skeptical. Would an established TV director really be willing to help someone who is new in the business? After all, it’s no secret how competitive it is, and how few opportunities there are for directors in scripted series. I wasn’t sure what the value of this mentorship would be, but I had been trying to land my first episode and nothing was happening, so I was willing to give it a shot. At first, Heather Kanabe at Women In Film and Television was finding it difficult to find me a mentor (and she called men too!). Finally, director Eleanore Lindo returned our calls! She was willing, even enthusiastic, to mentor me. Our first meeting was at the Second Cup at Queen and John in downtown Toronto (a neighbourhood that was convenient for me, which says a lot). Eleanore told me about her experience becoming a working director. She attended school at the AFI (American Film Institute) and came back to Toronto where she began developing a film. During this development she ended up getting the opportunity to direct The Campbells and then Street Legal and Degrassi Junior High. You can read more about her by visiting http://www.dramaticdetour.com/bio.html.
I asked Eleanore about being a woman in the directing world and she said she didn’t really think about how difficult it would be for her as a woman. That’s probably the trick, not thinking about it too much, or not at all. And then it hit me, how did I not know Eleanore before our introduction? She is a woman in Toronto making a career in directing television in Canada! How had we not crossed paths before?
Anyway, Eleanore convinced me that I should come do a set visit and possibly shadow her on a show at some point, if the producers were down for that. A few weeks later Eleanore was hired to direct three episodes of Degrassi TNG. She asked producer Linda Schuyler and she said yes! I was invited to the set to watch Eleanore work. Even though I had this attitude, “I know how to direct!” “I’ve shadowed before!” we connected on a personal level and I had long been a fan of Degrassi, so it was too good an opportunity to pass up. Eleanore showed me how important it is to be inside that world. Meeting people and being visible was just as important as the directing craft. So I went, I took notes, and I learned a lot. Now it’s almost five years later, and I’m getting ready to direct four episodes of Degrassi this July. Many of the crew I met back then are the same, so I’ll feel quite at home.
Thank you Eleanore! You opened the door to me, as I will one day do for others, and that’s why you’re my role model!
