My father was a television director and I always knew I wanted to be in the industry but I had thought my role was behind the camera as opposed to in front.
Being in front of the camera - first of all, when I wanted to get into television, it was as a producer. I never had an idea that I would do anything in front of the camera, and that kind of happened by accident. But I wanted to be a producer or give me a job with the Yankees or play for the Knicks. I was a sports nut when I was a kid.
I've always said the one advantage an actor has of converting to a director is that he's been in front of the camera. He doesn't have to get in front of the camera again, subliminally or otherwise.
My McQueen particularly was hard to make, because my father was dying. I see it, and I see my confusion, my pain, my everything. I thought that it was really interesting to be able to put the people from behind the camera in front of the camera as they make it.
I always knew I wanted to be in front of the camera. But even after 10 years behind the scenes at CBS News producing live segments, celebrity profiles, and breaking news, I still hadn't been given the chance to be on TV.
I majored in sports and went to law school and focused in sports law, so I always knew I wanted to do ESPN but thought it would be behind the camera. After doing 'Bachelor' and 'Bachelorette,' the media circuit, I thought, you know what - I want to talk about it!
We have African-Americans and black people getting behind the scenes more and more, we get true black images in television and film...because we have black people behind them. They can tell stories from those points of view and bring to life those characters who have yet to be shown. As long as we have people behind the camera just as much as in front of the camera doing the work, then we'll always be good.
There will be a time very shortly that I just might not be in front of the camera at all, and I might just be behind the scenes. I love doing television, though. I don't necessarily love being in front of the camera.
David Boreanaz is actually a very good director and he directed one of our episodes. Excellent director, knew exactly what he wanted. We never had long days with David. He was great, he knew exactly what he wanted and he's a fantastic director.
I'm really into both sides of the industry - in front of the camera and behind the camera. I love the business side of it; I love all of the contracts and negotiating and the different connections that you can make.
When you're working in front of the camera, there are always things that occur to you after the director has said 'Cut.' I could probably, if I sat down and thought about it, come up with instances where I wished I had made this particular choice or that particular choice.
A lot of nepotism that exists, actually, exists outside this industry because in this industry, behind the camera a director's son becomes a director and a producer's son becomes a producer and that is still understandable that they are carrying their legacy but for actors, it is very very different.
Looking into my future, I don't always want to be in front of the camera. I want to be behind the camera and bring to life those family members of mine or people that I knew or the kids I grew up. I want people to know the different facets of black people, brown people, all people.
In my early teens, I knew I wanted to do television production. I loved cameras, editing and producing, anything that had to do with television production. My friend had a production studio across town, and we'd go over there at night and shoot and edit. I produced my father's televised service for 17 years.
Neil Mahoney was definitely the visionary in taking 'Freak Dance' from stage to screen. He made it more cinematic. He brought the choreography, all the ways to shoot that. I was more the director of actors. I was in front of the camera directing, and he was behind the camera directing.
When I finished the series, I wasn't going to do television again. I never wanted to do television to begin with, and I was so exhausted by the process that I was wary of being in front of the camera again.
I do think that television, in its early years, played a significant role in that standard-setting, enforcing a certain decency among people. They took their role seriously, and the people behind the camera took their role seriously, too.