Game of Thrones directors revealed for mysterious season 6
Hardhome' director shooting next season's final two episodes
by
James Hibberd
@JamesHibberd
Posted June 25 2015 6:18 PM EDT
If there wasnt enough mystery surrounding the next season of
Game of Thrones, now theres a veteran of ABCs
Lost joining the show too. Below is the list of directors for the sixth season of HBOs acclaimed fantasy hit. Three of the names are
Thrones veterans, and two are newcomers to the series. Once again, each will helm two episodes. Here is the
Thrones shooting plan:
Jeremy Podeswa (Episodes 1 & 2): A veteran of Showtimes
Tudors and HBOs
Boardwalk Empire, Podeswa is returning to
Thrones for the second year in a row. In season 5, he directed two episodes from the middle of the season, Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken and Kill the Boy.
Daniel Sackheim (3 & 4): Sackheim is new to
Thrones with a long list of credits going back to being an associate producer on 1980s classic
Miami Vice. Hes directed episodes of several Fox shows (
The X-Files,
Lie to Me,
House) and most recently directed six episodes of FXs
The Americans.
Jack Bender (5 & 6): An intriguing new name, Bender is familiar to fans of ABCs
Lost, having directed a whopping 38 episodes of the series, including many of the shows premieres and finales. Hes also helmed episodes of CBS
Under the Dome, TNTs
The Last Ship and Foxs
Alcatraz.
Mark Mylod (7 & 8): Mylod is a premium cable veteran of shows like Showtimes
Shameless and HBOs
Entourage. He directed the third and fourth episode of season 5, High Sparrow and Sons of the Harpy.
Miguel Sapochnik (9 &10): This name will likely cause some speculation. Sapochnik really earned his
GoT stripes by helming the stunning Hardhome episode last season, featuring a half-hour battle sequence with Jon Snow, the Wildlings and the White Walkers undead army. He also directed the seventh episode of the season, The Gift. That Sapochnik is helming the penultimate episode and the season 6 finale might suggest were in for another epic battle climax given his Hardhome acclaim.
All the directors will surely be sworn to secrecy on the upcoming season, which is expected to be the first year that
Thrones largely extends beyond the storyline in George R.R. Martins published novels.
If youre wondering why each director films two back-to-back episodes, its due to the uniquely complex nature of the show that makes
Thrones an extremely time-intensive directing gig. Various scenes from each episode could shoot weeks or even months apart, and in different countries tooso filming just one episode covers a large block of time that is most efficiently used for a second, and largely concurrent,
Thrones assignment.
When my agent called and said, These are the dates, I said No, you are wrong. Its not possible, Bender
recently told THR after his season 6 participation was leaked. But thats how long it takes. Youre overlapping with another director. There are two full units. You are there for a long time.