Mark Cendrowski ~ Director | Research

After researching directors from shows that have been our influence throughout the whole project, I decided to research into an American director who has director American sitcoms. One thing big difference I noticed between British sitcoms and American sitcoms is, British sitcoms have a series director, whereas American sitcoms have several different directors for a lot of different episodes. One director that has directed the majority of the series The Big Bang Theory is Mark Cendrowski.

Mark Cendrowski

Cendrowski is a director and assistant director mainly known for The Big Bang Theory (2007-18), Fuller House (2016-17) and The Men at Work (2012). Along with children shows such as The Suite Life on Deck (2009-10), Wizards of Waverley Place (2007-09) and Hannah Montana (2007). He has also been directing since 1997 - based on his IMDB profile.

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0148252/?ref_=ttfc_fc_dr1

Cendrowski started just like any normal person in the industry did, a runner. He then went on to start his TV career as an assistant director and stage manager, before working his way up to director. 

http://bigbangtheory.wikia.com/wiki/Mark_Cendrowski

Cendrowski always knew that getting into the industry wouldn't be easy and it would take time to get your name heard. He says "It takes time just to get your foot in the door somewhere." As a now director, I feel like this is a good mindset to have as you know what the people you are working with have gone through, which in turn will create good relationships. If you're an overly ambitious person, directing could be quite difficult as you might not be able to do what you want to do. However, if you're ambitious but know there will be limitations, you have a better chance of being a good director, and working well in a team. By having the mentality that it seems Cendrowski has, which is take your time and work for it, your skill will be advanced by the time you are directing, and you'll have a lot of knowledge, which is good to have.

He backs this up by saying "[the industry is] about building relationships because everyone you meet on the way up, you're going to meet again on the way down." By having good relationships with your co-workers and members of the production, it will make you someone they can trust, and it will make you a better director. It will also make working with said people a lot more enjoyable as you can have fun working together. This is something I want to keep alive in our project as I don't want any major problems to occur. By keeping a good relationship with our producer and DOP, we will have a good project and we'll all enjoy working on it together.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-JkuccvQkc

When looking into Cendrowski's directing style, he mentions in an interview that, for The Big Bang Theory a lot of research goes into a lot of the details to make sure everything is factual and true, and its the same for the games played by the characters. He says that when the characters actually played a game in a scene, he made the actors play the game in real life, and he would watch them and see how it was done. Then when they were actually shooting the show, he made sure thats how they played it when they were shooting to make it realistic. I really like this way of directing as it adds a realistic approach to the story, and helps emphasise reliability and the humour that can come with that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQYG-Vnr9Xg

When watching The Big Bang Theory the characters are all very relatable, and the show is directed in a very real way. This makes the audience feel more connected with the characters and more involved with the storylines presented, which makes the show more entertaining. I really like this directing style, and its definitely something I will be influenced by when directing Young & Famous. I want the audience to feel like they are involved or connected to the characters in some ways, and I think by having Cendrowski as an influence, this will come across well on screen.