My main philosophy on directing is TEAMWORK!

TEAMWORK: First of all, always respect your crew and they will respect 
you. Second, always preplan and have a back-up plan in case something goes 
wrong! If your in production you should already know these two points, so I 
won't go into them.

I do want to go into the importance of teamwork.I can't emphasize enough about 
the importance of teamwork in a production! I feel that it is the core of any 
type of production, whether it is in the field or in the studio. It does not 
matter how good you are or how experienced your crew is, if teamwork is missing, 
then your show will fall apart. Let me explain.
 
-Here is an example of TEAMWORK in the studio-
* 2:00
     It is two minutes before air and you're directing a live two-on-four 
interview with a studio audience. The show is going up on satellite to 
fifty stations across the U.S. You're getting yourself ready to do mic 
checks and realize that on your wide shot there is a mic cable hanging off 
one of the guest chair. Also, the mic on the host is upside down. You ask 
your floor director, Gus to tape up the cable on the chair and to adjust 
the hosts' mic.

* 1:45
     Gus rushes with the tape to fix the mic cable (remember, you still do 
not have mic checks). You ask Gus for guest #1 to say a few words. Gus 
does not hear you because he is distracted with taping up the cable to the 
chair.
 
* 1:15 
     Teamwork takes effect. Tracey, who is the operator on camera five 
notices that Gus does not hear you. Tracey says loudly, "Mr. Smith, we need 
a mic check, could you look toward the host a say a few words?" Tracey 
notices that Gus is still working on the cable. You ask Tracey to do the 
same thing for the other guests, while remaining at her camera.
* :55 seconds 
     More teamwork. Gus is almost finished but the upside down mic on the 
host has not been fixed yet. Karen, who is the operator for camera six 
(the wide shot) realizes that Gus will not be able to fix the mic in time.
Karen asks you if she should help Gus since her camera is a locked down 
shot. You tell her to go.

* 10 seconds. 
     The mics are all fixed and Gus and Karen run to their positions.

* LIVE
     You give the command, "fade up, mic, and cue talent!" You're live and 
the mic levels are perfect and the set looks neat. The teamwork took over,
not skill. Because your crew worked effectively, the show started off 
great.