Chicago Fire interview: Directer Olivia Newman previews emotional ‘What Will Define You’

On Wednesday night, Chicago Fire season 7 episode 7 will air on NBC with an episode entitled “What Will Define You.” If you watched last week, you may have a pretty good sense as to what’s coming up already. This may be one of the series’ most-emotional hours following the death of Kelly Severide’s father Benny, though if you watch this series with any regularity, you know that work elsewhere will hardly be slowing down. You’ll have a chance to see some taxing rescues elsewhere, but hopefully also a reinvigorated Firehouse 51 in the aftermath of Gorsch’s episode.

Behind the scenes, what is particularly notable about this episode is that it marks the One Chicago directing debut of Olivia Newman, who arrives as a part of the network’s Female Forward initiative. For more on how she landed the gig and some of what makes season 7 episode 7 special, we spoke with Newman earlier today.

CarterMatt – What is the process like of landing the Chicago Fire directing gig?

Olivia Newman – I got the episodes through my participation in the NBC Female Forward program. It’s a program started by NBC that is in its first year to help get more women directors into television. There is an application process and an interview process, and eventually they select ten women directors to interview with the producing directors of NBC shows. I was selected by Reza [Tabrizi] for Chicago Fire.

The great thing about the program is that they actually give you a stipend to allow you to shadow for up to three episodes on whatever television show you’re going to be directing. So, I spent July shadowing Reza on episode 2 — the big crossover episode! It was a massive ten-day shoot and a huge episode. Tons of fire in it.

I got to spend the month of July out there, getting to know how the show works and the cast and crew. I also shadowed on part of episode 5, and had a chance to see how a guest director comes in and works on the show. Then, I went right into prep on my episode. Having that time to learn the nuts and bolts on how the show works, and to have that time to get to know the cast and crew personally, was incredibly helpful.

I’m sure that everyone was welcoming on set, but did you get the sense that this was a more emotional episode than most with Severide’s father dying on this past installment? What was the mood of the cast and crew like?

I come from a dramatic background, so I was really excited to work on an episode that had so much heart and emotion at its core. I think the whole cast was aware of the tone of this episode being a little bit different; everyone was engaged on that level.

The fantastic thing about this show is that there are always moments of comedy, as well, and chances to engage and have some moments of fun. Because we were going from these heavier scenes to the moments where things were a little bit lighter, there were [times] where everyone could let loose and enjoy some of those moments.

What’s the process then like of taking a really serious scene, but the transitioning over to something that’s funny or something action-packed? Is that you having to constantly switch between different directing muscles?

It’s something that you always have to do with directing, whether it be television or film. The order that you’re shooting scenes often depends on so many different production factors. But, we did try to keep in mind with the AD the scenes that we were going to need a little more time for. We wanted to let the actors have more time to explore the emotional stuff. Sometimes, with some of the comedic scenes it was a matter of reminding everybody what had just happened before and what the overall tone of the episode was. We didn’t want to push the comedy too far — we wanted to let it be there, but also note the context of this particular episode.

These actors are such pros that you don’t have to do that much — they’ve been through six seasons. They’re just amazing to work with.

Is there a moment from tonight’s episode that stands out as a high point?

The episode all builds towards a big finale, and there was a lot of big, dramatic, and emotional moments that I’m really proud of [in terms of] how we shot them and the performances the actors gave. There was a lot of planning that went into it. I hope that audiences are going to be affected by this episode and feel really emotional afterwards.

Are you interested in exploring some other shows within the One Chicago world or even out there further in this Dick Wolf extended universe?

I would love to continue directing television and to work within the Dick Wolf family. It was such a warm and wonderful feeling in Chicago. I’ve only worked on the Chicago Fire set, but I have heard similar things about Med and PD, that they have a wonderful atmosphere and Chicago brings out an amazing crew.

I’ve been invited back to direct another episode of Fire, which I’m really excited for because when it was ending, I was starting to get really sad. You spend a lot of time with these people and it starts to feel like family. I was really happy that Derek Haas was happy with the episode and wanted to find a way to bring me back. We’re working through those logistics. I would love to work on Med or PD, and I’m also looking into other TV directing opportunities and a few different feature film projects.

On kind of a larger scale, what sort of stories are you looking to tell? Is there an emotional undercurrent behind many of them?

I’m always inspired by stories that feature under-represented characters on-screen. I look towards stories that empower female characters, underdog stories, and stories that have some sort of political or social-justice themes — just to name a few (laughs).

What are you the most curious to see entering the new episode of Chicago Fire tonight? Be sure to let us know your thoughts below.