033: How Do You Prep As A Director? (With Filmmaker Soma Helmi)

How do you shot list? How do you breakdown character arcs? How do you prep with your DP and department heads? Those questions and more will be answered on this episode with filmmaker Soma Helmi as we talk all things director prep! (Episode 33) Hosted by Director/Producer Jenn Page. To join our private FB group for directors, or to learn about The Working Director accelerator that helps emerging filmmakers become working directors faster, visit TheWorkingDirector.Pro. More on Soma: Born to an Indonesian father and a Polish mother, Soma Helmi hails from Bali and directed all 20 episodes of Season 3 of Snapchat‘s original series The Dead Girls Detective Agency. The series is produced by Keshet Media and Insurrection Media. She worked frequently with Catherine Hardwicke as a creative consultant. Soma most recently consulted for Ms. Hardwicke on her feature Mafia Mamma (2022) for Bleecker Street and as a creative consultant on her Quibi Series Don’t Look Deeper. Soma’s work has screened at Sundance, Hollyshorts, Outfest and Amazon’s New Voices Film Festival among many others. Soma began her career working as an Art Director for J. Walter Thompson in Jakarta, where her clients were Unilever and Pfizer. She would go on to direct commercial spots for Google, Klondike, Nike, Chevrolet, and Campbell’s. She is a 2021 Paramount Viewfinder Directors Program fellow and was named one of the “8 directors to watch” by Alliance of Women Directors. Soma is on the 2021 CAPE List x Blacklist and created Blackmagic Collective’s Breakthrough Initiative for BIPOC TV writers and directors. Instagram: @SomaHelmi Website: somahelmi.com