E116 - Sarmad Masud Part 2: Directing Sky’s Bulletproof & BBC’s You Don’t Know Me

In this episode of The Directors' Take podcast, your hosts Oz Arshad and Marcus Anthony Thomas continue with part 2 of their discussion with Director Sarmad Masud, whose credits include Hollyoaks, Channel 4’s Ackley Bridge, BBC’s You Don’t Know Me and Sky’s Bulletproof. He also wrote and directed the indie feature My Pure Land which he shot in Pakistan. 

 

In Part 2, Sam takes us through:

-How he lead directed Sky’s Bulletproof S3 and BBC’s You Don’t Know Me.

-Working with bigger cast.

-How he preps when he is hired on a show and how he breaks his script down.

-A day in the life of how he works on set, his approach to coverage and what documents he keeps with him on set.

-Things that have gone wrong on set and how he has resolved them. 

-Post production.
-Learning about how much ‘say’ you have as a director/lead director.

-The lessons he has learnt after directing HETV.
-Emotional resilience between jobs. 

 

Sam most recently directed all four episodes of You Don't know Me, a brand new drama series for Snowed-in Productions, written by Tom Edge. It is based on the bestselling novel by Imran Mahmood.Sam previously directed the Bulletproof  Special for Vertigo and Sky set in Cape Town, having also directed the Season 2 finale. He also recently directed on Ackley Bridge  for The Forge and Channel 4. His first feature My Pure Land,  is set and filmed in Pakistan and based on the extraordinary true story of one woman and her family who defended their home and land from 200 bandits. It premiered at the Edinburgh International Film Festival and was the UK submission to the Oscars in the Foreign Language category. 

 

Nuggets

Oz: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Factfulness-Reasons-Wrong-Things-Better/dp/1473637465

Marcus: https://www.youtube.com/@ArtSupport1/videos

Sam: https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/dark-matter-9781839023408/  

 

Credits

Music by Oliver Wegmüller

 

Socials

Instagram: @TheDirectorsTakePodcast

Twitter: @DirectorsTake

Sam’s twitter: @Sammasud37

If you have any questions relating to the episode or have topics you would like covering in future releases, reach out to us at TheDirectorsTake@Outlook.com.