E213 - The Journey to Directing SUPACELL with Sebastian Thiel Part 1

This is Episode 13 in the second season of The Directors Take Podcast.

In this week’s episode your hosts Marcus Anthony Thomas and Oz Arshad are joined by Sebastian Thiel, who is one of the directors on Netflix’s global number one show, SUPACELL. Sebastian is also a writer, producer and all-round creative, so we brought him on to talk us through his journey toward Directing the phenomenon that is SUPACELL.  

 

This conversation covers the following…

 

-What is directing?

-How did he come into storytelling? 

-The story of how he made his first projects and web series. 

-The jump between making films as a self-starter to working within the TV system. 

-A discussion on development hell and getting the first directing gig.

-How to direct comedy.

 

Our wonderful sponsor for this episode is THE NATIONAL FILM and TELEVISION SCHOOL.

 

We’ve also partnered with SCRIPTATION to offer our listeners an EXCLUSIVE DISCOUNT on their software, which you can find on the link below… 

http://scriptation.com/thedirectorstake 

 

 

Biography

Sebastian Thiel is a director, writer, producer. Born in Zambia and raised in North-West London, 

 

He started his own production company, Upshot Entertainment, at the age of 17 and made his  2014 TV debut on London Live with his documentary Trap Town which he created, wrote and directed. 

 

His first drama Just A Couple began life as a YouTube series before being picked up by Big Talk Productions for BBC Three.

 

Sebastian went on to direct the International Emmy-nominated BBC Three comedy Dreaming Whilst Black, and the recent hit ITVX and Amazon Prime drama Riches.  

 

Most recently, Sebastian directed Rapman’s Supacell, the number 1 superhero drama show in London for Netflix.

 

Sebastian continues to produce content through Upshot Entertainment, a subset of which produces professional and dynamic showreels, under Upshot Reels, for some of Britain’s greatest talent including Letitia Wright (Black Panther, Small Axe).  

He is also the founder of Dope Black Art, which is dedicated to championing black culture through visual art.

 

Credits

Music by Oliver Wegmüller

 

Socials

Sebastian: Twitter (X) & Instagram

The Directors' Take: Twitter (X) & Instagram

Marcus: Twitter (X) & Instagram

Oz: Twitter (X) & Instagram

 

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