The first season of “Bright Minds” was filled with some emotional gut punches, including Erica’s post-traumatic stress disorder from watching Celia die in an elevator collapse. It was an incredibly exciting moment on television.
TV Fanatic has a special treat for you. We spoke with director and EP DeMane Davis, who also directed the NBC TV show “Found.” I’ve wanted to interview her for a long time because it’s nice to chat with her on social media and she’s fun to talk to.
Davis shared how the directors were involved in the creative process of Brilliant Minds, including the advice she gave Ashley Lathrop’s Erica on how to appear traumatized.
Since Davis is active on social media, she shared her thoughts on whether she ever used social media during an episode.
Check out the interview below.
Hi Demane; great to meet you after talking to you on social media. Can you tell me how you got involved in the creative process of Brilliant Minds?
Showrunner and EP Michael Grassi has created an incredible show. He wanted the director to get into the head, heart, mind and body of the patient so that the audience could understand, because this is mental health.
So if you see someone with a broken leg and they want to open the door, you can help them open the door. But if you see someone acting strangely or having an episode, you’ll back off.
Dr. Oliver Sachs would go right up to that person and say, what can I do for you? What’s going on?
Every director can portray medical issues themselves. They would come up with the idea and pitch it to understand why he was doing it and to see if he had the foresight and foresight to understand what a person was going through.
I created a lookbook using the language Michael and pilot director Lee Toland Krieger used when making the show. I gave this to each director and we had a long discussion about what they were going to do for the episode. They then present their idea and explain how it works.
In Brilliant Minds Season 1, Episode 4, Deborah Kampmeier takes a different approach and takes things out of focus. In Brilliant Minds Season 1, Episode 5, Charles Randolph-Wright created the ghost by turning around, and there it was.
It’s unique because directors don’t usually get the chance to create something.
In addition to that, I am also a producer and director. So, I was down to earth from day one, watching the sets go up, which I loved, and helping the department heads work together to move the show forward. Then I directed two episodes, which are the best of the best.
I am lucky enough to be a part of a program that is rewarding. I’m grateful that I’m a part of a show that I love and have watched, and I feel like I can do good in the world. This show is like that.
So, what’s your favorite storyline this season?
I shot the third episode of Season 1 of Bright Minds with Steve Howey called “The Lost Biker,” which is a movie that’s close to my heart because he has memory loss and my mom There are also. Now that Michael Grassi gives the directors permission, we can see what Wyatt’s heart will be like.
Creating that curtain and this, the fall of memory, and that hellish space, felt like an achievement that could only have been achieved if the crew worked together.
We did some testing beforehand to make sure it would work properly, such as testing different weights of material to make sure it dropped the right way. That’s great.
The ending has an incredibly emotional beat that ties the storyline together and advances the characters. The crew saw how things unfolded. There were 60 extras in the pilot; most episodes had 60 extras, with an average of about 30 background actors.
However, Brilliant Minds Season 1 Episode 12 was packed because of what was going on. I love seeing how scenes evolve and how things come to fruition. These two episodes were babies to me.
Steve Howie mentioned you in my interview and how much he enjoyed you coaching him.
He did it. marvelous. Thank you. What a great read. He’s a great guy. To this day I still send him text messages. Just before the episode came out, I told him I couldn’t wait for him to see it. Then he saw it and he said he felt great. There is no such thing. He gave it his all and won.
Let’s discuss Brilliant Minds Season 1 Episode 12. How did you hit all those emotional beats amidst the chaos and Erica’s sadness?
Harry Giljian directed this. He’s a great director and the right choice to do this. I rewatched episode 12 last night and texted Ashley, who plays Erica, to tell her she did a great job. Later, when she’s in the hospital, she talks to Dana (Ory Krebs), who is awesome.
That’s a prepared actor. I was the producer on that episode, not the director. I’m also working on episode 13, so I’m not always there. But she grabbed me and said she was excited and had read all these books about trauma.
I reminded her to protect herself and warned her not to be too rude. When an actor says they’re ready to be traumatized, they’re playing a game. She pulled it out. She embodies this in every scene.
She did it. That episode made me cry, and I don’t think I cried more than episode seven, “The Man from Grozny.”
David Katzenberg directed the episode, and they’re all looking at the ceiling. OMG. As transitions go, the moment that follows is a very delicate job. And then Alexander, the actor who plays John Doe, is also fantastic.
What I love most about this episode and writer Daniela Lamas and what she does is that this character is locked inside and doesn’t speak. He communicated with his eyes and then suddenly started talking.
Everybody was excited because we said, Alexander, this is your chance, and he was excited because he could talk and not blink and look around.
All the pieces fit together perfectly, making sure everyone has an arc and understands what he’s going through and how it relates to them and affects them.
David Katzenberg is a good friend of mine now. He’s awesome.
Absolutely. So, you are very active on social media. Have you ever implemented fan ideas into the series you’ve made?
Oh, from social media? When I was working on Brilliant Minds Season 1 Episode 3, I looked at it on Instagram. I found this fashion designer, Studio Denis Vanderbrouck, who does these incredible big fashion shows where he uses curtains.
When I saw these curtains move, I realized that this is what it feels like when I try to remember something and I can’t.
It feels like I reach for it and there it is, and then it shudders down and my thoughts are gone. This is what memory feels like. That’s how it feels. The curtain falls.
If we could project the thing Wyatt loved most, his wife, onto that curtain, it would fall. This is what he cares about most, and he will eventually lose it.
That was why he initially refused surgery. He didn’t want to lose everything and then be left in this limbo.
I’m grateful to showrunner Michael Grassi and writer Sara Saedi for their openness. They actually rewrote some of the script to talk about that uncertain space, because that’s what it feels like when I can’t remember something.
After seeing the curtains from Denis Vanderbrouck’s studio, I wondered how to cast projections onto the curtains. We discussed this with the production designer and director, and then we created this moment. We tested it a few times and then we made it happen.
But I will say that what I had in my head turned into what it looked like on the screen, so I’m very grateful.
You can stream Brilliant Minds Season 1 on Peacock. We will notify you when we learn about its renewal status.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Watch “Ingenuity” online
