Exclusive: Aisha Tyler On Directing Fear The Walking Dead Episode

This past weekend, Episode 613 of AMC’s Fear The Walking Dead was directed by actor, director, comedian, podcaster, NY Times best-selling author, entrepreneur and activist Aisha Tyler.

As Morgan’s (Lennie James) bid to free the remaining members of the group becomes bolder, Virginia (Colby Minifie) grows increasingly desperate to find her sister and protect the settlements from forces working inside and outside her walls. The second half of season six reveals the impact of what living under Virginia’s control has done to each person in this group, who once saw themselves as a family. New alliances will be formed, relationships will be destroyed, and loyalties forever changed. When everyone is forced to take sides, they discover the meaning of, “The End is the Beginning.”'

She was an Emmy-winning host of CBS' The Talk for six seasons and was a series regular on CBS's Criminal Minds, for which she also directed episodes . She is the voice of Lana in FXX's long-running animated series Archer, the host of Whose Line Is It Anyway for the CW, and will voice a character in the upcoming Disney+ series Monsters at Work. She’s also slated to direct Silent John for Hidden Empire Film Group this summer.

How did the gig come about for you?

Aisha Tyler: Well, I directed some television and film before and so I had a meeting at AMC. They knew I was a fan of the franchise. I've been for a long time, I had a podcast for five years, and I had several people from The Walking Dead of my show. I had Robert Kirkman on and I had Steven Yeun on and others, and I've also been on Talking Dead. So they knew that I knew the franchise really well. And honestly, I had a meeting of AMC, and I just come off of directing a movie and had expressed my interest in directing the show. That just ended up percolating through the process over there. Then an episode became available and I interviewed for it. A combination of work from other shows that people enjoyed and combined with my real passion for the franchise, and the fact I know that universe really well is probably what got me the job.

That seems like a lot of work. What happens if you don’t know the show really well?

Aisha Tyler: Yeah, it's a long process. It started out with me being a short film director and then doing a feature and a director on Criminal Minds. So much of that stuff is people enjoying their experience with you both creatively and professionally. It’s like any job, I guess, right? You get a job based on recommendations from the last one. 

Had you seen all of the episodes prior to expressing your interest?

Aisha Tyler: Yes, I have seen every episode of Fear the Walking Dead, with the exception of the first few episodes of the current season, when I interviewed. 

Because you watch the show, is it an easy transition walking on the set, knowing the characters, knowing the plot, and going in there and adding your style to whatever the episode is you're directing?

Aisha Tyler: Yeah, I think, as a director, when you're doing television, you have two accompany notes that straddle two strategies. One strategy is that you need to make sure you're delivering something that is on brand, and is narratively cohesive with the show, the look and feel to the show as established. And then you're also trying to bring in your own look and feel your own directorial touch to a show. Those are the two things you're trying to balance or navigate when you're directing TV. The fact that I knew the show and knew the world so well made that a lot easier. I didn't have to kind of do a lot of the diving to understand what the Walking Dead world, generally, or specifically. But then this episode, because it was specifically such a Western, I really wanted a Western influence into this episode. We really leaned into that iconography, the way that the angles were chosen, and the way they were shot. I didn't have to do a lot of deep dive into the show. But I did do a lot of deep diving into Western so I watch a lot of Western films before I directed this just to get that in my mind as I was planning the episode.

Having done other episodes and films, do you or has anyone told you if you have a certain signature that people will recognize as your style?

Aisha Tyler: Good question. Yeah, there's probably a few different things. I like strange off angles that are unusual for TV and that are a little bit more filmic. So you'll see a lot off angles in that serve a lot of cross signals that are that shoot across people's faces in a way that's typically in television. My main thing that I really love is I really like to admit light into the frame. So that's just my own favorite feel. So a lot of my my film work or my television work has a lot of sub layers. I love introducing sun and introducing light into frame and typically with television, you do lots of locket, but in my episode you'll see the presence of the sun is really evident.

Is this the next phase of what you wanted to do or do you want to balance it out? Both directing and acting?

Aisha Tyler: Yes. I haven't quit acting, but I am directing quite a bit more. I'm probably going to spend almost all of 2021 directing. That’s because I love just like directing, I think it's an opportunity to care for everybody on set rather than just yourself. I love the creative process. I find it really invigorating. I haven't stopped acting. I’m still voicing a lot on Archer.  I'm still fielding offers to act in other projects. and I probably will direct some things that I act in, but I am definitely going to be doing a lot more directing going forward. I find it to be really rewarding. 

We’ve heard Criminal Minds is coming back. Will you be on it?

Aisha Tyler: You know, I wish I could tell you anything about what's happening with Criminal Minds right now. I don't have any news for you. I know they're working on it, but that's all I know.

As far as getting directing work, does one have to have certain credibility for others to look at in determining if they are fit to direct a project like Fear The Walking Dead?

Aisha Tyler: I think that's probably always an issue for underrepresented people in every line of work. It’s definitely been an issue for people of color and women in the entertainment business. You're seeing these studies that are coming out every year, that even though we're talking about having more women were people of color in directing, those numbers have actually gone down over the past couple of years. I think for me, it was always just a process of I was going to keep moving forward and wasn't ever going to take no for an answer. I think that certainly worked well in my career overall. I'm passionate about it. I love directing. I probably wouldn't be as far along as I am, in my general directing career if I hadn't made my first movie, which I crowdfunded, because I never would have gotten an opportunity to make money with a studio.

So the fact that I went out and crowdfunded on my own feature, and made it and that ended up being a successful festival film, I was able to then have a calling card that I could use to make it easier to get other other directing work. I really didn't have to go out and do that on my own to prove my ability to show people what I was capable of. That's really what unlocked some of this other work. But you know, every job gets bigets the next one. So you're out here trying to show people your vision and what it's like to work with you and for you. It's important to me to create a space for other creators of color and other women. The better I do in my career and the more barriers I break, the easier it's going to be for women to come behind me as an artist.