Lesli Linka Glatter Interview On Emmy Chances, 'Zero Day' & More

Lesli Linka Glatter has had quite the charmed career as a director. After beginning as a modern dancer and choreographer, she switched lanes and directed her first project in 1985, a live-action short called Tales of Meeting and Parting. It won her an Academy Award nomination. The next year she found herself working on her first TV directing job, for none other than Steven Spielberg on his anthology series Amazing Stories, and shortly after that for David Lynch on Twin Peaks (including one that brought her a first DGA Award nomination).

After that it was off to the races helming iconic TV shows like NYPD Blue, Grey’s Anatomy, Freaks & Geeks, Gilmore Girls, House, The Good Wife, True Blood, The Walking Dead, Justified, The Newsroom, The Leftovers, Ray Donovan, Law & Order, The Morning Show, and so many more, including eight episodes of The West Wing, 13 for ER, six for Mad Men (including one that brought her a first Emmy nomination and DGA win). Then of course came Homeland, for which she received six more DGA nominations including two wins, as well as seven of her eight Emmy nominations. On top of all that she was elected by her DGA peers and now continues as president of the union. Not bad at all, wouldn’t you say?

Now after first doing Love & Death, she has continued a move into limited series mode with Netflix’s dynamite six-part political drama Zero Day starring Robert De Niro, and she is currently shooting another limited series, Imperfect Women, with Kerry Washington, Elisabeth Moss and Kate Mara. She joins me for this episode of my Deadline video series Behind the Lens to talk about this remarkable career and where the industry and DGA is headed regarding how women are doing now as opposed to when she started exactly 40 years ago. She also talks about directing De Niro in a hot-button show that feels like it was ripped from the headlines in these trying times. I found it absolutely riveting to watch, even more timely now that when she shot it.