What exactly is a film director? And how on earth does one direct?

You’ve got a brilliant idea. You’ve assembled your crew. And now… the dreaded moment: speaking to actors! How do you take the noisy blur in your head and bring it into the real world? What kind of sorcery is this?

Directing can be scary. If you’ve ever asked yourself these questions, and the thousand others that haunt directors during the sleepless nights before a shoot, this workshop is for you.

An award-winning directing tutor will lead you through a five-day, intensive, hands-on workshop focused entirely on the art of directing. We’ll begin with the foundations of visual storytelling, exploring how some of the most iconic directors — and a few lesser-known gems — have communicated their ideas visually. But quickly, we’ll move on to the real heart of directing: working with actors.

The tutor will share practical, effective, and innovative techniques for connecting with your cast, finding characters together, and unlocking the full potential of the director-actor dynamic.

Once the groundwork is set, the tutor will demonstrate their workflow, and the workshop shifts into intensive, practical work with actors, led by you, the students, with Luca’s guidance.

Improvs, surprise scripts, fast-paced setups — this is where theory meets action. The goal? To give you the space to test powerful directing tools, learn to handle the pressure of the floor, and find your unique voice and confidence in the room.

It’s said that Orson Welles learned everything he needed to know about directing during a three-hour lunch with his DP. That might be a stretch, but after this workshop, you will be able to walk onto set and express your creative vision clearly and confidently.

Paisley Valentine Walsh is a Scottish-American writer, director, and producer. Her latest film, I Before E, was developed through Screen Scotland and executive-produced by Ken Loach’s Sixteen Films.

A graduate of The London Film School (MA Filmmaking, Distinction), Paisley has a background in Literature and History of Art. She was selected for the Apichatpong Weerasethakul Lab in Mexico, where she developed This Time for Love under Weerasethakul’s mentorship.

Paisley‘s previous films and collaborations have premiered and won awards at festivals including Cannes, Venice, Sundance, IFFR, and Tallinn Black Nights and PÖFF Shorts.

She has a special interest in working with children and non-actors and has trained in the Judith Weston Method, Mike Leigh’s character-based improvisation, and with acting coaches Miranda Harcourt (Big Little Lies) and Amanda Brennan (Sex Education). 

Paisley is currently developing her debut feature and is a member of BAFTA CONNECT and Directors UK.