The Culmination of NBCUniversal’s Emerging Director Program
By Bel Hernandez
Director Juan Avella is at the helm of tonight’s episode of NBC’s The Blacklist, the Primetime Emmy Award series starring Golden Globe-nominee James Spader and Megan Boone.
One of those unique dramas with longevity, The Blacklist is currently in its eighth season and it was recently announced that there will be a ninth. A big part of the show’s popularity is the cast, particularly Raymond “Red” Reddington, played by Spader. Reddington is an ex U.S. Navy officer turned high-profile criminal who now helps the FBI catch global criminals he once worked with.
Avella directed “The Russian Knot,” the 15th episode of the season. In this episode, the FBI Task Force hatches a plan to steal a Soviet-era cipher machine needed to decrypt coded messages. Reddington faces his most formidable enemy, Elizabeth Keen (Boone). Aligned with her mother, infamous Russian spy Katarina Rostova, Elizabeth must find out why Reddington has entered her life and what his endgame is.
For a young director to find himself directing such a high-profile show is not the norm. However, as part of NBCUniversal’s landmark Emerging Director Program, it is an opportunity given to every participant to break into episodic television directing.
As part of the preparation to direct, the emerging directors must “shadow” two episodes of the chosen TV show. This progress helps both the director and the cast and crew of the TV show get to know the young directors so when it is their turn to direct there is a sense of familiarity and trust.
In an exclusive interview for Latin Heat, Avella explained how getting to direct an episode of such an iconic and fan-loved show like The Blacklist would not have been possible without having been a part of the NBCUniversal’s Emerging Director Program.
“There is a lot of diversity programs out there that help, but this is pretty much one of the only ones that give you an episode [to direct], and that’s just huge,” Avella was happy to recount.
He holds a screenwriting MFA from the AFI Conservatory, where he won the William J. Fadiman Award for excellence in screenwriting for his crime feature Bolichicos. Such script was the recipient of the 2019 TFI Sloan Film Fund grant from the Tribeca Film Institute and was included in The Black List’s 2019 inaugural LatinX List.
Avella is excited to be on his way to emulating some of the directors who served as an inspiration to him as a young child and during his pursuit of a directing career. His recently adapted short film Hijo por Hijo has been optioned by Epic Pictures and Avella hopes to be soon directing his screenplay.
One can say that the opportunity to direct such a high-profile show is truly a testament to Venezuelan filmmaker’s ability as a director.
Avella is repped by The Gersh Agency.