The Last of Us' Neil Druckmann Talks Challenges of Directing a TV Show (Exclusive)

The writer and director of The Last of Us, Neil Druckmann, has opened up about the challenges of moving from the director's seat in a video game to a TV show. For a decade at this point, Druckmann has become one of the most well-known video game creators around after serving as the director of titles like The Last of Us, Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, and The Last of Us Part II. With HBO's new The Last of Us TV series, Druckmann opted to step into this same role, at least for a single episode. And while many of Druckmann's own skills transferred seamlessly to directing a TV show, it still presented some new difficulties. 

In a recent conversation with ComicBook.com, Druckmann talked more about what it was like to direct one of the episodes for HBO's The Last of Us. As a whole, Druckmann said that the process of directing a TV show was far more similar to directing a video game than one might expect. At the end of the day, collaborating with actors is something that Druckmann has a lot of experience with and was able to naturally do once again, despite being in a new setting. 

"So I got to be just a producer when we shot the first episode and kind of see the process. The first thing that surprised me is how similar it is, Druckmann explained. "You know, working with actors is working with actors. It's talking about motivation, backstory, who they are, and blocking. Working with scripts is very similar. Art direction, it's all similar."

While there is a lot that Druckmann found in common between directing a show and a game, he went on to say that what threw him for a loop the most on the TV side of things is how much work has to be done beforehand. By comparison, with a video game, many of the more specific details found within various cutscenes can be changed far later on. In a TV show, this isn't true whatsoever. 

"The big difference is the order of operation. In the game when we shot a cutscene in the volume — the mocap stage — after the fact it might be months or years later when we see that scene realized. Then we can figure out the camera angles after, the costumes after, the special effects after," he said.  "Here, you have to plan it all in advance because once you say 'action' then what you get in the frame is pretty much what you're going to see on the show. So there's a lot more prep that happens beforehand, really kind of meticulous prep."

Currently, HBO hasn't said which specific episode of The Last of Us Druckmann directed, but Druckmann himself later stated in the interview that he helmed the episode where the Clickers first appear. As such, it seems likely that Druckmann's own episode of The Last of Us will come incredibly early in the series. 

The Last of Us is set to debut on HBO and HBO Max later this week on Sunday, January 15th.