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BENJAMONSTER AWARDS 2022: Outstanding Directing of a Limited/Anthology Series

Today's award is Outstanding Writing of a Limited/Anthology Series!

Check out past results from 2020 and 2021!

This year's nominees are...

RAMIN BAHRANI, The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey "Reggie" (Apple TV+)











LAKE BELL, Pam & Tommy "Master Beta" (Hulu)











HAGAI LEVI, Scenes from a Marriage (HBO)













RYAN MURPHY, Impeachment: American Crime Story "Man Handled" (FX)











MATT ROSS, Gaslit (Starz)













JOHN WELLS, Maid "Sky Blue" (Netflix)











MIKE WHITE, The White Lotus (HBO)















And the Winner Is...
MIKE WHITE
The White Lotus (HBO)
Mike White is the person most responsible for the success of the summer sensation The White Lotus. As the sole credited writer and director, this really was his baby. He would have been a deserving winner for writing but directing was where he really shined. As I mentioned in the Technical Design award, The White Lotus really felt like an immersive experience. That was partly the cinematic elements but it was also the directorial choices by White. He did a great job of presenting the experience of The White Lotus hotel through both the overprivileged guests and the fed-up guests. There were also some really great sight gags that were presented in clever ways that were occasionally shocking, occasionally comedic and sometimes both at the same time. I'll be curious to see if White can capture the magic again with a second season set at an entirely different "White Lotus" property but I wouldn't bet against him.

Thoughts on the Rest of the Nominees:
There were some great directorial efforts in this category. There were two other directors on this list who took care of the entire season. One was Matt Ross on Gaslit who kept the intensity up in his filming approach. The other was Hagai Levi, who channeled Ingmar Bergman for Scenes from a Marriage and let the show breathe at all the times it needed to. Among the directors for a single episode, Ryan Murphy got behind the camera for the best episode of Impeachment: American Crime Story that spent most of the episode in an intense hotel room and had some of the best pacing of the entire series. Ramin Bahrani captured the confusion of Samuel L. Jackson's character through his eyes in the first episode of The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey. Lake Bell had some great moments of directing in an episode of Pam & Tommy that really leaned into 90s characters trying to understand the internet. Finally, legendary director John Wells directed several episodes of Maid including the harrowing and intense penultimate episode.

Tomorrow: Outstanding Directing of a Drama Series!
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