A graduate of London Film Academy’s Filmmaking Diploma in 2008, first assistant director Alice Caronna has forged an impressive career on screens both big and silver in the years since. Most recently, Alice has worked on both seasons of acclaimed sci-fi juggernaut Silo for Apple TV+, as well as the Europe-set third season of Donald Glover’s Atlanta.
Navigating the film and TV world as a first AD poses a variety of challenges, a lot of which are rooted in the innate differences in each form of entertainment. However, Alice has found a surprising amount of overlap between independent feature filmmaking and the TV projects she has worked on:
Working on Atlanta, that completely felt like an independent feature film, the way the whole team works. Hiro Murai, the main director I worked with, who’s also an exec [producer], and Donald [Glover], they’d just been working together for so long and it’s such a strong team that it really felt like a feature film. In the same way, the schedule felt like a feature film, because it was packed.
Alice Caronna
This sort of working dynamic is far from par for the course when it comes to TV. As Alice points out, the relationship between the showrunner and the director – and first AD by extension – can vary wildly from set to set, with directors sometimes serving more of a ‘contractor’ role than one with the creative freedom associated with feature filmmaking.
Alice shared that, on Silo, this has not been the case:
Silo felt so collaborative. Yes, there were times where the director had an idea and the showrunner was like, ‘That’s not what I had in mind’, but there was always a back-and-forth discussion. It never felt like the director was hired to direct and have no say, while, from what I hear, on some projects it can be like that a little bit. That’s never been my experience.
Alice Caronna
The streets of Amsterdam vs the post-apocalyptic bunker
Continuing to focus on just these two projects from Alice’s impressive filmography, which also includes BAFTA-nominated and winning projects like Beast (2017) and Rocks (2019), it’s fascinating to parse through the differences in on-set environment.
Atlanta’s third season, which saw Paper Boi and his entourage getting their interrailing miles in with trips to Amsterdam, Budapest, and London, posed a distinct challenge to the crew, which Alice was more than up for:
On Atlanta, when we were filming in Amsterdam, we were only there for two weeks. So it’s not like we had the luxury of saying, ‘Let’s just push this to next week’. All the location permits you have to put in place, the actors you only have booked in for certain dates, it’s not like you’ve got all the flexibility in the world.
Alice Caronna
The challenges associated with shooting on-location were all present and accounted for: relying on the weather, fending off the public, making the stars align. Alice welcomes the challenge:
Sometimes you just have to embrace it. Whether it rains or doesn’t, there are so many elements that are out of your control that you have to go with it. You can try and plan as much as you can, and you can try and control these elements as much as you can, but then there is an element of ‘you just have to go with them’.
Alice Caronna
Silo, by comparison, is an entirely different world:
On Silo, the two seasons I did were all in the studio. There is an element of ‘control’, and in that respect it’s great. You don’t have to worry about whether it’s overcast or not. There was no keeping the public out of the way, no noises and all that. On the other hand, there are other challenges on a show like Silo. We had loads of big stunts, and SFX and VFX sequences, so there are pros and cons. But in terms of control, Silo was a dream.
Alice Caronna
It’s this variety that Alice relishes, and actively pursues in the projects she chooses:
I like to mix it up and do different projects that present different types of challenges, so that it doesn’t get boring.
Alice Caronna
Picking projects, picking passions
Considering Alice’s 17-year career post-LFA has seen her work on several BAFTA and Emmy-winning projects, it’s clear that she pays particular attention to the filmmakers she chooses to collaborate with. What keeps Alice on the right track?
For me, the script is the main thing. Sometimes you read a script and you just know it’s going to be so good. The script, the team involved. I’m Not A Witch and Beast, they were both first-time directors. But they had a clear vision and knew what they wanted.
Alice Caronna
It’s clear that the role of the first AD is one that film and TV sets would fall apart without, but it’s also a role that attracts a fair few misconceptions, from both inside and outside the filmmaking scene. Alice has experienced this in spades:
The one question I get asked quite a bit is, ‘When are you going to direct your first film?’ I suppose some first ADs do want to direct. In my experience, not that many do. I feel like if I wanted to direct, I wouldn’t want to be a first AD. Production is more so the career that being a first AD is most similar to. That said, I don’t want to do either production or directing. I'm very happy with what I do.
Alice Caronna
Alice’s passion for her work has played a massive role in her successful career, and it’s something that she encourages LFA students to lean into when it comes to pursuing film work, specifically as an AD:
Nowadays, if you’re good, and switched-on, and proactive, we find those people quite quickly and we tend to stick to them. If someone really wants to be a first AD, they should just try and get out there, and get on set as much as possible, and be smart. Listen to what the people above say.
Alice Caronna
Thanks again to Alice for chatting to us as part of our International Women's Day panel. You can read more about her chat with Méabh McGovern and LFA senior course coordinator Eldora Osuji here.
