The Weight of Hearing 'State Your Intentions'

While consensus is good, in an airplane inflight, where things are moving in real time, it’s an autocracy and there’s only one decision-maker that counts.

Ben Younger

Thursday, December 22, 2022 at 08:43 AM ET

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The Van Nuys Airport (KVNY), in the Los Angeles Basin, has been the scene of much filmmaking—aviation and otherwise. [Credit: Adobe Stock]

Key Takeaways:

The author contrasts the collaborative, consensus-driven decision-making style of a TV director with the singular responsibility required of a pilot.
In aviation, especially during emergencies, the Pilot in Command (PIC) holds ultimate authority and sole responsibility for critical decisions, unlike the "democracy" of a film set.
Air Traffic Control (ATC) provides information and guidance but will not make final "go/no-go" or emergency-response decisions, underscoring the pilot's independent decision-making role and accountability.

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I am currently in Los Angeles gearing up to shoot a TV pilot for ABC. Three weeks out from our first day of filming, there are more than a hundred people working for me to help create the vision and, ultimately, the result that will get this show on the air for what we all hope will be a years-long series.

Every day I ask the same question to multiple people: “What do you think?” In some instances, I have a pretty good sense of what I want (on camera). Other times (for costumes, mainly), I really don’t have a clue. I simply can’t weigh in with any authority on what kind of ballgown a Korean-American woman in her 60s would be wearing to a political fundraiser. And that’s okay. My costume designer does.