INSIDE THE WORK
Directing Reasonable Doubt and building the future of The Director’s Notebook
I’m writing this from set, day five of directing on Reasonable Doubt, surrounded by an extraordinary cast, crew, producers, department heads, writers, and artists who care deeply about the work and one another.
One of the things that has stayed with me most about this experience is the way Black women are centered throughout the creative structure of the show. A Black woman lead. A Black woman creator / showrunner. Black women writers. Black women producers. Two Black women first ADs helping lead the floor every day with precision, calm, and clarity.
It is powerful to witness and even more amazing to work inside of.
You can feel the difference when that kind of authorship exists across a production. There is a certain rhythm to the set, a certain trust in the conversations. People listen to each other differently. The work feels grounded in lived experience rather than performance of experience. There’s care in the details, care in the collaboration, care in the way people are allowed to show up fully inside the work.
It reminds me of another experience that meant a great deal to me creatively: Harlem. And if I’m honest, productions like this still feel far too rare.
Being back at work has also made me think more about what I want The Director’s Notebook to be moving forward.
I never wanted this space to feel like content for content’s sake. I wanted it to feel like a real conversation about the work. Directing. Performance. Image making. Race. Story structure. Collaboration. The emotional and cultural life underneath what we put on screen.
And as the Notebook continues to grow, I want that growth to become useful in tangible ways to other filmmakers too.
So moving forward, a portion of proceeds from The Director’s Notebook will go toward filmmaker grants, finishing funds, creative resources, and support for emerging artists and independent productions.
More details on that soon.
I’m also looking forward to sharing more from inside the process itself. More reflections from set. More conversations about directing actors and shaping performances. More thoughts about visual language, collaboration, leadership, and what it actually takes to build television at a high level week after week.
Thank you to everyone who has subscribed, read, shared, commented, and spent time with this work. I’m grateful for the community that’s forming here, and I’m excited for what this next phase can become.
In craft and truth,
Stacey
Stacey Muhammad is a writer, director, and daughter of New Orleans. Her lens is committed to the cinematic testimony of Black life and the unyielding brilliance of the Southern imagination. From her upcoming feature film, The Return, to her directing work on series including Amazon Prime’s CROSS, Queen Sugar, Power Book III: Raising Kanan, and Harlem, she tells stories where Black people are the architects of the narrative, not the scenery. She is the creator of The Director’s Notebook, a digital film school and creative sanctuary for those reclaiming their birthright through craft and truth.
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