HBO
Season six of "Game of Thrones" featured some of the best directed episodes in the show's history.
Season six of "Game of Thrones" featured some of the most well-directed episodes in the show's history. With the upcoming season, the show hopes to outdo itself once again.
Entertainment Weekly just announced the directors for season seven of "Game of Thrones." While the next season will be shorter than most, there will still be a wide array of directors.
The most notable absence so far is Miguel Sapochnik, who was rightfully heaped with praise for directing "The Battle of the Bastards" and "The Winds of Winter." For the most part, it seems like the show is sticking with the directors they know, with one notable, and really interesting, newcomer.
Here are the directors who have signed on so far:
Alan Taylor
Taylor's most recent directorial outing was "Terminator Genisys." The flop dashed all hopes for a revitalized Terminator franchise. But Taylor is also a "Thrones" veteran, having directed several season episodes in the past. His most notable directorial contribution to the show is "Baelor," the episode in which Ned Stark lost his head. A TV veteran, Taylor has also directed episodes of other classic shows such as "The Sopranos," "Deadwood," and "Mad Men."
Jeremy Podewsa
Another "Game of Thrones" alum, Taylor was nominated for an Emmy for directing the episode "Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken," an episode that polarized fans over its controversial ending, in which Ramsay Bolton marries Sansa Stark, and then rapes her.
Mark Mylod
Mylod directed one of season six's most interesting and underrated episodes, "The Broken Man," which included the re-introduction of "The Hound" and a great guest-starring role by Ian McShane.
Matt Shakman
This is the most surprising and potentially fun voice. While Shakman has worked on dramas before ("The Good Wife," "Fargo," "Six Feet Under"), he is best known for his work on the FX comedy "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia." Shakman has been directing episodes on that show since it started in 2007. "Thrones" creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss are admittedly huge fans of "It's Always Sunny," and two of them even wrote the 2013 episodes "Flowers for Charlie."
In addition, bringing a director known for comedy would be a smart idea for the show. "Game of Thrones" would be greatly helped by re-discovering its sense of humor from earlier seasons.