Cary Fukunaga
Director of every episode of True Detective's first season.
Cary Joji Fukunaga directed all eight episodes of the first season of True Detective, with Nic Pizzolatto as sole writer and showrunner, an arrangement that is very rare in American television. He won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for the season and did not return for season two.
Quick Facts
- Role
- Director (season 1, all 8 episodes)
- Award
- Primetime Emmy, Outstanding Directing
Lore & Background
Pizzolatto narrowed his search for a director to Fukunaga, whom he knew from Anonymous Content, and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu; Fukunaga was appointed after Inarritu withdrew because of film commitments. To prepare, Fukunaga spent time with a homicide detective of the Louisiana State Police's Criminal Investigations Division. He recruited cinematographer Adam Arkapaw and production designer Alex DiGerlando.
Reader's Guide
The season's six-minute single-take escape sequence in Bridge City used a long tracking-shot technique Fukunaga had used in Sin Nombre and Jane Eyre. After season two, made with six directors, critics reassessed the first season, and IndieWire argued that Fukunaga's direction of every episode had given it a consistent vision that balanced Pizzolatto's writing.
More in Production & Legacy
Elsewhere in True Detective
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