<*> Continued from Part One <*>

There are many, many directors whose work Goran admires. Living in the US has changed his perception of movies and directors. When he lived in Yugoslavia, he was a huge admirer of American movies -- especially classic American movies -- like those made by John Ford, Howard Hawks and Alfred Hitchcock, the list goes on. Since seeing newer movies here in the US; John Sayles (The Secret of Roan Inish, Lone Star,) Curtis Hanson (whose career is also has varied projects: L.A. Confidential (a masterpiece,) The Hand that Rocks the Cradle, The River Wild,) Jim Jarmusch (Dead Man), and even some of Clint Eastwood's stints as a director bring praise from Goran. Also, as Goran rewatches movies, he finds he connects with the ones he didn't particularly like or "get" the first time around. But some of the classical giants always satisfy from the first viewing.

From the moment Mira got the part of Delenn, Goran was trying to get the privilege to direct a BABYLON 5 episode. He approached the producers about giving him a chance to direct. For one reason or another the schedules never worked out. When TNT came into the picture, things changed and Goran was hired to direct #517, "And All My Dreams, Torn Asunder."

"The first part of the process -- trying to get the foot in the door, get the break -- was not on my list of favorite things to do. That wasn't fun at all. But the moment I started to work, everything changed. First of all, that's what I like to do, the actual directing. I don't like to hustle. I'm good at working, I'm not that good at hustling -- not good at all. The whole BABYLON 5 crew was extremely nice, extremely helpful. Everyone knew me from before, with Mira, and knew me from a different perspective, not from my work."

"This worked to my advantage in the beginning because they didn't expect much from me, the dumb blond. After we started to work, everything kind of clicked and all of the cast and crew provided me with absolutely everything I wanted -- within reasonable parameters. Reasonable parameters are another thing that I'm not very good at."

"It was a really nice experience. The actors were unbelievable to work with. Everybody was really prepared and we discussed every possibility, tried every venue. Some of the scenes I really think they nailed to perfection."

Goran put pressure on himself because he wanted to show who he was as a director and where his talents lie. "Sometimes hard work transforms into something else. It reaches another dimension and becomes a very good and pleasurable thing."

Since John Flinn was preparing to direct the next episode and was busy prepping, Goran worked with Fred Murphy, who is an excellent D.P. (Director of Photography.) Fred was a great help and a lot of fun in helping Goran shoot "And All My Dreams, Torn Asunder". "Fred has some friends in Lake Arrowhead who were from the former Yugoslavia and they taught him a few choice words in Serbo-Croatian. After only a short while, Fred had the whole cast and crew cursing at all the right moments and places." [laughs]

The six day shooting schedule was very hectic but as Goran mentioned to John Copeland, with a crew as experienced, efficient and professional as BABYLON 5's, he could go through fire, through water, through jungle in six days. Goran found the crew was very capable. When he'd make out his shop list of things needed for the day's shooting of the various scenes: "I'd be writing out what needed done and making notes and I'd get to what I thought was the last scene, thinking, 'Wow, this is a difficult day.' And then I'd turn the page and see that there was another two scenes to do before the end of the day."

"But everybody was ready and made everything work. When you have a crew that's been together for five years they know how the other person breathes. That's the thing that was fascinating to me. On the show, there was no shouting and yelling, only laughing and smiling. Everyone would communicate with just a look or hand signal... Later, they told me that the secret is in headsets and two way radio. Just kidding..."

Being a fan of the show and wanting to work with Mira were the reasons Goran was so persistent in trying to direct an episode of BABYLON 5. "I was following it from the very beginning when Mira did the pilot. Also, it was the first Hollywood job Mira had so we will always be sentimental toward BABYLON. I wanted to contribute whatever I could -- even in a small way -- to the legacy of BABYLON 5 since I was a fan of the show as well." Goran hopes he will have an chance to work on the spin-off series, CRUSADE, but doesn't know if the opportunity will present itself. He would love to work with the crew again.

When Goran was originally assigned to the episode, the only thing that existed was the production number -- 517. It worked out that the episode had almost every cast member in it except Pat Tallman. "Peter [Jurasik], Andreas [Katsulas], Jerry [Doyle], Jeff [Conaway]... The guy from GREASE ... I always wanted to work with him. That was cool. Bruce [Boxleitner] is such a great actor. When actors see you have a certain passion they will go wherever you lead. They'll do whatever you ask -- metaphorically speaking. Everybody was ready. The actors knew their lines perfectly. Everything was clicking."

"I wish that every job, everything that I shoot, goes as smoothly as this did. One of the benefits of being a freelance director is that one is able to come into an existing series of episodic TV and mix your energy and ideas with something else in some different fashion."

Like other B5 fans, Goran was hooked by the layered story of BABYLON 5. "The story just gets to you. After a while you become attached to the characters and the technology of BABYLON 5. I especially liked the fact that the story was great and the way the characters changed."

"Actually, what attracted me to BABYLON 5 the most in the beginning was that it was kind of dirty, that you would see people sweating, that they would open their shirts, that there were those bits of reality (as real as dramatic TV ever gets) slipped into the story. Other things that interest me about the show include the subversiveness of BABYLON, the fact that it opens so many questions on so many levels, that it's intellectually challenging. And, of course, I'd better watch the show my wife is on."

There is no overall favorite BABYLON 5 character that Goran enjoys. He loves Garibaldi and Sheridan. G'Kar's story has been compelling. He's been enthralled by Andreas's performances. With Bruce having glamour and charm and radiating it from himself he was very easy to work with. Jerry with his wit and underplaying -- all the cast members had something to contribute to the ensemble. "Each episode lets you go with a different temperature and feeling toward each character."

It was difficult for Goran to pick one scene that stood out from the rest of the episodes. "It is one show, it is the same actors, but the show is very, very different one from episode to the next. "The Coming of Shadows" and "Comes the Inquisitor" are two completely different stories but they resonate deeply for many people."

When the question was narrowed to just scenes Mira was in, Goran was able to note the episode "Severed Dreams" where Delenn comes to the rescue of the BABYLON 5 station with a White Star and Minbari cruisers. Delenn: 'Only one human captain has ever survived battle with a Minbari fleet. He is behind me, you are in front of me. If you value your lives, be somewhere else.'

Goran states: "Again, it's not only because she did a good performance but the way it plays in the story, that it was the moment of climax in the episode. When you remember that in your head, you kind of feel like saying an enthusiastic, 'Yeah!' And I still think that I am that human that survived the Minbari."

"That wasn't the only scene I liked Mira in. The scene with Bruce in "Confessions and Lamentations" when Delenn asks Sheridan to let her attend to the dying Markab was a real heart-breaking bit. Nothing had happened romantically between them yet but there was a hint of something underneath, that they were starting to care for each other, that really made it work. Both of them were excellent in that scene."

As for other endeavors, Goran is trying to develop some scripts he wrote or collaborated on into projects. "Occasionally you think, 'Oh, it's happening, it's happening!' but already it's happened to me a couple of times that nothing develops. When you get burned, your enthusiasm gets a little chilled. Many times the signs have all pointed toward a project being a go and then in the next moment it evaporates completely like nothing ever happened."

Even with the uncertainty of developing a project in Hollywood -- not being sure if the project will get made, or, if started will it be finished, or, if made, will an audience see it -- even though it's tough to make a deal in La-La Land, Goran wouldn't have it any other way. He's never been one to skirt a challenge (witness the way he distributed his work (pirating cable channels) when he was first starting out) and he continues to push the edge of creativity in all he does. Watch for his TV series directorial debut when "And All My Dreams, Torn Asunder" airs in June '98. You won't be disappointed.