Kim Manners
Moderator: Kim, how did you became involved with the Supernatural?
Kim: I read for Sam.
Kim: David Nutter, who directed the pilot is a good friend, he did Season One of X-Files and he called and asked if I would do a favor and come in and do one episode. Cause I was kind of semi-retired after X-Files. Very semi-retired. And I came in and did a show called Dead in the Water, enjoyed myself. I fell in love with Jan and Dean or is it Sam and Dean? I was driving home and they called me if I wanted to come on as a part of the team and I turned around and here I am.
Jared: Did everybody read for Sam?!
– , On how he got involved in Supernatural from the William S. Paley Television Festival 2006 (transcript)
Kim Manners was a director and executive producer on Supernatural. He directed 1.03 Dead in the Water and following this, Kim was asked to come onboard as an executive producer, running the production in Vancouver. Kim directed 17 epsiodes of Supernatural.
Contents
Impact on the Series
Kim Manners had a long career in television starting on series such as Charlie's Angels and 21 Jump Street. He became widely known among fans for his many years of work as a director and producer on The X-Files.
There is no doubt Manners shaped Supernatural in many ways from his influence on the culture of the crew in Vancouver, to his creative input as director. The accolades from everyone who worked with him, from crew through actors to showrunners, reflected a man who worked hard but always made sure those around him enjoyed their work. Both Jared and Jensen often quoted Kim's line "We spend way too much time with each other not to enjoy each others' company".
When Jensen directed for the first time on 6.04 Weekend at Bobby's he attributed much of what he brought to the task from what he'd learned from Manners. On a more personal level, he related at Salute to Supernatural San Francisco 2011 a story of Kim looking after him in Season One when he had tonsillitis Source.
Kim was diagnosed with lung cancer as Season Four started filming and the last episode he directed was 4.04 Metamorphosis in late 2008. He died on 25 January 2009 in L.A.
The Manners family requested that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to The American Cancer Society in Memory of Kim. Supernatural fans on Livejournal donated $1650 to the The American Cancer Society within a week of his death. (See also Charity Projects).
After his death, a number of tributes appeared. The episode 4.15 Death Takes a Holiday ended with slides dedicating Season Four to Manners, ending with a slide that said simply "We miss you, Kim". In 4.19 Jump the Shark a display card in the room advertises happy hour at the Sonny Buono lounge and features a pic of a mustached Kim Manners. There was also an upside-down "KM" carved into the wooden paddle section of the room divider in the motel room. At the Salute to Supernatural L.A. 2009 Jensen and Jared mentioned that in honor of Kim the crew had undertaken a mustache growing competition. In 5.10 Abandon All Hope..., Ellen's parting words to Dean are "Kick it in the ass!" - a deliberate use according to Sam Ferris, of Kim's signature line.
At the 100th episode party, on Saturday January 30th, the cast and crew of Supernatural celebrated the 100th episode of the series, including an unfurling of 3 banners, one of which was a tribute to Kim.
At the Salute to Supernatural San Francisco 2011 in January 2011, Clif Kosterman reported that the Supernatural Studios in Burnaby Vancouver had officially be named in honour of Kim. Source.
- I took over for David Nutter, when David left the pilot. Now that I'm here, I'm working with Eric (Kripke) and Bob (Singer). I'm directing. I'm giving the show a certain look. I'm the guy who works with the guest directors (as we call them). I make sure I talk to them, go through their homework with them, scout locations with them, help them cast. So yeah, there are certain advantages to having a producing director on a show.
I told Kim, "Look, man, you're going to have to help me out on the scene, because I'm not going to be able to do it over and over and over and over again. Because I won't have it. You're going to start getting repeats after five." So he said, "I've got four different setups." I convinced him to shave it down, and to just use the one close-up that he was going to use. And so, he did. I wound up doing it three full takes in that camera setup. At the end of the day, I think it was maybe about four or five takes, including the other two setups. So, not too bad.
|
Jan. 25, of my friend Kim Manners. I first met Kim when he directed me in
an episode of The X-Files, for which he was a major figure in the appeal of
that show, its look, style, and movement. I thought, in that few days, that
I had found one of the great directors I'd ever worked with, and a mensch of
the first order. Little did I know.
Several years later, I ended up with a recurring role on Supernatural, where
Kim was both an executive producer and a principal director. I have never
had such fun working with a director, and Kim became a dear friend. He was
the willing butt of the enormous humor on that set, most of it from the two
leads, Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki, who delighted in tormenting him,
and he was as good at giving it as taking it. He was an AMAZING director,
who knew everything I can imagine a director might need or want to know
about directing television. And he was one of the very best people, one of
the very best friends, a person might ever want to have. His illness since
the beginning of this, Supernatural's fourth season, has cast a pall over
the show for months now, and every time I have appeared on the show this
season, someone has broken down in tears in discussing Kim's health or how
much we missed him.
I will go to my grave regretting the very real opportunities I missed in
connecting with him these last few months. Take a lesson from one who let a
dear friend down badly. My only excuse is that I, like all who knew him,
never believed anything could take him down. I loved him dearly, and I hope
he knows that.
"All right, now, KICK IT IN THE ASS! ACTION!!"
Rest in peace, chum.
Director of:
- 1.03 Dead in the Water
- 1.08 Bugs
- 1.11 Scarecrow
- 1.16 Shadow
- 1.22 Devil's Trap
- 2.01 In My Time of Dying
- 2.04 Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things
- 2.06 No Exit
- 2.13 Houses of the Holy
- 2.17 Heart
- 2.22 All Hell Breaks Loose: Part Two
- 3.01 The Magnificent Seven
- 3.07 Fresh Blood
- 3.11 Mystery Spot
- 3.16 No Rest for the Wicked
- 4.01 Lazarus Rising
- 4.04 Metamorphosis
Kim appeared on the Season 2 DVD doing the episode commentary for 2.01 In My Time of Dying with Jared, Jensen and Cyrus Yavneh.
Kim's prank on Jared and Jensen, involving gallons of freezing water, during the filming of 2.06 No Exit featured in the gag reel on the Season 2 DVD.
He also did a special comments piece on 3.01 The Magnificent Seven on the Season 3 DVD.
Kim in Fandom
- William S. Paley Television Festival - Kim on the 2006 panel
- Jim talks about Kim at Salute to Supernatural New Jersey 2009
Links
Clips, Articles and Interviews
- 2002 Article on Kim Manners shooting his 50th X-Files episode
- March 4, 2006 Kim on the Supernatural Panel at the Paley Festival
- The Bee Story Jared and Jensen talk about filming the scene with bees in 1.08 Bugs with Kim Manners.
- April 3, 2007 Manners Interview with meevee
- April 5, 2007 Jensen Interview with meevee
- April 17, 2007 Interview with TV Squad
- February, 2007 Interview by DW SciFi with Kim at the beginning of Season 2
- November 2007 Jared talks about pranks and Kim at Chicago Con
- Video interview with Jason C. of The CW Source.
- Season 2 gag reel featuring Kim pranking Jared and Jensen
- January, 2008 Jared talks about working with Kim at Fangoria Texas 2008
- Kim talks about filming 3.01 The Magnificent Seven from the Season 3 DVD
- September 17, 2008 Interview about Season 4 with zapit
Tributes
- January 26, 2009
- Kripke speaks on the death of Kim Manners at BuddyTV
- Obituary for Kim Manners at Chicago Tribune
- Jim Beaver's tribute to Kim
- tribute from Frank Spotnitz
- Obituary at Entertainment Weekly
- Obituary at Monsters and Critics
- Obit at Eclipse Magazine
- Obit at TVGuide
- Obituary at IGN
- Obituary at shocktilyoudrop
- Podcast in tribute of Kim at Winchester Radio
- Obituary atThe Collider
- Obituary at endofshow
- Obituary at The Insider
- Tribute at Cryptomundo
- Obituary at Ain'tItCoolNews
- Obituary at FEAR.net
- Obituary at ohnotheydidnt
- Fans of Gillian Anderson organise donations for the American Lung Association in Kim's memory
- January 27, 2009
- Obituary by TVGuy from Canada.com
- In Memorium - BlogCritics.org
- ObituaryZap2It.com
- Tribute by Ducky Does TV
- Tribute from the CW Source
- Report via LJ user canadiangoddess from Julie who works on the show in Set Design.
- In Memory of Kim Manners by Jesterz.net
- Obituary by Rae at ramblingsofatvwhore
- Obituary for Kim Manners by Kimmy
- Tribute to Kim by dairwendan
- January 28, 2009
- Obituary at E!Online
- Picspam tribute to Kim's directorial work on Supernatural by bellanut
- Obituary from Alex Stachan at CanWest News
- Obituary from Reuters
- Blogpost from Sam Ferris
- February 1, 2009
- Facebook memorial page to Kim featuring photos from fans and colleagues
- February 4, 2009
- tribute video to Kim's work on Supernatural by deirdre_c
- March 7, 2009
- "...a storyteller who spoke with his camera..." Part One and Part Two. A picspam looking at Kim's direction of Season One and Two episodes by coltshot1