TURNING THE CAMERA ON TELEVISION DIRECTORS

The 50th anniversary year of the Directors Guild of America, which draws to a close with the end of 1986, is to be marked on public television with the broadcast of a guild-funded documentary devoted to television directing, “The Television Makers.”

Narrated by John Huston, the hourlong documentary is scheduled to be broadcast Jan. 13, starting at 10 p.m. on KCET Channel 28 in Los Angeles .

“This is about the directorial process in television--what goes on behind what is seen on-screen,” said Newton E. Meltzer, the New York-based director, producer and writer of the documentary. He noted that “the process” includes the director’s team as well as the director--assistant and associate directors and stage managers.

The documentary follows the directors George Schaefer, Don Mischer, Perry Miller Adato and Jack Shea through various stages of work on one specific project--from reflections on their work to rehearsal, to on-location shooting, to the editing room.

Shea is shown at work on the long-running situation comedy “Silver Spoons,” now in syndication. Mischer is seen directing a Nell Carter music/variety special, aired on NBC last spring. Adato is shown editing a segment of “The History of Western Art,” a documentary series planned for public television. Schaefer is seen going through virtually every aspect of production on “Mrs. Delafield Wants to Marry,” a movie starring Katharine Hepburn that aired on CBS last spring.

“Each of these directors share a common passion for television and for achieving an open and humane environment in which to work, but each come through as having a unique path and approach to directing,” Meltzer said.