Leading up to the premiere of episodes 7 and 8 of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters on Apple TV+, Dorkaholics’ Jessica Tseang spoke with the director of those episodes, Hiromi Kamata.
Jessica Tseang: How did you prepare your mindset going into what you have directed?
Hiromi Kamata: I’ve never done anything as big as this and with this scale but I was very lucky to have wonderful showrunners, amazing producers, an A-list team of first AD and DP, and special effects visual effects supervisors. Everybody was so top-notch so basically I just made sure that I communicated my vision properly, that I understood every single beat, every single part of the story and the characters’ arc.
Jessica Tseang: What do you feel is your unique perspective that you brought to these episodes that you did?
Hiromi Kamata: Well I think it’s a matter of individuality. I am a Mexican Japanese director, and I don’t think in the Monsterverse a Mexican has ever worked on the show for example. So I definitely bring a Latina perspective which is passionate, which is romantic, which is devoted, which is noisy, which is very joyful, but I also have a very Japanese side to me which is very disciplined, which is very professional, which is very stubborn, very thorough. I guess it’s the mix of a mariachi and a samurai in terms of directorial personality. I think it shows and I just wanted to honor May’s character in episode seven and all of the other characters in episode eight because that was kind of the fun to get the chance to tell [this story]. We’ve been seeing May hiding something, she ran from this past that we don’t know. It’s something that I love about the show, how you know the past eventually catches up with you.
Jessica Tseang: You mentioned a lot of unique perspectives and firsts. Godzilla actually celebrates its 70th Anniversary next year. What does it feel like to you knowing that you’ve made your imprint in such a long legacy franchise that is so well known around the world?
Hiromi Kamata: I’m incredibly proud. I’m the daughter of a Japanese man and you know Asian parents are very demanding as you very well know so I guess I can die happy now because I know for a fact that he’s happy, that my father is very proud. It’s an honor as both a Mexican and a Japanese woman to be directing anything in the Monsterverse. It is something that to me is history making and in my country as well so I am incredibly proud and grateful for the opportunity.
Catch Monarch: Legacy of Monarch on Apple TV+.
