Charles Beeson

British TV director Charles Beeson has managed to find success in both his home country and the United States, landing most of his high-profile work on dramas and fantasy-based programs. In the early 1980s, Beeson got his foot in the filmmaking door by taking on less noteworthy positions, working as both an assistant floor manager and member of the production team for various British TV shows. He graduated to first assistant director for several episodes of the BBC music-comedy "The Kenny Everett Television Show," and he continued to utilize that role on the BBC sci-fi drama "The Invisible Man." In 1991, Beeson finally earned the title of director, working on seven episodes of the long-running British soap opera "EastEnders." Throughout the decade, he tended to work primarily on crime-dramas, including "Band of Gold," "Kavanagh QC," and "The Bill," but he soon shifted his focus to TV movies. In 1999, he directed leading-man-in-training Clive Owen in the mystery-drama "Second Sight," and in 2002, he gave "The Swiss Family Robinson" a modern TV makeover with "Stranded." All of these projects helped Beeson stretch himself creatively, but he truly found his voice directing episodic television--particularly projects with elements of fantasy or the supernatural, including smashes like "The Mentalist," "Fringe," and (fittingly) "Supernatural."