Nicole Kassell
From the beginning of her career, Nicole Kassell showed herself to be a master of character-driven drama. In her debut feature "The Woodsman" (2004), Kassell and star Kevin Bacon fashioned a fascinating portrait of a recently-paroled child molester struggling with both re-entry into society, and his own unspeakable urges. Meanwhile, for the small screen Kassell directed several installments of the critically-acclaimed "The Killing" (AMC 2011-13; Netflix, 2014), including an acclaimed change-up episode that focused on the personal interactions of the show's police detective duo rather than its crime procedural plot.