I have worked with fabulous directors who create wonderful environments and experiences, and awful directors who foster really unpleasant ones. Sometimes the same director has provided both extremes in different instances.

What makes the difference? 

Obviously, this is an abstract and subjective question. The difference between a good director and a bad director (and those terms are hardly absolute, anyway) could be tracked to many unique variables.

If you ask me, though, one of the most critical and most underrated traits that make or break a director is their mindset regarding their actors. I think many directors who would be excellent get this mindset completely backwards– and this is a fatal mistake.

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