Women Behind the Scenes Spotlight: Karen Gaviola

Karen Gaviola

Today’s Women Behind the Scenes spotlight is focused on director Karen Gaviola.

Karen is an American television director, who won the 2007 NAACP Image Award for directing the episode entitled “The Whole Truth” from the hit ABC series Lost.

She got her start as an editorial intern on the 1980 film Witches’ Brew that starred Lana Turner and Teri Garr. Five years later she worked as a DGA Trainee on the 1985 Arnold Schwarzeneggar film Commando. For the next few years she worked as a second assistant director on TV shows like Cagney & Lacey and Great Performances, the TV movies Pleasures, Little Girl Lost and Tales from the Hollywood Hills: A Table at Ciro’s and the films The Naked Cage, Never Too Young to Die and Caddyshack II.

From 1989 to 1994 she worked as a first assistant director on the TV shows The Bradys, Space Rangers and NYPD Blue as well as the TV movies A Child Lost Forever: The Jerry Sherwood Story, Desperate Rescue: The Cathy Mahone Story, Victim of Love: The Shannon Mohr Story and Web of Deception.

Starting in 1999 and through 2005, Karen moved up to director on TV shows such as NYPD Blue, Providence, Strong Medicine, CSI: Miami, Cold Case, The Inside, CSI: NY, Medical Investigation and Close to Home.

Over the last five years she directed episodes of Crossing Jordan, Bones, Justice, Alias, Prison Break, Lincoln Heights, The Unit, Journeyman, Cane, Law & Order, Without a Trace, Brothers & Sisters, Eleventh Hour, Castle, Lie to Me, Ghost Whisperer, Dark Blue, Criminal Minds, Miami Medical, The Forgotten, Private Practice, The Whole Truth, Chase, NCIS: Los Angeles, Off the Map, The Cape, Alphas, Blue Bloods and Terra Nova.

You can see a reel of Karen Gaviola’s work at her website here.