I don't remember the details, but the director of the pilot is fiscally connected to the rest of the series. Like they get residuals off every future episode even if they don't direct any other episodes. So he may not be hard up for cash, but it's potentially a huge pay day.

The justification on the other end is that the pilot director creates the look and feel that they try to mimic throughout the rest of the series.

So recently there have been lots of more prominent feature film directors helming pilots.

RED
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