The Gemini writing nomination for an episode of The Outer Limits is the second one for Scott Peters. He was nominated back in 1997 for an episode of Are You Afraid of the Dark? It’s an ironic turn of events for Peters. He’s always wanted to be a director.

Peters went to school at the University of Windsor where he graduated with a BA in communications. A master’s degree at Loyola Marymount followed, which ended with a half-hour calling card film. In turn, the short caught the eye of an agent. ‘He landed me some writing work and it got to the point where the directing just got shoved out the door.’

One of his best moments on The Outer Limits came when the show gave him the opportunity to direct an episode. ‘We flew up to the Yukon to do second unit. It was very generous of them.’

Peters, who was involved with the show during seasons five and six, also coproduced or produced about a third of those seasons’ episodes.

On the heels of his Gemini nomination, the ex-pat is now working as a director on several feature film projects in L.A. One is a DV feature Peters wrote himself. Called Eight Days Ago, it follows a man who has lost his wife and is unable to move forward until a stranger walks into his life.

Peters has sometimes found it frustrating to sit on the sidelines and watch others direct, especially when a director has a different understanding of the vision than he does as a writer. He admits television has also been an invaluable training ground.

‘It forces you to focus and get the job done. You always have a gun to your head, so it teaches you to write very quickly. You can’t write 130 pages and say here is my opus. You have 55 or 58.

‘When I write an outline now, I estimate the number of pages every part should be. So that if I’m writing it and it goes over, I stop and go back and think that perhaps something is not working.

‘It’s very difficult to pull things out once they’re in, so it’s better not to put them down in the first place.’ *