Who directed the first SVU episode, "Payback"?

“Payback,” the first episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, was directed by Jean de Segonzac.

The episode served as SVU’s pilot and premiered on NBC on September 20, 1999. It introduced detectives Olivia Benson and Elliot Stabler, played by Mariska Hargitay and Christopher Meloni, alongside established Law & Order figures such as Captain Don Cragen and Detective John Munch.

De Segonzac was already associated with gritty law-enforcement television, having worked on Homicide: Life on the Street, Oz, and Law & Order. He also directed episodes of the original Law & Order franchise later in his career. Dick Wolf wrote “Payback,” while de Segonzac handled the episode’s direction.

A common mix-up is confusing the episode’s director with its writer or with later prominent SVU directors. Ted Kotcheff, for example, was an executive producer connected with the series, not the director of this premiere. “Payback” is also sometimes called the pilot, but it is formally counted as Season 1, Episode 1.