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Judd Apatow

Judd Apatow Quotes

Film Producer

Judd Apatow is a celebrated film producer, recognized for his work in comedy. He has produced a series of hit films such as 'The 40-Year-Old Virgin', 'Knocked Up', and 'Superbad'. Apatow's films are known for their blend of humor and heart, and he has played a significant role in shaping the modern comedy landscape.

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Famous Judd Apatow Quotes

“I’m always assuming things are going to crash and I’m trying to figure out what could go wrong before it happens. It’s helpful for work. But it’s a terrible way to live your life.”

Book:Sick in the Head: Conversations About Life and Comedy

Source: Sick in the Head: Conversations About Life and Comedy

“Parents don't realize that when they teach you about the Holocaust too early, it ruins you for life.”

Parent Realizing Teach Ruins Holocaust

Book:Sick in the Head: Conversations About Life and Comedy

Source: Sick in the Head: Conversations About Life and Comedy

“My dad was a big fan of comedy. He wanted to be a stand-up. He loved Lenny [Bruce]. He also loved Lord Buckley and jazz and stuff. He was a hipster. My parents were kind of beatnik-y, you know, for Salt Lake City. But my humor, I think, came from wanting to disarm people before they hit me.”

People Thinking Knows Kind Bigs Wanted Stuff Parent Cities Lord Comedy Fans Dad Jazz My Dad Lakes Salt Hipster Beatnik Salt Lake City

Author:Judd Apatow

“The thing that ruined your life makes you good at your work. And then you get rewarded at work, so you don't bother to fix it in your life.”

Book:Sick in the Head: Conversations About Life and Comedy

Source: Sick in the Head: Conversations About Life and Comedy

“There's nothing more fun than debating and defending your taste in music.”

Fun Taste Taste In Music

Author:Judd Apatow

“I love Coldplay. I love Steely Dan - Steely Dan's probably one of my top three bands of all time.”

Three Band All Time Steely Dan

Author:Judd Apatow

“I used to scream at everybody at the beginning of my career. I'd get really emotional. I'd project all my issues about my parents and safety onto the executives, so every conversation where they gave a note was life or death and you don't love me.”

Used Parent Careers Issues Emotional Conversation Projects Safety Notes Executives Scream Get Real Life Or Death You Don't Love Me

Author:Judd Apatow

“I need to find people who I respect so I can respect them, and they'll like being respected so they'll respect me, and that's like a marriage.”

People Needs I Can Respect Me

Author:Judd Apatow

“It's funny when people debate about music, because they get so passionate about what they enjoy.”

People Enjoy Music Is Passionate Debate

Author:Judd Apatow

“As a kid, I was obsessed with the Who. They were the most important band to me. Songs like "I'm One" helped me get through high school.”

Important Kids School Song Band High School Obsessed

Author:Judd Apatow

“I get the most starstruck around musicians. I get tongue-tied and don't know what to say. I'm so jealous of them. When you make a movie, you're constructing something - it's a little bit like making an album. But after musicians make an album, they get to perform it live and experience it in front of a crowd.”

Knows Littles Bits Fronts Little Bit Musician Albums Crowds Tongue Jealous Tied Tongue Tied

Author:Judd Apatow

“If you watch the arcs of so many comedians, at some point, they just become themselves.”

Ifs Watches Comedian Arcs

Book:Sick in the Head: Conversations About Life and Comedy

Source: Sick in the Head: Conversations About Life and Comedy

“When you make a movie, you just send it off into the world. You never actually live it with the crowd.”

Author:Judd Apatow

“My grandfather was Bob Shad, one of those legendary jazz and blues producers - he worked with Charlie Parker and Dinah Washington, and he produced Janis Joplin's album [1967's Big Brother & the Holding Company]. He always owned small labels as well - he had a label called Mainstream Records in the 70s.”

Wells Bigs Company Records Brother Jazz Albums Producers Labels Mainstream Bob Grandfather My Grandfather Charlie Legendary Jazz And Blues

Author:Judd Apatow

“When people lose their jobs, they can either get another job or be entrepreneurs. In the music industry, a lot of people have attempted the latter by starting their own labels, but in the age of digital downloads, it's very difficult to succeed.”

People Age Jobs Difficult Loses Industry Succeed Entrepreneur Starting Labels Latter Digital Music Industry Downloads

Author:Judd Apatow

“Back in the old days, everyone was shocked if a band had a sponsor for their tour. Now, Bob Dylan can do a commercial for Victoria's Secret and people don't really blink; the Beatles' songs are in all sorts of commercials these days and it doesn't seem to offend anybody. The times are changing.”

People Ifs Seems Song Can Do Secret Band These Days Bob Shocked Dylan Old Days Blink Victoria Sponsors Victoria's Secret Times Are Changing

Author:Judd Apatow

“A lot of bands that are great disappear a little bit faster than they used to. They don't get as much support for the long haul. You have to be pretty tough to hang in there.”

Littles Long Used Bits Support Band Little Bit Tough Disappear Faster Haul Hang In There Long Haul

Author:Judd Apatow

“I don't want to be ordinary. I'm willing to do the work. I'm willing to suffer the indignities of comedy because I want to be great. I don't want to just be good. I want to be great.”

Want Suffering Comedy Willing Ordinary Be Good Indignity

Author:Judd Apatow

“I've always appreciated people like Graham Parker or Loudon Wainwright III, who spend their entire lives writing songs and working their asses off just to have complete artistic freedom. They're just sharing their lives with you through their music. That's the same kind of work that I'm trying to do, in my own weird way.”

People Way Writing Trying Kind Song My Own Ass Artistic Appreciated Writing Songs Artistic Freedom

Author:Judd Apatow

“I have to go back to vinyl every once in awhile, even if my kids don't want to hear it. I'm much more likely to be listening to Wilco or the Avett Brothers.”

Ifs Want Kids Brother Listening Vinyl

Author:Judd Apatow

“I remember before I did my HBO special, Chris [Rock] screamed at me - in a loving way, but still. He was like, "You need to do 200 shows in a row and a month straight on the road before you even think about recording a special!" And I had literally booked two weeks on the road and then went right into the recording. It put me in a panic, but it also made me work harder and made me realize that everyone works differently, and that's okay.”

Thinking Way Needs Made Stills Two Shows Remember Realizing Week Special Rocks Hard Work Like You Months Okay Harder Panic Two Weeks Work Harder Hbo

Author:Judd Apatow

“When I notice that all the beats sound exactly the same, it starts to wear on me.”

Author:Judd Apatow

“I definitely learned to embrace the quiet moments onstage from Garry Shandling - relaxing and not fighting with the crowd, not raising your voice, not ever trying to win them over.”

Trying Moments Fighting Winning Voice Quiet Embrace Crowds Quiet Moments

Book:Sick in the Head: Conversations About Life and Comedy

Source: Sick in the Head: Conversations About Life and Comedy

“It's funny, now there are so many bands that I can never remember any of their names. Maybe it's because I'm old.”

I Can Remember Names Band

Author:Judd Apatow

“Maybe you just get so attached to the music of your youth that you think it's better than what's coming out now.”

Thinking Youth Coming Out

Author:Judd Apatow

“Nowadays, when kids decide they like an artist, they'll absorb everything that artist has ever done in a single night.”

Done Kids Artist Night

Author:Judd Apatow

“I try to just save a fresh, clear head for whoever I'm working with, so hopefully it's helpful that there's someone who doesn't have to sit in the editing room for 12 hours a day, and who's blinded by the massive footage and options that they have.”

Trying Hours Rooms Clear Hopefully Helpful Massive Editing Blinded Clear Head

Author:Judd Apatow

“I don't really get attached to anything. I'm pretty brutal about cutting stuff. With each successful movie, I've discovered anything that's not connected to the immediate story is going to be cut out of it.”

Stories Stuff Successful Cutting Connected Brutal

Author:Judd Apatow

“Deer are like dogs. Except for Bambi, they're pretty personality-less.”

Dog Personality Deer

Author:Judd Apatow

“I always thought that Seth [Rogen] was a fun, caustic, bombastic, sweet, underdog-type of person that I would root for the way you used to root for Bill Murray or John Candy in "Stripes." Seth had something that very few people you encounter have: he had a writer's mind and he had his own comic point of view.”

People Way Mind Persons Used Fun Views Sweet Type Roots Bills Point Of View Comic Encounters Candy Underdog Stripes Caustic Bombastic

Author:Judd Apatow

“No matter how much you love someone, on a bad day, you could say something terrible. All of the little things that you are saving to say, that you're mad about but never express, sometimes come out, all at once. We all have these terrible moments. That's just part of being human.”

Humans Littles Sometimes Matter Moments Terrible Mad Saving Little Things Being Human Love Someone Bad Day How Much You Love Someone

Author:Judd Apatow

“The hard part about getting much attention is that people start dissecting what you do.”

People Hard Attention Dissecting

Author:Judd Apatow

“In terms of the emotional underpinning, if you've been in relationships, you understand what's happening.”

Ifs Term Emotional Happenings

Author:Judd Apatow

“I have a four-and-a-half-year-old and, when she was two and a half, she would make my wife and I do voices, like Woody and Jessie the Cowgirl, or Elmo, or Yogi Bear and Booboo. If we didn't do it, she would scream at us. So, my wife and I would have adult conversations as Yogi Bear and Booboo. It was just a nightmare year.”

Ifs Years Two Voice Half Four Wife Bears Conversation Adults My Wife Nightmare Scream Woody Yogi Cowgirls Elmo Yogi Bear

Author:Judd Apatow

“I don't think there's that many great 90-minute comedies.”

Thinking Comedy Minutes

Author:Judd Apatow

“The ones [comedies] that I always liked, whether it's Terms of Endearment, Broadcast News, or Fast Times of Ridgemont High, they were all about two hours, or a little bit over two hours. With that extra 15 or 20 minutes, you can get to real character and you're not just stuck in plot.”

Littles Two Real Character Bits Term Hours Comedy Minutes Little Bit News Stuck Extras Plot Endearment Real Character Terms Of Endearment Fast Times

Author:Judd Apatow

“There are people who like short movies, and I think they should just watch our movies on DVD because they can pause, go to the bathroom, eat dinner, and come back to it.”

People Thinking Should Watches Dinner Pauses Bathroom Dvds

Author:Judd Apatow

“Every time I'm in editing, there's always a moment where you think, "Maybe this should be six or seven minutes shorter, but I'm losing character and story that I think is important." When I like things, I'm not in a rush for them to end.”

Thinking Should Important Ends Moments Character Stories Minutes Six Losing Seven Editing

Author:Judd Apatow

“There are people that entertainment is something they do at the end of a long hard day at work, and they want to be entertained and have it over quickly. They're like, "Entertain me fast!"”

People Want Long Ends Hard Entertainment Hard Days

Author:Judd Apatow

“I feel the responsibility to make things which on some level have something positive to say.”

Feels Levels Responsibility

Author:Judd Apatow

“I was a big TV kid.When I was a kid, I would go home at 3:00 and watch TV straight through to the end of Letterman at 1:30 in the morning.I was obsessed with comics.And I would watch Jerry Seinfeld and Jay Leno and study them as if it was Tolstoy.”

Ifs Ends Home Bigs Kids Watches Morning Study Tvs Obsessed Jerry Letterman

Author:Judd Apatow

“I started a radio show where I interviewed comics. And I interviewed Leno and Seinfeld and John Candy and Father Guido Sarducci and Garry Shandling, all when I was 16. And they kind of told me what to do.”

Kind Shows Father Radio Candy Guidos

Author:Judd Apatow

“A lot of the turning points happen in high school and in college, and it defines a lot of how you see the world and how you decide to defend yourself from the world. Some people - their defense mechanism is, I'm really smart or I'm sexy or I'm the leader. And other people - they hide or they make jokes.”

People World Happens School Leader College Smart Jokes High School Sexy Defense Mechanism Turning Points Really Smart Defense Mechanisms

Author:Judd Apatow

“Most people are really fighting to not be adults. And, when it happens, it's a big transition. And a lot of that is just awful. It's awful to have to get a job and really be responsible for other people. And it is funny, too. Like, we're all kind of little idiot kids trying to act like we know what we are doing.”

People Knows Trying Kind Littles Bigs Happens Kids Jobs Fighting Adults Responsible All Kinds Awful Idiot Transition Being Responsible

Author:Judd Apatow

“I don't think I'm going to get so mature that I lose touch with the whatever wounded part of myself that feels the need to be funny. I'm already old enough that I realize that's not going to happen.”

Thinking Needs Feels Enough Happens Realizing Loses Mature Wounded

Author:Judd Apatow

“I still feel like a weird kid who is about to take a punch in the face. So, I think it's permanent.”

Thinking Feels Stills Kids Faces Permanent

Author:Judd Apatow

“I didn't want to be a director for hire. It really just took me a long time to learn how to direct and to feel up to the job.”

Want Feels Long Jobs Directors Long Time Direct

Author:Judd Apatow

“I love when people work together who know each other very well. Some of my favourite movies are people who are close friends or families.”

People Knows Wells Together Working Together Favourite Close Friends

Author:Judd Apatow

“I really think more about being honest and truthful about feelings and how people behave for the movies that I direct, but I also love movies like Zohan and Anchorman, just balls to the wall, how much can you make people laugh in one 90 minute period.”

People Thinking Feelings Laughing Minutes Honest Wall Periods Direct Balls Being Honest Behave Truthful Making People Laugh Movie Love Anchorman Balls To The Wall

Author:Judd Apatow

“You hear people say: "One day, when I'm in a good position I can make my passion project." I've seen a lot of people get into that position and not make it.”

People I Can Passion Position One Day Projects My Passion

Author:Judd Apatow

About the Author

Born: December 6, 1967
Known for: Film Producer
Quotes: 222

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