“Nobody taught Picasso how to paint - he learned for himself. And nobody can teach you to be a producer. You can learn the mechanics, but you can't learn what's right about a script or a director or an actor. That comes from instinct and intuition. It comes from inside you.” ActorsTeachTaughtDirectorsInstinctPaintScriptsIntuitionProducersMechanic Author:Dino De Laurentiis
“I want to take roles that challenge me and I want to like the script and obviously feel connected with the director because the director to me is so important.” WantFeelsImportantChallengesRolesDirectorsScriptsConnected Author:Amy Smart
“I would love to occasionally do English-speaking films, but the script is as important for me as the director.” ImportantFilmDirectorsScriptsEnglish Speaking Author:Audrey Tautou
“I'm not really a director for hire. You read these scripts and go, 'This is a really great script, but Paul Greengrass would make this so much better than me.' I usually say, 'I know who would be good for this. It's not me.” KnowsWould BeDirectorsScriptsBe GoodReally Great Author:Stephen Daldry
“I wrote a script and I've been whispering in director's ears for a really long time and I'd love to direct.” LongDirectorsLong TimeDirectEarsScriptsWhisperingReally Long Author:Jeremy Piven
“There are directors that I want to work with and that I admire. You can love a script, but if it doesn't have a good director, it won't be that.” IfsWantDirectorsScriptsAdmireGood DirectorsAdmire You Author:Jennifer Lawrence
“It [moviemaking] is not really done on a yearly basis. It's about how the material, and when the material comes in. If you develop your material and the script comes in great and you can attach a director and a cast and go off and make it, then I could make, I don't know, six [movies] a year. Or I could make one. It really depends.” IfsKnowsYearsDoneMaterialsDependsDirectorsSixBasesScriptsCasts Author:Graham King
“Fifteen years ago I knew I had to settle into being a mom and give them a normal life, which I never had. I was always traveling. I had tours. I wanted my kids to settle down, and we kind of did it together.... It was a bumpy transition. There was no director telling me what to do. No script, but I really enjoyed it. I even became president of the PTA. Doing the laundry was a meditative experience. Now, when I start to get nervous and stressed, I go in and start to fold towels.” GivingYearsKindKidsWantedTogetherPresidentMomDirectorsNormalYears AgoDown AndScriptsNervousEnjoyedSettlingTransitionFifteenFoldsStressedBeing A MomNormal LifeLaundrySettling DownFifteen YearsTowelsPta Author:Pia Zadora
“You get a script and you love it. You find a director that you trust, and it becomes all about how do I commit to this as fully as possible? And the last thing you can afford to have in your mind is what are other people going to think of this?” PeopleThinkingMindLastsDirectorsScriptsCommit Author:James Van Der Beek
“Aside from a couple of signature flourishes, there's nothing to mark Paycheck as the product of acclaimed action director John Woo. In fact, there's little about this movie that makes it worth anyone's time and money. With a script that waffles between being hilariously absurd and insultingly stupid, and action scenes that won't cause anyone's pulse to skip a beat, Paycheck is less appealing than a lump of coal in a Christmas stocking.” LittlesFactsActionCausesStupidProductsCoupleSceneDirectorsBeatsMarkScriptsAbsurdCoalPulseSignaturesSkipLumpsPaychecksTime And MoneyStockingsWaffles Author:James Berardinelli
“When I do a movie, I have the script. I know how it begins and how it ends. I know what my character does and where he's going. If I have ideas I want to express or changes I want to make, there's one guy: the director. It's different in television.” IfsKnowsWantDoeIdeasDifferentEndsCharacterGuyKnow HowTelevisionDirectorsScripts Author:Holt McCallany
“I would not have made any of my films or written scripts such as Taxi Driver had it not been for Ingmar Bergman, What he has left is a legacy greater than any other director.... I think the extraordinary thing that Bergman will be remembered for, other than his body of work, was that he probably did more than anyone to make cinema a medium of personal and introspective value.” ThinkingMadeBodyFilmValuesLeftGreaterWrittenDirectorsExtraordinaryScriptsMediumsLegacyRememberedCinemaDriversIntrospectiveTaxiExtraordinary ThingsBergman Author:Paul Schrader
“It is great to work on different scripts with different directors who have different styles. You get so much experience from that.” DifferentStyleDirectorsScriptsDifferent Styles Author:Devon Bostick
“When you do a rewrite, it's really about serving the director's vision, and what the director needs to go into that script.” NeedsVisionDirectorsScriptsServing Author:Kelly Marcel
“You have to understand that people feel threatened by a writer. It's very curious. He knows something they don't know. He knows how to write, and that's a subtle, disturbing quality he has. Some directors without even knowing it, resent the writer in the same way Bob Hope might resent the fact he ain't funny without twelve guys writing the jokes. The director knows the script he is carrying around on the set every day was written by someone, and that's just not something that all directors easily digest.” PeopleKnowsWayFeelsWritingFactsMightGuyQualityKnow HowKnowingWrittenDirectorsJokesScriptsCuriousSubtleTwelveBobThreatenedDisturbingResent Author:Ernest Lehman
“Whether I'm writing the script, or someone else writes the initial draft, I'm always an actor's director first. I always try to listen to them a lot, and try to put their voices into their character.” WritingTryingFirstsCharacterActorsVoiceDirectorsScriptsInitials Author:Dito Montiel
“David Fincher is probably the best comprehensive director in terms of being a manger of a process that must drive forward. He has such confident command of cinema language and visual language and script and performance. He knows more about f-stops than any cameraman, he knows more about lighting than any gaffer, he is a wonderful writer, and he can give you a good line reading. Under pressure, he is the kind of guy who you will just dive in with and trust and follow because his vision is so intense.” KnowsGivingKindGuyReadingLanguageProcessTermLinesVisionWonderfulDirectorsPerformancesPressureScriptsIntenseCommandCinemaVisualsComprehensiveLightingUnder PressureCameraman Author:Edward Norton
“When you see a bad romantic comedy, you see the script, the director, and the actors trying to create this warmth and this pathos and this feeling that you care about them. That cannot be manufactured - it's either there or it isn't.” TryingFeelingsCareActorsComedyDirectorsScriptsWarmthPathos Author:Jeff Garlin
“The work of the director is the work of constructing the shot list from the script.” DirectorsShotsScriptsLists Book:On directing film Source: On directing film
“What I think after reading the script and seeing where the story goes, I go with my instincts on the character. If my instincts are wrong the director and the producers will guide me in the right direction. That's just kind of how I take on any role, be it a fantasy movie or not.” IfsThinkingKindCharacterStoriesReadingRolesFantasySeeingDirectorsInstinctScriptsGuidesProducersRight DirectionGuide Me Author:Josh Hutcherson
“Even with revivals, I dont really pay attention to previous incarnations. I always just go with the script and with the director and am willing to treat it as brand new.” PayAttentionWillingDirectorsTreatsScriptsBrandsPay AttentionRevivalIncarnationBrand New Author:Kate Baldwin
“The action star's life is very short. Back in Asia, I can do whatever I want to do. I'm the producer, I'm the director, I can do so many things, but in Hollywood any time I present a script they say: "No, no, no, Rush Hour 3, Rush Hour 4."” WantI CanActionLife IsStarsCan DoHoursDirectorsHollywoodScriptsProducersAsiaRush Hour Author:Jackie Chan
“The criteria [to take or refuse the role] is that I would love to have some kind of dialogue or communication with the director. I need to understand that we can communicate and that we like communication. That's something I have to have a strong feeling about. Secondly, I have to find the script intriguing or interesting. I don't have to understand the whole script, but I do have to find it intriguing. If those two things are present, that would probably be a yes.” IfsNeedsKindTwoWholeFeelingsStrongInterestingRolesCommunicationDirectorsScriptsRefuseCommunicateDialogueTwo ThingsCriteriaIntriguingStrong Feeling Author:Mads Mikkelsen
“I've written a lot of scripts that someone else directed, and it's absolutely vital that, if I'm gonna act in it, then I have to take off the writer hat and let the director direct.” IfsWrittenDirectorsDirectScriptsHats Author:William H. Macy
“It's great when improv is encouraged. It's a really fun thing. It depends on who's in the movie and how their process works, as well. It takes a director who is open to that because you have a script, but then something funny could happen on set. So, to have people around you who encourage improv is really exciting.” PeopleWellsHappensFunProcessDependsDirectorsExcitingScriptsFun Things Author:Lily Collins
“There are a lot of scripts that you can like, but rarely are there directors attached when you're in development with something and that's stressful.” DevelopmentDirectorsScriptsStressful Author:Amanda Seyfried
“I look for the character to be something interesting, the script to have a good story and be original, and a director that I admire.” LooksCharacterStoriesInterestingDirectorsOriginalsScriptsAdmireGood StorySomething Interesting Author:Josh Hartnett
“I don't ever like to feel myself in the position to demand of an actor that they trust I'm going to do something worthwhile. I feel a responsibility to articulate what it is I'm going to do. Whether that's showing them a full script or sitting down with them and describing my ideas in detail. It's a very healthy burden on me as a film director to be able to articulate what I want to do, to inspire actors, rather than just saying, take it on trust I'll be able to do something worthwhile.” WantFeelsIdeasAbleFilmActorsResponsibilityPositionInspireHealthyDirectorsDemandSittingScriptsDetailsBurdenWorthwhileDescribingSitting DownJust SayingFilm Directors Author:Christopher Nolan
“A writer/director is a tough thing to gauge when someone hasn't directed a movie before. You just don't know. Sometimes it will be a great script that's written beautifully, and then the director who has also written it does not have the facility to translate it.” KnowsDoeSometimesWrittenDirectorsToughScriptsTranslateFacilityGaugesTough Things Author:Richard Ayoade
“In some ways, many of the skills you have as a producer on independent films also apply to making big tentpole films: You surround yourself with a brilliant director, great script and talented people in every department who are smarter than you.” PeopleWayBigsFilmDirectorsSkillsIndependentScriptsBrilliantProducersDepartmentSurroundSmarterSurround YourselfIndependent Film Author:David Heyman
“The script is the most important thing for me. I'm advised that other things are important too, and they are. The director that you'll be working with is hugely important, and the cast that are with you is really important as well. But, for me, the thing that gets my heart excited and really makes me invested in something or not is just the quality of the script.” WellsHeartImportantQualityMy HeartDirectorsImportant ThingsScriptsCastsExcited Author:James McAvoy
“I look for a director with a script he likes a lot, but I'm probably after the directors more than anything.” LooksDirectorsScriptsLikes Author:Jack Nicholson
“The truth of the matter is this - I never look for films specifically, because ultimately if the fundamentals of the character and the script and the director aren't there, it makes it a moot point.” IfsLooksMatterCharacterFilmDirectorsFundamentalsScripts Author:Leonardo DiCaprio
“I learned that you really don't have any control as a writer. Waah, waah, waah. Big deal. Unless you're the director on the movie, or putting up the money for the movie, you really don't have a lot of control. As someone who's just writing scripts, you just kind of have to shrug. I have no problems or issues with screenwriting in general. It is what it is.” WritingKindProblemBigsDealsIssuesDirectorsScriptsNo ProblemBig DealScreenwritingIt Is What It IsWriting Scripts Author:Bret Easton Ellis
“I was well aware of that when I heard they were remaking 'Total Recall.' My first reaction was: 'Ewww, really okay?' And the director said you should really look at it, the script is good. I had already done a remake. I had just finished 'Fright Night.' When I heard about that being remade, I had a whole ego thing... remake?. 'That is so uncool! I loved the original, I can't possibly do that.” ShouldFirstsWellsLooksSaidI CanDoneWholeNightHeardDirectorsEgoOkayOriginalsScriptsFinishedReactionsRecallsFrightRemakesUncoolTotal Recall Author:Colin Farrell
“Most of the time I've worked with directors who write their own scripts. The story is more important to me than the part. The project of the film has always been more important to me.” WritingImportantStoriesFilmDirectorsProjectsScripts Author:Catherine Deneuve
“Definitely the script because you want to be part of an interesting story, you want your character to be a challenge, then comes the director. But essentially it's the script first and whether it's a character that you think you can do.” ThinkingWantFirstsCharacterStoriesCan DoChallengesInterestingDirectorsScriptsInteresting Stories Author:Eric Bana
“It depends on the scripts and the character and just everybody involved, the other actors and directors. It's just a gut feeling when you find something, you're like, 'Yes, I want to sink my teeth into that.'” WantCharacterFeelingsActorsDependsInvolvedDirectorsScriptsTeethGutsGut Feelings Author:Mandy Moore
“Picking projects, it's always director first and then script. Those two things are pretty much head-to-head.” FirstsTwoDirectorsProjectsScriptsTwo Things Author:Cameron Diaz
“Even if I loved the script, the director has to be right because it's all about the filmmaker. It's their vision. They're the ones that go back into the editing room and reassemble the film.” IfsFilmRoomsVisionDirectorsScriptsFilmmakerEditing Author:Cameron Diaz
“It's always the script first choosing roles. [Then] whoever else is attached. I never like to be the first person attached, because I don't really trust what's going on, unless there's a really good director.” FirstsPersonsRolesDirectorsScriptsFirst PersonGood Directors Author:Christopher Mintz-Plasse
“It'll take me a lot longer to read a script if there's no director attached.” IfsDirectorsScriptsTake Me Author:Naomi Watts
“I ain't the first on the list that people are sending scripts to. I'm very lucky. I've managed to put myself in the position with some directors, who will be calling me directly, and we're working on things and talking about things, but that's on a purely creative level.” PeopleFirstsLevelsTalkingCreativePositionCallingLuckyDirectorsScriptsLists Author:Christian Bale
“My scripts are always heavily noted. If I can take a director to one side and say, "Do you mind if we try this?," a few days before, that's usually a better way of doing it then on the day.” IfsWayTryingMindI CanSidesDirectorsScriptsBetter Ways Author:Nick Frost
“I want to keep working. I want to step away from young adult fiction. I want to do theater periodically - Farragut North reminded me how great it is. I started out in theater. I trained in theater and then I kind of fell into film and TV. I want to work with interesting artists, talented actors, talented directors, and talented scripts. Not necessarily leading roles.” WantKindFilmYoungArtistActorsInterestingFictionStepsRolesTvsDirectorsAdultsTheaterScriptsYoung Adult Author:Max Irons
“hen Baillie [Walsh, writer and director] wrote the movie for me I wasn't doing what I'm doing today, so when we actually came to make the movie it seemed silly to change it. But who knows? That's the way things go. What was interesting for me - and what was always interesting in the script - was that you've got someone who appears to have everything, or at least has the opportunity to have everything, and he's f**ked it up, or lost it.” KnowsWayTodayOpportunityLostInterestingDirectorsScriptsSillyHensKeds Author:Daniel Craig
“I got a phone call from George Miller [the director] asking me to play this role. We sat down and he showed me on his computer a documentary-type montage sequence of real penguins swimming, in an Esther Williams synchronized sort of way, and doing things I have never seen them do. Then he explained his vision of the film, asked me to read the script and to voice the character. I was cast a little bit later, and he let me do the singing as well!” WayWellsLittlesRealPlayCharacterFilmBitsVoiceVisionRolesTypeDirectorsComputerLittle BitSingingLet MeAskingDown AndScriptsCastsPhonesSatSwimmingDocumentariesSequencePhone CallsPenguinsEsther Author:Brittany Murphy
“As a director, I have to feel realism from actors, and they can't be plastic. The words for me are secondary, but the chemistry between the actors is most important. However, you have to go by the script because it's related to production, otherwise you will not finish your project.” FeelsImportantActorsDirectorsProjectsScriptsProductionsRelatedChemistryPlasticRealism Author:Tommy Wiseau
“As a director who does not like to write, I am always looking for scripts that I can contribute to through directing. I don't want to do the same thing that the writer is doing; I want to add an angle or highlight a theme.” WantWritingDoeI CanDirectorsAddScriptsThemeAngleHighlights Author:Jen McGowan
“Well, I think there was a time when I first started that there was such a thing called 'a woman's film' and there were certain scripts that women would make. But I think that's changed a lot now. I think that if a woman director walks into a room with a script, it doesn't really matter what the subject matter is, or the genre is, so long as the financiers feel that the woman has the skills to make the film.” IfsThinkingFeelsFirstsWellsLongMatterFilmCertainWalksRoomsSubjectsChangedDirectorsSkillsScriptsGenreSubject MatterGenre IsFinanciers Author:Gurinder Chadha