Screenplays Quotes - Page 9

• All screenwriting books are bullshit, all. Watch movies, read screenplays. Let them be your guide.

  Brian Koppelman

  Book, Bullshit, Watches

  "Six Second Screenplay Tips from Screenwriter Brian Koppelman (on Vine!)" by Paula Bernstein, www.indiewire.com. September 27, 2013.

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• I do have some theatrical background. I've written plays and seen plays and read plays. But I also read novels. One thing I don't read is screenplays.

  Charlie Kaufman

  Play, Novel, Backgrounds

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• I always say when you write a book, you're a 'one-man band.' Whereas, when you finish a screenplay, it's just a sketch.

  Diablo Cody

  Book, Writing, Men

  "‘Young Adult’ Writer Diablo Cody: We Never Really Grow Up" by Margaret Bristol, www.huffingtonpost.com. December 09, 2011.

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• I love making movies and hope to write my own screenplay someday and do some producing and be behind-the-scenes as well.

  Victoria Justice

  Writing, Behind The Scenes, Someday

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• I don't begin a novel or a screenplay until I know the ending. And I don't mean only that I have to know what happens. I mean that I have to hear the actual sentences. I have to know what atmosphere the words convey.

  John Irving

  Writing, Mean, Atmosphere

  "Wrestling Life Into Fable". Academy of Achievement Interview, www.achievement.org. June 3, 2005.

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• I've been a screenwriter for twenty-five years. Every one of my books have been optioned for movies and I have written a few of those screenplays.

  Alice Hoffman

  Book, Years, Twenties

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• David Mamet we all know is a great screenplay writer and playwright and a great director. If you like him, you like him. If you hate him, you really hate him. He's someone who's into controversy, you know what I mean? That's David Mamet.

  Tom Hardy

  Hate, Mean, Directors

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• Normally you read a screenplay - and I read a lot of them - and the characters don't feel like people. They feel like plot devices or cliches or stereotypes.

  Joseph Gordon-Levitt

  Character, People, Plot

  "Actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt". "The Tavis Smiley show" with Tavis Smiley, www.pbs.org. September 28, 2011.

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• I don't generate a storyline and then fill it out in the course of writing. The story actually generates in the course of the writing. It's one of the reasons I've never been comfortable doing screenplays, because in order to get the contract for the screenplay, you have to sit down and tell them what's going to happen.

  William Gibson

  Writing, Order, Down And

  Interview with Zack Handlen, www.avclub.com. September 7, 2010.

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• I think I've had pretty good experiences for the most part with the people who have directed my screenplays.

  Charlie Kaufman

  Thinking, People, Good Experiences

  Interview with David Cronenberg, www.interviewmagazine.com. November 24, 2008.

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• Writing screenplays makes me a better musician because it clears my head. After writing a movie, I go running back to music as fast as I can.

  Nick Cave

  Running, Writing, Musician

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• One of the things about writing a novel is you can do it any way you want. It's your voice that's important and I see absolutely no reason why a screenplay can't be the same. It makes it a hell of a lot easier when you're the writer and the director.

  Quentin Tarantino

  Writing, Voice, Important

  Source: creativescreenwriting.com

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• There are a lot of bad screenplays so if you write a good screenplay people are going to respond to it.

  Quentin Tarantino

  Writing, People, Ifs

  Source: creativescreenwriting.com

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• I'm not writing novels, the screenplays are my novels, so I'm gonna write it the best that I can. If the movie never gets made, it'd almost be okay because I did it. It's there on the page.

  Quentin Tarantino

  Writing, Pages, Made

  Source: creativescreenwriting.com

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• I've written a couple screenplays and half-finished plays.

  Christopher Meloni

  Couple, Play, Half

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• On the one occasion where I did try writing a screenplay, I found the rewriting just unendurable.

  Alan Moore

  Writing, Trying, Unendurable

  Interview with Tasha Robinson, www.avclub.com. October 24, 2001.

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• Every year I hear people complain that the quality of screenplays and movies is declining. In my opinion, the vast majority of scripts written - as well as most movies that are released - are not very original, well-written, or interesting. It has always been that way, and I think it always will be.

  Viggo Mortensen

  Thinking, Years, People

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• Acting is fun and I refuse to get involved in the semantics and the politics of strategy and breaking out of something or doing something because you need to do something else. For me it's all about what fuels my soul and if I'm passionate about a screenplay then that's what I'll do next.

  Shailene Woodley

  Fun, Soul, Acting

  "Next factor Q&A: 'Decendants' star Shailene Woodley". Interview with Kevin Polowy, www.mtv.com. November 14, 2011.

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• I am co-writing a screenplay now and I'm working on the rights to another story I want to do. So I plan to produce and direct. So, for me, I don't really feel that I am vulnerable to that sad baggage that comes with the business of filmmaking.

  Kerry Washington

  Movie, Writing, Rights

  Interview with Spence D., www.ign.com. August 29, 2001.

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• While I filmed the 'Walker, Texas Ranger' series for eight and a half years, I had never had much time to read, except for screenplays of the episodes.

  Chuck Norris

  Texas, Years, Eight

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• In my office in Florida I have, I think, 30 manuscript piles around the room. Some are screenplays or comic books or graphic novels. Some are almost done. Some I'm rewriting. If I'm working with a co-writer, they'll usually write the first draft. And then I write subsequent drafts.

  James Patterson

  Book, Writing, Thinking

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• If I’m feeling something, I have a lot of different ways to express it, you know? I can write an article about it. I can write a screenplay about it. I can act in someone’s thing.

  Josh Radnor

  Writing, Feelings, Different

  "Josh Radnor At Sundance: The ‘Afternoon Delight’ Star On His Post-‘How I Met Your Mother’ Plans". Interview with Mike Ryan, www.huffingtonpost.com. January 23, 2013.

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• 'Juno' really changed things for me and I get a lot of screenplays come in now, but I like to self-generate and I like to kind of pursue my own ideas. And I think the more personal the better.

  Jason Reitman

  Thinking, Self, Ideas

  "Jason Reitman Takes Off with Up in the Air". movieweb.com. February 24,2010.

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• About a year ago I got really exhausted from reading bad scripts and I know that I am a writer and that I have stories to tell, so I thought, 'Let's do this!' So I'm co-writing a screenplay now with another screenwriter and loving it. Absolutely loving it. And I would like to be the producer on the project and of course the lead is me.

  Kerry Washington

  Reading, Writing, Years

  Interview with Spence D., www.ign.com. August 29, 2001.

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• I'm working on a screenplay right now for the BBC, but I hope to have the decks cleared soon so I can get into the studio with my pals and put down some more tracks, try to get a strong dance single together.

  Irvine Welsh

  Strong, Track, Trying

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