Screenwriters Quotes - Page 8

• A lot of screenwriters have a drawer of unsold scripts that they cut their teeth on. I don't have one. Everything I've written, after my first spec, I wrote on assignment. Everything I've written was work.

  Jon Spaihts

  Cutting, Teeth, Scripts

  Source: collider.com

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• Even though I am in this weird position of being a semi-recognizable screenwriter, which isn't that common, at the same time, I'm not an actress. I'm pretty isolated.

  Diablo Cody

  Actresses, Common, Isolated

  "Diablo Cody Talks about the 2013 Athena Film Festival, Female Writers and Directors She Admires, Plus Updates on PARADISE and SWEET VALLEY HIGH". Interview with Christina Radish, collider.com. February 5, 2013.

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• Pictures are written, acted, directed, photo­graphed, edited, scored and all that. The screenwriter determines what scenes are in and what scenes are out; decides whether that bit of information is dramatized or just referred to; whether it takes place on or off screen. There are millions of decisions made by the screenwriter.

  Ernest Lehman

  Decision, Information, Scene

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• I often say that a lot of my job, as a screenwriter, is sort of being a stock picker, in that I need to figure out what movies are probably going to get made because otherwise I'm spending a lot of my time on something that's trapped in 12-point courier. So, having Tim's interest in doing a movie is a huge asset. But, not everything shoots. I'm always grateful when those things do happen.

  John August

  Jobs, Grateful, Needs

  Source: collider.com

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• When a novelist or screenwriter is looking for a subject, the element he's seeking is conflict. Conflict makes drama. Conflict produces great characters and memorable scenes. So war is a natural topic.

  Steven Pressfield

  Drama, War, Character

  Interview with Will Duquette, www.patheos.com. May 21, 2014.

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• With a screenwriter and with the actors there is always an environment of trust. You can say anything, all your secrets, and you know that it won't get out of that room.

  Deniz Gamze Erguven

  Secret, Say Anything, Actors

  Source: blogs.indiewire.com

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• I guess like any writer or screenwriter I'm alone in my own world so much of the time that I'm often trying to force myself out of my world. Into more risk. A less controlled kind of inspiration. I'm so keenly aware of how easy it's getting to not leave the house, with Amazon, especially.

  Miranda July

  Inspiration, House, Risk

  Interview with Ross Simonini, www.believermag.com. 2015.

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• I don't think I'm more of a screenwriter than I am a fiction writer. I'm more of a reader than a film-watcher, so I imagine that I'm not approaching fiction or films in a particularly cinematic way.

  Miranda July

  Thinking, Fiction, Way

  Interview with Ross Simonini, www.believermag.com. 2015.

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• I've certainly seen stats that if you have a woman director or a woman screenwriter, the number of female characters goes way up.

  Emma Donoghue

  Character, Numbers, Way

  "Room" Author/Screenwriter Emma Donoghue on Her "Deeply Feminist" Film and Industry Sexism". Interview with Laura Berger, www.indiewire.com. October 16, 2015.

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• Hollywood screenwriters tend to have the longevity of NFL running backs. So the truth is no one can put more pressure on us than we put on ourselves.

  David Benioff

  Running, Nfl, Pressure

  Source: deadline.com

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• Starting in 98 when I was researching Traffic, I got to meet really serious people in Washington, which for a screenwriter was kind of a great gift. And I really valued these guys; I stayed in touch with them, and I find their point-of-view quite interesting.

  Stephen Gaghan

  Views, People, Interesting

  "Biography/Personal Quotes". www.imdb.com.

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• Part of my learning curve as a novice screenwriter was peeling back the layers and getting to the core of the story. I was really blessed to have two amazing writing mentors who helped me along the way. They always encouraged me to be okay with a simple story.

  Aurora Guerrero

  Blessed, Writing, Simple

  Source: blogs.indiewire.com

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• As a screenwriter I'm often writing in genres where there have been thousands of movies; whereas when I direct movies they tend to be in between genres. They tend to have a little bit of a genre to them, but they're really about the people, and they're people we haven't met before.

  John Sayles

  Writing, People, Littles

  Source: blogs.indiewire.com

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• Being a screenwriter is not enough for a full creative life.

  William Goldman

  Creative, Enough, Creative Life

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• One of the things I love about my job as a playwright or as a screenwriter is that I get to do a lot of research and a lot of thinking and taking a lot of notes before I turn it in.

  Tony Kushner

  Jobs, Thinking, Things I Love

  "OSCARS Q&A: Tony Kushner". Interview with Mike Fleming Jr., deadline.com. December 16, 2012.

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• My father was a screenwriter, but he was also a novelist.

  Sadie Jones

  Father, Novelists

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• There have been screenwriters who I'm sure would gladly kill me, because I've been very fast and loose with their work, because I felt like it wasn't up to my high standards. I would push and pull it on set, and make changes all the time. But then when you're working with an original screenplay, my theater instincts kick in, and I suddenly become very keeper-of-the-words.

  Sam Mendes

  High Standards, Making Changes, Instinct

  Interview with Scott Tobias, www.avclub.com. June 2, 2009.

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