Emily Berrington Quotes

There are a lot of good stories out there, but I haven't found too many great scripts.

I'm going to start work on developing a series for HBO, because I'm naturally given to episodic stories of considerable length. And I won't have to listen to complaints about how wordy and long my work is if you can watch it on your telephone on the subway: You can make it conform to your day as if it were a book.

A lot of scripts are written with an eye on what will be popular or what will titillate or what this actor can do well. I don't think those kinds of scripts ever work.

It makes a world of difference when you start with an amazing script.

I honestly think I could sit down and write a show tonight that the critics would love, and I know it would be canceled within four weeks. I know what the critics love. We write and produce for people, not for critics.

You can be far more challenging, articulate and intelligent writing for television than you can writing for the cinema.

That's why, when Alias came along, I knew I'd be OK if the show was on for five or six years because the writing was so good and the creative team was so strong.

It's very difficult to find good scripts in Hollywood any more.

I think good art should always be entertaining, or at least give pleasure of some sort. And my chief goal as a writer has always been to tell a good story and give my readers a good time.

That's the holy grail as a TV writer, to work on a story that you care about and to put it out there and for it to find the audience and connect with fans and connect with critics.

The frustrating thing about 'Friday Night Lights' is I know a lot more people would respond to the show if they saw it.

I think that if you are a serious writer, you are almost obligated to provide the intelligent average reader with something that they can relate to and care about. If you are writing only for a tiny elite, then that surely should sound alarm bells.

I would not have so many scripts being driven by demographics. The play's the thing - not the 18-35 year old male age group.

There's such good writing now on television and I don't see a lot of great writing on films sadly.

I probably have more words to say in 'Mr. Robot' than I've had in my entire career put together.

I think watching TV has influenced my books, but I don't think writing TV has.

'The Leftovers' is my favorite job I've ever had in my life, anywhere, ever. It is one of the greatest TV shows ever made.

'Justified' had such dead-on beautiful scripts that you didn't want to mess with it.

With these scripts and these writers, so much of it is done for me. Because we don't just throw words around: we make sure the audience understands.

Great writing makes great television.

Obviously, a theatrical masterpiece needs more than a plot; many television shows are nothing but plot, and it is doubtful that they will stand the test of time. But I also don't think that making fun of plot or acting like we're all somehow 'above' structure is such a good idea.

I look for good scripts, not anything. It should inspire me, and the audience should like it.

For all the hundreds of scripts that are out there, there's not that many that are amazing.

Storytelling takes many forms, and even feature-length storytelling is often 90 minutes or two hours. There's nothing stopping us from trying to do that on a week-to-week basis.

Ever since I was introduced to Ekta Kapoor, I have learnt a great deal from her storytelling, and the learning continues.