Theresa Rebeck Quotes

The technology available for film-making now is incredible, but I am a big believer that it's all in the story.

Film-makers must decide what story to tell and how to tell it.

The so-called commercialism includes elements like story, plots, rhythms and large big scenes.

Films are never meant as solutions; they just provide entertainment value.

The difference between film and TV is the pace. You don't have the leisure of time in television.

Films don't always tell a story; some films can achieve effect just by being razzle-dazzle or rock n' roll. That's part of the fare that's out there. And that's okay. For me, I place more value on a story.

Whether I'm acting or making it, at the end of the day it's telling the story; action, drama. You want the audience to feel it - the story, the action, the scene, or a particular shot. I just keep working on crafting my art, on how to make action movies.

If I start paying attention to the mechanics of a film while watching it, then it's generally a bad film.

Theater and film are essentially the same - just different kinds of storytelling.

TV is a different animal these days. You can bring together really smart writing and directing, in-depth character development and really meaty political and emotional stories.

There's no difference between movies and television. None at all. Except in a lot of cases, television's much better than movies.

The way the films look will never entertain an audience alone. It has to be in the service of a good story with great characters.

Having spent a lot of time on sets, I was really interested in the overall storytelling aspect of shows and projects.

There are three things that are important for a film. Number one is story, number two is story, number three is story. Good actors can save a bad script and make it bearable, but good actors can't make a bad script good - they can just make it bearable.

I think one of the major things a director has to do is to know his subject matter, the subject matter of his script, know the truth and the reality of it. That's very important.

Every stage of filmmaking's important while you're doing it, so I spend most of my time figuring out how to tell the story. I have all these stories and ideas, but it's how to tell the story.

Great writing makes great television.

Television is so neat; I grew up doing theater, and I've done a bit of film. I know I'm stating the obvious, but it's a unique storytelling form in that it's able to constantly evolve.

A director should concentrate on his storyline and his characters.

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

Be it films or shows or plays, it's the content that matters the most.

Documentaries for me always felt kind of limiting. I wanted to go bigger. And I also love actors, and I love performance. So feature filmmaking was always the intent.

I never made a clear-cut in my mind between theatre and film, as I always felt that at the heart of both of them is storytelling and acting.

These days, you don't need a song or glamour to make your film work. It is all about a good story.

It is a conscious choice to go for content-driven scripts because that is the key for any film to work. There are no two ways about it, and I have always been attracted to great content.