Gavin O'Connor Quotes

The problem with the screenplay is that it's not literature, and it's not a film. It's a very weird, technical kind of blueprint that will be absolutely transformed into something else that is not that, you know? Honestly, a screenplay is no literature.

I have a plot, but not much happens.

The script is a blueprint for the film - there are very few bad scripts that make good movies. If you really like the character and understand the utility it serves within the movie, that's a part of my process.

Without great writing, you've got a bunch of actors bumping into each other.

Whether it's 'The West Wing' or anything else, my first thought is always, 'What's a good story?'

Story is the primary factor any day. If I believe that a particular director would do justice to it, I will accept an offer.

A stage play is basically a form of uber-schizophrenia. You split yourself into two minds - one being the protagonist and the other being the antagonist. The playwright also splits himself into two other minds: the mind of the writer and the mind of the audience.

A good script makes our job a lot easier.

A film is different than a script. The text of the script is what it is.

At the heart of every story is conflict - whether external or internal, make it a good one, and remember that this problem is going to shape your character, leaving her forever changed.

In a film you only get two hours to do this big arc and so you have to pick and choose your moments carefully, but with television you get to take your time and just take it episode by episode and discover new things.

If you put someone in a room with no script to direct, they're just going to sit there. Writing scripts is the execution for a show. Then the director takes that and hires people. It's like trying to build a house without any bricks. You need the script. I could build the house, but I have to know how.

Whenever you can manoeuvre your characters into a situation where they both have a good argument to make, you're on the right track.

If you're sitting in your minivan, playing your computer animated films for your children in the back seat, is it the animation that's entertaining you as you drive and listen? No, it's the storytelling. That's why we put so much importance on story. No amount of great animation will save a bad story.

Lastly get emotionally connected to your story so you can deliver it, you know, if you can't deliver the emotions to your script there's no point to your story. Story is the key.

Film and television are just different. Film is cool because it's a complete package. You know the beginning, middle, and end. You can plan it out more, which I like. But with television you get a new script every week, so it's constantly a mystery as to what you're going to be doing.

You can dress it up, but it comes down to the fact that a movie is only as good as its script.

Scripts are very different to books. They are blueprints for building, not the building.

I'm very good at plot.

In a movie script, you know what the moments are that you really have to hit it out of the park.

Ultimately, a director is a storyteller. I wanted to fortify that part of my life as a director, so I thought the best way to do that is to study and learn about the greatest stories ever written.

I've just always been very interested in story above all.

It's hard to tell writers, especially in movies, that words are secondary. Behavior is important.

The storyline has always been of paramount importance to me. The subject and climax of 'Phillauri' touched my heart.

I don't want to work on any games that don't have some kind of story component because that is the draw for me.