Terry Southern Quotes

I was bargaining for time away from Hollywood, and Columbia was bargaining for money. I got what I wanted and they got what they wanted. They knew I was so anxious to do Born Yesterday that I'd have done it for a dollar. They gave me the next best thing.

If you sit down with me, I guarantee I will accept any terms you offer for a contract.

My agent makes 10% of what you make. When your agent tells you to take a vacation, you know you're exhausted.

Labels fund things and have resources for you to use. But just because you sign doesn't mean you sign yourself away so they can then tell you what to do. You need to have a plan yourself before they do.

When you do a studio picture, all the paperwork and legal stuff is already taken care of!

I have an agent now.

Our independence from AOL was so important to me that I negotiated an extremely odd provision in our purchase agreement that allowed me to disclose confidential information about AOL. It was their job never to give me that information. It was not my job to protect it in any way.

The deal is that you can do it, you don't really owe me anything, but at the end of it, I own the film. Then I can actually go out and reprint or not reprint if it I want.

Once you work with a studio on a film, the studio is sort of like this enormous clam that just opens, takes everything and then closes, and no one enters again. They own it all.

I don't like to deal with studios.

Agents are deal makers, and they're really, really good at making deals. But they're also exceptionally helpful after the deal is made - agents act as a good intermediary between authors and publishers whenever disagreements come up.

If the money's right, I'll do a film.

I said I would do all the films about the commercials, and the films about ball-bearings and Ford tractors and so on, if once a year they gave me money for a free film.

As you know, in America there's no rights for the artist, so whatever films I've made kind of belong to the studio, so if they want to remake it they can.

My manager and my agents, they go over my contracts.

Certain actors wanna get paid, they think working in a low-budget movie is being ripped off. But for others it's like, 'Yes, let's do it.'

It's always push and pull with a record company.

You get involved with a studio, and optional pictures and sequel options and that sort of thing are becoming part and parcel with the roles they're handing out.

Your best protection is to have an established agent make the contact.

When you get older, unless you're a huge star, the parts become less and the competition becomes greater. Because the guys left standing are the best.

In America there's no rights for the artist, so whatever films I've made kind of belong to the studio.

I created 'The Guild' because nobody was offering me the roles I thought I could do best at in Hollywood.

I'm in a 'I can do whatever' phase. I'm taking this '106 & Park' opportunity into full force. I'm really focused on doing my best with it. This is my 'Fresh Prince' moment. I want to be the black Ryan Seacrest of film, TV, and more.

Directors say that you should get actors before they are recognized. They will be a pain or have an opinion.

Every time you do a movie, it's important for your career, your reputation.