collaborative directing Quotes

I think a big part of my job is to make an atmosphere on set and have an attitude that it's about experimentation, and you can't do anything wrong. It's not about judgment, it's not about me kicking over a chair and storming onto set and acting stuff out and telling people to copy what I do. That is a style of directing some people have, but I don't understand it.

So much of what you see now in Hollywood is written and directed by committee, and you can see it.

For example I don't work with William Hurt the same way that I will work with Viggo. They're different guys and they work in different ways. So a good sensitive director has his general style and technique and personality that he uses but you don't impose that on the actors.

(Sometimes when) someone's directing for the first time, they're afraid to include everyone - they have to prove they're the director.

You have to fire yourself as the writer when you direct something you've written. You have to fire yourself, or else you get precious about what you've written. You've got to open up and let the actors in, and re-conceive a lot of things.

Mike [Mitchell] brought me on as co-director, and eventually we ended up sharing a brain. It was overwhelming initially when I was working with departments I hadn't had contact with before.

A lot of solo directors have a really strong creative producer with them. Jay and I have less of a need for that because we have each other.

Whether I'm writing the script, or someone else writes the initial draft, I'm always an actor's director first. I always try to listen to them a lot and try to put their voices into their character.

You ask actors what they would like to do, and you constantly keep them engaged. You want their engagement, input, and sensibilities. It's that intimate collaboration that is actually directing. I don't like the mechanicalness or coldness; I like the intimacy. It's like we are creating a child together.