Script Collaboration Quotes

When I did my first film, I was in college; I did it as a senior thesis. The original version was 60 minutes. But I developed it and made it almost 90 minutes. In 2007, it premiered in Venice, and I stopped in London to develop a script with my dad that fell apart, and we started 'Gravity.'

You have to write a lot of scripts to get any scripts that are worth making.

Sometimes you have producers tell you 'I'm a huge fan, I'm a huge fan.' But David Guggenheim, I have so much love for this dude.

I am always open to working with debutant directors, as they bring a new perspective to a script. That motivates me and helps me choose unique scripts.

I remember working with Jackie Chan on Shanghai Noon [2000], and when we were working on the script, I thought that my character thought about being an outlaw the way a kid today would think about being a rock star, as a way to impress girls. So it was just kind of a funny idea, but once we had that idea, it changed the character and made it something that was funnier to me to play.

If the opportunity came my way, if somebody wanted me to look over a script or sit in a room in sort of like a brainstorming session... I would certainly be open for that.

I had the luxury of working on the script with Andrew [Dominik] for a good year before the film started, so I was already intimate with the story [of The Assassination of Jesse James] and felt quite prepared walking into it.

I was very keen to work on the script with Scott Derrickson and [C. Robert] Cargill, and working out the important story beats, changing lines, upping the comedy, changing the pace, all of that was great fun.

There's no need there to sit with the filmmaker for 11 years to develop the script, or go round the world raising money.

Sometimes directors feel a script needs something, but they're not sure what it is, so they show it to a friend; if the friend is a writer, he ends up kicking around with that script for a while.

When you see two writers named on a movie, one of them did some drafts and got the boot.

With 'Deep Space Nine,' I learned that when you get a script, you should give honor to the writer. On 'Larry Sanders,' even on '24,' you could make up stuff.

I ain't the first on the list that people are sending scripts to. I'm very lucky. I've managed to put myself in the position with some directors, who will be calling me directly, and we're working on things and talking about things, but that's on a purely creative level.