James Lipton Quotes

When I do research, I have done - 90 percent of my time is the research, the other ten percent is the writing. So I don't have to face a blank piece of paper. I can look at this as a quote that I have from somewhere.

At least half my writing time is spent researching. So for every hour I'm actually clicking on the keyboard, I'm spending another hour trying to figure out some tiny detail I need answered.

It's a shame, but every time I get something scientific in the script, I read up to find out what I'm talking about - but then I'm on to the next script and it's forgotten.

I think with every book you realize you are partway through and there is something really elementary that you should have researched.

I can't just react on the strength of an email and three pages of synopsis, and say I'm going to take off for three months of my life.

Sometimes you have a period piece where you have to research around it but, if the writers have done their homework well enough, the information is all in the script.

You have to have really wide reading habits and pay attention to the news and just everything that's going on in the world: you need to. If you get this right, then the writing is a piece of cake.

For Kitty Gilbert in 'Topsy-Turvy,' I had to get to the point where I could improvise in the style of 1880, which is difficult. The research for that was huge.

That's how I prepare for anything - I read whatever I can get my hands on, talk to people. I'm a bit of a nerd like that.

With 'Black Rain,' I spent a lot of time with homicide detectives, and I spent a lot of time with different brokers on 'Wall Street.' It helps get the rhythm of the piece and the tone, and how overplayed or underplayed it might be. That's also the magic of movies: You get to hang out and live these different lives.

I try to do a lot of research beforehand so I know where I want to go with a scene. I try not to get too stressed about it, because I find that's the worst thing.

Working on my own gave me a chance to take my time and experiment a lot.

I'm a great believer in research. I have to know about a place before I write a story that is set in that place.

It's a Catch-22. If you don't have money, you can't get the media to focus on what you're saying. And without the focus of the media, you can't raise the money.

Whoever says we can do more with less is wrong. We will do less with less

I like to do research. It gives me a sense of ownership. That's very powerful for me as an actor to just own it.

Moderating a debate means spending more time with briefing books than with your children. It means writing and rewriting and rephrasing. It means finding a way to be alert enough to notice when your question goes unanswered and nimble enough to decide what you will do about that on the spot.

As far as 'Jane Pittman,' I don't know that I could verbalize, to this day, what I felt once I got into that role. I did a tremendous amount of research. I need to feel as though I am in the person's skin.

My mother always helped me because she was kind of a research fanatic. When she would write a screenplay, there would be so much research all over the walls. And so when I started working as an actress, I would do the same thing. She instilled in me a love of taking everything very seriously. It didn't matter what it was.

With any character I do, I do my due diligence with research.

As someone who asks questions for a living, there are few things that annoy me more than people who won't ask for themselves. Social media is a great help, but so is something as simple as turning on your television or powering up your laptop to watch a smart news show.

It doesn't matter how big or small your film is: you still don't have enough money. You don't have enough time to shoot it.

I start each of my scripts by going on a journey of painstaking research and discovery, much as I do a piece of long-lead journalism.

When you've got hardly any equipment, very little money and no access to any information, your sound is very much dictated by you, your setup and what you're listening to. Nothing more.

Before I even agreed to work with Hennessy and the Privilege Awards, I wanted to do some research on it, look up past winners, and find out more about it.