Diane Paulus Quotes

A director is a choreographer, both politically and creatively.

A good director's not sure when he gets on the set what he's going to do.

I think directors should be confident in their leadership capabilities. I think directors should be confident in what they want to do.

I believe that, by directing, it makes me a better executive as well.

If I wanted to have total control and be a dictator, I would do ice sculpture in my basement. If I want to make a movie, I'm going to work with 500 people, and I will have to work with their strength and their weakness.

The funny thing about directing is that you have your own opinions, but it's a collaboration. Directing is a group effort. Even though you might think something works, the smartest thing you can do as a director is try and weigh the opinions of the people around you.

I used to think that, when I was a director, I would have a very specific vision of what everything would look like, but now I am more of a camp counselor.

To be a director, you have to be especially patient.

Every director works differently.

As a director, you have to understand what is happening - if I don't understand it, you can't make changes.

No, I wouldn't direct a movie, no. I couldn't. I don't have the patience for it, I don't have the people skills. You have to be clever. I'm not really clever in that kind of way. And you have to be able to manipulate people, but at the same time allow them to feel like they are manipulating you, to get the kind of movie that you want.

A director makes 100 decisions an hour. Students ask me how you know how to make the right decision, and I say to them, 'If you don't know how to make the right decision, you're not a director.'

It's really hard as a screenwriter, you feel like you have a vision and then you turn it over to a director and you have to let it go.

Directing is really exciting. In the end, it's more fun to be the painter than the paint.

A big part of directing is being strong in certain circumstances and taking the gamble and hope you don't get fired.

Every director has their own unique working style.

There's a conventional wisdom that says that strategic thinking is much more important than relationship building, which doesn't seem to be nearly as highly valued as it should be, based on what some of the leaders that I've spoken with have said to me.

I walked in and inherited a management group that I didn't know very well. They didn't know me, and we had a very short window to put together a credible recovery plan.

Movies are a collaboration, I feel, so I didn't think of myself as an authoritative figure as much.

As a director, you try to find what is creative.

The director is the ultimate creative arbiter of what's going to happen. And as a director myself, you really appreciate collaborating with people who are trying to help you find what you need and what you want.

I enjoy directing more when I don't have to direct myself. I like when I can just be the director.

Directing is physically exciting because there's a ticking clock, you're working with people, it's very social, it's very enjoyable.

I feel I should defer to the writers and the directors because they're the ones who have the complete vision. They see things through from the beginning to the end. I'm responsible for one small part, so my scope is much more limited than theirs.

Eventually, everyone said, Why don't you direct? It would save time. And that's how it started.