Jonathan Levine Quotes

I just love working with actors, and I love working with writers, working with designers. I feel that I am just a storyteller, and whether I am wearing the director hat or the playwright hat, it doesn't matter. And the rooms I tend to be in are pretty democratic, and the best idea wins.

Well, obviously I was excited by the idea that Woody Allen was going to direct it. But at the same time, the script itself and the character was really interesting.

I honestly never wanted to direct. It was only when I started to work on 'Alexander the Great' that I realized I had to direct. I saw something so specifically in my mind, I could not leave it to someone else.

I would recommend that any writer get off their ass at least once and just try it. Directing is a completely different set of muscles. It also affects your writing because, once you start directing, you tend to write your scripts with directing in mind.

Directing is a tremendous art.

I like directing. It takes a lot out of you, but I'd like to do it again - I just have to find a story I want to tell.

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

Of course any kind of film process has ups and downs and days where you're stuck and have breakthroughs.

And I think one way or another it's evident to those who work with me that as a writer, a director, a friend, as somebody's there that's very anxious to get the movie made.

I enjoy looking at words on paper and visualizing how to make them come to life. As a director, the creative process is really amazing.

The director is the only person who knows what the film is about.

It's not just about acting. I love film, I'm a director now, I love writing, I love producing, I love having a company that makes films and to be prolific and have a place to put all the ideas that are constantly bubbling up inside of me and that don't let me sleep at night.

I really like acting but, just now, the more I read a script I find myself thinking I'd like to direct rather than act.

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

Do you know what I'm working on now? My first feature as a director.

As a director, I get to have a much broader creative expression than as an actress.

I'm in awe of directors like the Coen brothers who can shoot their script and edit it, and that's the movie. They're not discovering the movie in postproduction. They're editing the script they shot.

I love directing. It's where my heart is, and it's the way my mind works.

I think I have more of a director's brain than an actor's brain, in a way.

Directing is creating a whole. You're able to combine different elements and create a film that is unique and true to your vision.

Frankly speaking, it's only the script that matters to me the most. If I like the script, then I just commit to myself and go ahead with it. But I also look at the commitment and confidence of the director of the film because it's him who will shape the film.

There are many aspects to directing that have a romantic place in people's minds.

To be a good director, you have to spend a lot of time on actual sets, but today, there's a lot of people who spend a lot of time in dark rooms writing a script, and they'll go in and tell the story to some suit at a studio who says, 'Okay, this is great, let's go.' But that doesn't necessarily mean you know what to do once you're on set.

Every time you say yes to a film there's a certain percentage of your yes that has to do with the director, a certain percentage to do with the story, a certain percentage with the character, the location, etc.

I love editing. It's one of my favorite parts about filmmaking.