John Slattery Quotes

Music is where I have the most creative freedom, but I love producing. To me, that's kind of where all the action is. You get a chance to have your hands in every aspect of a film. From picking a director, sometimes picking a writer, to the actors, the wardrobe, set design, editing, music, and marketing.

Movies are in a much longer production conversation before an actor is even involved. I always thought of actors as the last piece of the puzzle - so you're a tool.

Making a film, setting it up and getting it cast and getting it together, is not an easy thing.

Well, there are three different processes of making a film, of course. They're sort of re-written three times. You write it to start with, and then you shoot it and you re-write it while shooting and you sort of re-write it as you edit.

Pre-production and post-production is something that I've never been exposed to. I was pleasantly surprised that you could accomplish a lot during pre-production.

I have a notebook, and I know what decisions will be made in pre-production. Everything is pre-determined in the pre-production period. I visually design the whole thing, and I know when things will happen.

The hardest thing for me about making movies, and that included 'M*A*S*H' because it was made like a movie, was starting and stopping.

Making a movie is a long, dull process. There's a lot of waiting around.

I feel like a lot of directing is casting.

If you would ask me what my ideal process is, I would say, long pre-production, long production and long post-production.

Film, for me, is in two stages. One is when I write the script more or less on my own - that's the nice bit. And then comes for me the unpleasant bit when they all go off, 100 people - actors and camera people and film and sound - and I stay away. When they go into the editing room, I come in again, and that's the bit I like.

Filmmaking is a very complex form - ya know, acting, lighting, screenwriting, storytelling, music, editing - all these things have to come together.

There are so many decisions in making a movie.

When you make your first film, there is a hell of a lot to think about, and you've got to have a gut understanding of your material.

Directing is a very long process, and I have to be in love with it if I want to give up two years of my life and live with it from beginning to end!

Being in front of the camera, you never got to see the whole process from the conception of the script all the way through to the filming process.

Directing a film is a lot of work.

I got involved in script development from the beginning. It was nice to see how a film gets made right from the beginning. It was quite hands-on for me.

Production for movies or TV is very painstaking and slow.

As I've always said, preproduction is so important. When you cast the actors, you've done much of the work. Now, you may need to guide them a little, take it up or down, have them go faster or slower, but the casting process is crucial.

With big productions, you can sometimes get lost with the terminology and all the different departments.

When you're making a show or a movie, there are a million people and things in your way. As an actor, you're like a glorified session musician or player. You really are.

The experience of an actual film from idea to screen will teach me more than most books and lectures.

To get the film in your head on the screen, first you have to take it out of your head and explain it to everyone who is working with you. This will take work and planning.

I definitely storyboard, but I only start once I have cast and location. I like to find the world first.