David Leitch Quotes

A director should concentrate on his storyline and his characters.

I think I had my answers to the questions in 'The Witch,' and I had my answers to the questions in 'The Lighthouse;' I need those in order to write and direct them.

Being in quite a few movies... there's always things that are changing about a film.

I don't feel the need to direct. I tried to get other people to direct Dances, but they wouldn't do it. They all thought it was too long. One director wanted to cut the Civil War sequence. Another thought the white woman was very cliched.

I'm very interested in directing actors - many directors direct cameras.

A good project but a poor director will always make a mediocre film, but an average script and good director can make a good film, as he will put in everything to make the film look good.

I think film, to me, as a director, is about telling a story.

Well, there's no question that a good script is an absolutely essential, maybe the essential thing for a movie.

Film is shot in fragments, and the same moments can be shot again and again until the director is satisfied.

I always think that a director who knows about the technical side, but cares about the acting performances and casting as well, is ahead of the game.

A lot of the films now are more focused on the visuals than on the actors. I think all directors should go to drama school.

There are so many elements that make a good film. You need a great director who's driving it.

I think one of the major things a director has to do is to know his subject matter, the subject matter of his script, know the truth and the reality of it. That's very important.

When I write something, I want the best director to direct it. And that's not going to be me. So when David Fincher comes along and wants to direct 'The Social Network,' when Bennett Miller comes along and wants to direct 'Moneyball,' or when Danny Boyle wants to direct 'Jobs'? Hallelujah. I want them directing it.

As a director, you want to work with great writers.

If films could run because of performances, everybody's films would do well. It is the director who makes the film.

I'd be really interested in making a dramatic, low key 3D film.

I worked for Sam Peckinpah on quite a bit of action in his films, and he got excited once in a while.

In my opinion, the motion picture is the greatest medium of expression ever invented. It embraces all the other arts. The films that have the greatest unity, the greatest overall strength, and give the most satisfaction to the viewer, have been those in which a guiding hand was imposed in every section of the film's many divisions.

I am incapable of directing a film like 'Agneenath.' I can do only what I am good at, so I would have been the worst choice to direct it. It has aggression, action and an inherent violence in it - things I am not capable of directing in my films.

I'm attracted to directors in general because I appreciate the work and the job they have to do. I watched the post-production, I watched the pre-production... post-production is something that I'm very interested in and I did spend a lot of time in editing rooms when I was young pretending to be sick.

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

If I'm going to act in someone's movie, I want the movie to be interesting and be able to get a couple of solid doubles.

I guess I would model myself after the Bill Condons, the Frank Darabonts and the David Nutters if I were to direct a feature, which I would love to do, by the way.

Making 'Coraline' was one of the great filmmaking experiences of my life.