Gillian Jacobs Quotes

You are about to start the greatest improvisation of all. With no script. No idea what's going to happen, often with people and places you have never seen before. And you are not in control. So say 'yes.' And if you're lucky, you'll find people who will say 'yes' back.

I come from a background where I like collaboration and improv. I think that it is important.

I think the key to improv is always listening. It's embracing. It's positivity. It's hearing things and not shutting them down.

If your feet are firmly planted on the grount you'll never be able to dance.

I'm open to whatever. I think sometimes when people collaborate these days, it's a little bit convenient.

Creativity in life is about saying yes to new ideas.

When you work with an actor and then you discover new things that are better, I think you gotta be free to be able to go with the new things that you're finding. I think that's very important. I have a strong idea when I go to shoot a movie but I also love to discover things when I'm on set as well.

Be open to other people's ideas. Don't get arrogant about your ideas. Shoot a lot of options so you're not stuck with just one version of something.

One of my philosophies as a director is to listen to other people's great ideas because they'll help make you better.

I bring ideas to set, and I'm more than willing for those to be affected and be malleable based on what the other person gives me. I don't know what another actor is going to give me, on the day, and I don't want to be so hard and fast in my technique that I'm not open to what's coming.

The biggest threat to a better life is the desire to keep the future under control - to make the world predictable by reining in creativity and enterprise. Progress as a neat blueprint, with no deviations and no surprise, may work in children's cartoons or utopian novels. But it's just a fantasy.

It's not the style that motivates me, as much as an attitude of openness that I have when I go into a project.

When I do a take, I very often try things that I haven't planned to try to see if I can pull it off.

The apparatus has to serve our improbability and improvisation. Being good and playing the songs is not enough.

In my work, I have never had any use for anything that I have known in advance.

Creativity has always depended on openness and flexibility, so let us hope for more of both in the future.

My methodology is not knowing what I'm doing and making that work for me.

I've never had a grand plan. I've only just tried to keep open to many different possibilities, have fun and work with people who are passionate about what they do.

Part of being innovative in government is sometimes not trying to plot out the last chapter of the book, but to be open and see what comes back.

We must improvise, and we must experiment, and we must do things that might go wrong, and everything we bring - the people and the equipment - must serve us in that goal.

When I'm working with improv people, I give them the green light to just bring it and try things.

You just go for it and see what works. There are no rules.

It's like, the more you commit, the happier the animators are; if you're at all iffy and concerned, then it doesn't free them up to do as much fun stuff, so you have to just go for it and, again, trust the people around you and not be seemingly guarded and numb. Throw caution to the wind a bit.

I research every part thoroughly. I talk it out with my actor friends, but then I throw it all away when I get to the set. You have to be spontaneous.

Say yes to everything.