Kenya Barris Quotes

I just don't see ABC letting go of soaps completely.

A man to carry on a successful business must have imagination. He must see things as in a vision, a dream of the whole thing.

Colonel Jack Jacobs is a good guy. And I see him on occasion.

I talk to Oprah several times a week, and I see the side of Oprah that's having the time of her life. What she's getting to do with OWN is build a team to create a brand from nothing.

I admire directors so much, I find them incredible: they manage such a huge number of people of different characters, think of the money involved.

One quality that a director needs to acquire in Hollywood is to understand the system and figure out how to work within the system to express one's own ideas.

Man, he could sell. As he liked to say, he lived at the intersection of technology and liberal arts. But there was a more personal side of Steve Jobs, of course, and I was fortunate enough to see a bit of it because I spent hours in conversation with him over the 14 years he ran Apple.

I was the youngest producer of a national television show when I was twenty-five. I took it to 182 markets. Tremendous success.

I was struck by Suu Kyi's warmth and generosity. No matter how petite she looks, she exudes amazing strength. More than anything else, I felt like I already knew her, like she was an old friend, because I'd been watching her so intently, and she was exactly what I had figured she would be.

I respect Drake not only as a creative person but as a business mind as well. I think Drake's important.

I was going to be the president of a television network. That's where I was going. I was that ambitious.

It's not like I ever sat in my room and said I was going to start a media company and become an editor in chief. It was never my dream. It was something that just happened.

In terms of CBS, I think that the consistency for them, it feels like they have a really clear sense of who they are and what they want, and they're able to keep delivering very consistently on their brand, which is really terrific, and I think NBC has taken some really smart and interesting routes in the things that they've done.

My role at NBC was president of 'NBC News.' I had that role for eight years.

I enjoyed my time working with Mae Young; she was one of the coolest, most respected people that I ever met in the industry.

To understand this whole area, you have to stop thinking like a viewer and start thinking like a network programming exec.

I think if you work in television everyday, and you must be privy to everything happening in television, then do so.

It's a really incredible time to be working in television.

Between the marriages, I shagged my way round television studios like a mechanical digger.

I realize that for many New Yorkers, this is the first time you've heard my name, and you don't know much about me. Over these next two years you will get to know me, but more importantly, I will get to know you.

Seeing movie people trying to get into TV now who don't understand that is very interesting.

Great leadership is about human experiences, not processes.

As a director, you're only as good as your collaborators. You surround with collaborators that are going to understand what you're trying to do. Not only that, they're going to push and fight for what you're trying to do.

Management is clearly different from leadership. Leadership is primarily a high-powered, right-brain activity. It's more of an art it's based on a philosophy. You have to ask the ultimate questions of life when you're dealing with personal leadership issues.

Great visions are cast one on one.