Paul Dinello Quotes

When you write something it has to hit the level that you accept as being good.

When I see my staff take a step back because I've lost my cool about something food-related, I say never apologise for your standards. If someone doesn't meet them, then you should explain that and that you want it changed. I want my staff to be like that, too.

There is no room in the world, as you say, for second rate work.

I used to play works in progress to people, but now I wait 'til it's finished, because you make excuses all the time: 'Well, there's gonna be an orchestra on it.' Rather than make excuses, wait 'til it's finished, and then they can say they don't like it.

People tend to think that because I need all this time on my own in the studio, that I need time on my own, period. And that's not really true.

When you do 'Before Sunset,' you know while it's a limited audience, there was a very small group of people that love 'Before Sunrise.' You feel a certain pressure to make sure that you uphold a level of quality that has been a bar. You set a bar and you have to at least match it.

When I finish a picture I don't show it to anyone if I feel it's not good enough yet. I've learnt to listen to my partners and my friends. For me it's the biggest success if they like it.

When you're a writer, you pull your life into your work. My first love is cinema. That's where I want to be judged.

I'm more critical of the films I make than anyone else.

I don't like labels. I don't understand the need for them. When you define yourself a certain way, people have expectations.

Anytime we're interacting with someone, we're judging them, we're sharing expectations, we think they didn't live up to those expectations.

One gets a bit picky after having the success of something like 'FlashForward!'

Quality. That's the key. Everything I do, I want it to have that stamp that people like Jay Z, for instance, have on all the things they touch.

I always want to make sure the book I'm writing is the best book I can deliver.

Good parts just don't fall off trees. I try to be very careful about what sort of projects I attack. There's an audience out there that expects high standards from me.

Neil and I share a desire for great quality in our work. If we are offered projects, look at projects, or consider projects that don't have that quality, then we don't do them.

I've worked under a lot of managers, whether it's the national team or at St Mirren and everyone has their moments. I think it is important, you can't just let things pass if they are not good enough.

I was always critiquing my work. I let everybody else around - producers, directors, other actors - they give the nod of approval or the praise. Because I tried to always bring the best, so even if they were happy with it, I was still scrutinizing it.

I don't play everything I write. I mean, everything I write is not that good. I bring out into the world the ones I think that are really worthy of an audience's attention.

I don't like the word 'perfectionist,' because it's self-flattering. It's tooting your own horn and implies that you actually can achieve perfection. I prefer 'particularist.'

The primary problem is to learn to be your own toughest critic. You have to pay attention to intelligent work, and to work at the same time. You see. I mean, you’ve got to bounce off better work. It’s matter of working.

Pictures you have taken have an influence on those that you are going to make. That's life!

The first thing that distinguishes a writer is that he is most alive when alone.

I'm constantly striving to break through to something new. You try to maintain a neutral approach to your work, and not be too hard on yourself.

Writing is utter solitude, the descent into the cold abyss of oneself.