Jeff Perry Quotes

You can be a smarty-pants director, but that won't matter if the movie doesn't work emotionally as well as intellectually.

My interpretation of a strong director is someone who knows their story. That's what directors are, they're storytellers because they're directing where your focus is going to be as an audience.

I know the movies that I've liked, and I know the experience that they've given me, so the goal is always to try to create a movie that I would like myself and that would knock me out, challenge me or intrigue me in some way. That's been my criteria for figuring out what I want to do, or also when I'm writing something or creating a scene.

Cinema is not about format, and it's not about venue. Cinema is an approach. Cinema is a state of mind on the part of the filmmaker. I've seen commercials that have cinema in them, and I've seen Oscar-winning movies that don't. I'm fine with this.

My films express me, my sense of rhythm, my sense of impact, my sense of kinetic energy. I like films to move, but I like also clear storytelling and characters, and most of all, I like authentic emotion.

I don't want to do a history lesson. I don't think cinema should be about that. Cinema should be about emotions.

It could be sci-fi, love story, historical drama what counts for me is the fact that they're made by great directors with a great point of view who bring the audience to be elevated and at the same time entertained. That's what cinema is.

I'm not very particular about the commercial angle in my films, but entertainment is very important.

When I go for a project, I wonder what underpinning a project will have that's going to give the audience some emotional access to it.

My responsibility is to make a film and find my dramatic language; I don't have any political or social responsibility.

Cinema is a medium that can translate ideas.

A lot of the struggle I had with movies is I really loved moments and tones and feelings in a scene, and I loved creating those, but I never really had great stories to string them together.

Movies are all about plot. Theater, even if it's story heavy, it's about ideas. Theater has to resonate in your heart in a way that movies don't.

Books and movies are different art forms with different rules. And because of that, they never translate exactly.

Good directors don't answer questions with their work. They generate debate and create discussion.

A lot of movies are about life, mine are like a slice of cake.

I wouldn't take a directing job if I didn't think it was enriching life.

I love good film, whether it's an independent or studio film. The independent films, I think the good ones aren't necessarily eccentric ones but they're the more specific ones.

'Rocket Science' is really where I fell in love with filmmaking, I think 'Camp' was incredible, but it was so bizarre, and I was trying to find my footing in this world where you don't have an audience for immediate validation.

Cinema is visually powerful, it is a complete experience, reaches a different audience. It's something I really like. I like movies.

The interesting thing about movies, it's not always - y'know, you have to have structure etc and all those things, but an audience responds, in many ways, we walk away and certain things stay in our heads that are memorable.

I think cinema has this beautiful component. It's a universal language.

A movie is a movie and a book is a book, and they have different rules.

My films start with images, a few images and a few feelings, and I try to edit them together to see the correspondence between these images and these feelings.

The success of the storytellers - we're only as good as what we can withhold from the audience. Aspects of surprise and letting things play out for the audience - it's so much a part of their enjoyment. It's one of the great things about working in the movies and being a great storyteller.