Jim Ross Quotes

I don't think that Dreamworks would have signed me expecting to really mess around with whatever it is I do.

I got into an argument with my original publisher. They wanted me to do 'Kitty' and nothing else. I wanted to do lots of things, not just 'Kitty' books.

If you are handed something, it's a blessing and a curse. Look at hip hop artists, they produced everything themselves. Even people like Robert De Niro are getting into production. Again, it's art vs. marketing. Not everyone can take the risk. You have to break a few eggs to make a good omelet.

I was the only person at Univision who had complete creative control of my own show, by contract. They didn't like that. I was the executive producer; I owned the studio where we taped. I decided who went on my show and who didn't.

You want to give the person as much freedom as you can within the boundaries of being a responsible producer with a contract to a studio. It's about giving as much freedom as you can, and the more the filmmaker proves he or she is on the track that you feel good about, then you just kind of watch dailies.

I've made sure that in any situation and with any record label, I'm allowed to write my own music.

You can be more creative when you're not feeling like a slave. When you're on a record label, they have you like that.

Being on a K-pop label and agency, everything's taken care of for you. The music is set up for you. Your food, manager, practice room, recording studios - all these things are in the palm of your hand. However, you know the compromise of what you can actually do or say.

Executives and studios really like to have control over their product. They panic or they're not secure enough to trust in the powers of really amazing improv people.

One of the things that's funniest about the entertainment industry and comedy is that people go 'Oh, you're great, but I don't know what to do with you.' The great thing about the Internet is that nobody has to figure out what to do with you. You can figure out what to do with you, and you can say, 'I made this thing, and I'm going to put it out, and now if people want to come see me and buy things from me they can.'

Writers do the self-censoring before they even get to the studio executive, because they know the film will not run that gauntlet. They, because they want to get their films made, they censor it.

Directors don't always create, they can also destroy with too many demands.

I'm focusing on my efforts behind the camera. I'm doing some producing and directing so that I can make projects for all of the amazing, talented actors and crew that I know.

I enjoy doing independent films more, only because there's more freedom. There's not as many cooks tampering with what you are trying to do.

I don't get particularly precious about things like this, though. Like the record company said, "We need a radio edit that delivers the hook" - I don't even know what they consider the hook in that song ["Oh No"] - "that delivers the hook sooner." So I'm like, "Okay. I see that." And they were all walking on eggshells, like is this going to be sacrilegious to me or something, to mess with this art I've created? And I'm like, "Great. I get to tinker with it, I get to mess with my song some more."

When I make records I have full control of everything and I know how it sounds before it comes out, with films it's outta my hands.

I never get myself in a situation where I don't have creative freedom.

The reason I do small, independent movies is because I want to keep my soul intact and maintain some kind of integrity within this industry.

Of course it's super special to create your own records; it really is a part of my self.

The worst thing you can do to anybody trying to be creative is to demand participation in their vision.

Talent is our No.1 operating priority and our most important asset.

You really want to have a back-up plan, so when you don't feel like acting, or you're getting older and settling down, you can produce your own stuff. So that's when I set about forming my own company and getting creative control.

Your freedom as a writer is not freedom of expression in the sense of wild blurting; you may not let rip. It is life at its most free, if you are fortunate enough to be able to try it, because you select your materials, invent your task, and pace yourself.

It started off for me as just wanting to be an actor and sort of resenting in a weird way being expected to write as well as be a comedian and an improviser. And then you think about it for a minute, and I smartened up and realized that the only way to sustain a career is to generate your own material. Or to be in control of your career as best you can. And in allowing yourself to do that it opens up a whole new world of possibilities. And then you're like "Oh, producing is a thing."

I never had a movie that I wanted to do turned down in my whole life. I always write the script first so it speaks for itself.