James L. Brooks Quotes

Every movie has its uniqueness. You just do your best and go with it.

Most of my favourite moments in film have been when I've had an opportunity to say something from scratch, something original, whether I jotted down a few lines or it came out in improvisation.

I'm drawn to cinema, especially when you're on a project that feels like it's going to be a challenge.

It's funny, though, with films, because you can incorporate a variety of elements, and sometimes that can work for you and sometimes I think it can work against you.

For me, with me, making a film is always about humanity.

Film allows me to ask some really big questions with the time to explore them deeply. I love the form.

Filmmaking is a chance to live many lifetimes.

The whole point of film for me is that it's such a joy. It's such a wonder. The possibilities are literally endless in terms of what you can creatively do.

I've admired Lawrence master from his choreographer days. I love how he experiments and makes it work. I like his attention to detail and the intrigue in his movies.

I started as an actor, then became a theater director. I loved acting but didn't feel as confident as I needed to be, so I started directing theater; then I played in some movies, and then I felt the need to do my own stuff.

The challenge, really, on any new film is to try to avoid that and achieve a few moments that aren't cliche.

Even with college, the reason I wanted to go so badly is because I wanted to major in film. I want to take screenwriting classes and learn more about behind the scenes stuff, because I love people like Steve Carell and Kristen Wiig who are able to write a lot of their own material and be so involved in everything they do.

As a director, you try to find what is creative.

I don't even know if I can call myself a director.

Making 'Coraline' was one of the great filmmaking experiences of my life.

I think that those are the things that you can uniquely do with film that are difficult to do anywhere else: they can bring a picture to life, give it a natural and historical context and make you feel that everything else is suddenly credible.

Film is very condensed.

Sure, you always put some of your own experience into a film.

I love making films more than anything, but it's tough.

I found it very difficult to explain to someone why you did a film. It's not like having a conversation.

Genre aside, I'd like to make a film about people.

The most difficult part of making movies is to keep making them. Maybe, you could make the biggest hit in the world, but then the big problem is what to do next and how to maintain devoted to a certain instinct that I have about films.

I still really love acting. I find it really challenging. And I really love film; it's a lot of fun.

I'll continue making films because I love being able to drop into other people's worlds. My goal is to be constantly learning.

I always felt that if I was going to do a movie, I wanted it to be authentic.