Walt Dohrn Quotes

One of the most interesting aspects of the film project was collaborating with so many people - directors, filmmakers, and writers - over a five-year period. I learned that there are two components to this.

As filmmakers, you're not working on just one project, you're producing something, directing something, shooting something, and so it becomes hard to do it by yourself.

I don't necessarily want to direct because it's too much work and I don't have the attention span to stay with it that long. But I think getting everyone together on something that appeals to me and developing the material is something that I like to do.

We really enjoy that, having a relationship with writers, developing material and getting a director, actors, that we have kind of that family kind of as a group we're going to do it together mentality in a project. Then the tough part is - so what actually goes has very little to do with us sometimes.

I like working with writer-directors because you can solve problems right there.

'Rent' was a special project for me. It was my first notable screenplay job. I worked with two wonderful directors on it, starting with Spike Lee in the summer of 2001. I wrote a draft for Spike and he was really good to me.

Movies are a collaboration, I feel, so I didn't think of myself as an authoritative figure as much.

And 'Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll' was a very transitional film for me in that I was one of the producers and you know, came up with the idea with the writer and the producer, as well. But, it was a very collaborative event. You know, I really love working in that way.

I'm proud of 'Sinister' because Scott and Cargill did a great job on the movie, and I set up a framework for them to make what they wanted to make. They gave me the idea, and I figured out how to get it out into the world.

I think we have the same goals in mind. We are not planning on just all of a sudden taking a film and separating. Hopefully one day she can direct me in something, or I will direct her. Or we'll produce a movie under our company's name.

Filmmaking is the ultimate team sport.

A great movie evolves when everybody has the same vision in their heads.

So I've had really great assistant directors for my last seven movies.

When I go on the set, I'm so rushed. When I see the actors at rehearsal, when I love it, I want to keep the mood - my mood and the actors' mood also. So I have to push the crew faster. I don't want to lose the mood.

Movies are weird; it's like trying to make a painting with one hundred people. It's a weird world, but every job is weird; it's always a little bit hard, crazy and fun, a nice combination.

If a script comes together, and you end up liking the people who are part of it, that's when you can make magic happen. It's a huge combination of trying to find something you think you can deliver on and a director you think you can collaborate with to make a good picture.

I really challenge every actor at the beginning of a process, and I always say, 'I have an idea that I'm going to bring to the table. I hope and expect that you will have an idea and bring it to the table. But the way I really want to work is that together we're going to have a third idea that is better than either of our ideas.'

I think books and movies are going to go a long way together in the future. I think we writers are very important material for directors.

I'm definitely one of those actresses who comes to a set knowing how I want to do a scene, and I definitely love input from my directors and my writers. I know that there's some actors who like to be left alone, they like to be very independent, but I actually really enjoy the teamwork.

A script is utterly useless in and of itself; it's only of any worth the minute your actors, your designers, your directors come into being.

I have a producing partner named Stephen Hamel, and we've been trying to generate material.

That's the most important thing to me - that if I'm gonna spend however long it takes to make a movie, give up 14 hours a day for however many weeks or months, then it's very important for me to know that I'm working with people who I respect and enjoy and that we're going for something together.

When I work on a film, I always tend to relate to the crew.

I think most co-directors and co-writers just hold hands.

The type of producing that I did for many years involved working very closely with directors.