Alex Garland Quotes

A journalist is stimulated by a deadline. He writes worse when he has time

Nothing primes inspiration more than necessity, whether it be the presence of a copyist waiting for your work or the prodding of an impresario tearing his hair.

I wrote 'Criminal' in 45 minutes when everyone else went to lunch because I had to have a hit. I can force myself to do the work, but only if someone is right up behind me.

There is a difference between executive producing and producing. Producing, you have no life for two years. You take everything personally, you want to kill everyone, you're depressed and angry, and then in the end you feel excited when it actually works. But executive producing, you can go home at the end of the day.

The problem with writing a monthly book is that you're going through your work like a man running for a bus, red-faced and out of breath. There isn't time for reflection or critical self-examination.

I mean, frankly, I'm not speaking as a representative of Disney or Pixar, I'm speaking as just myself as a filmmaker: I don't go into anything that often thinking about a sequel.

I'm always the last person they go to with a sequel, because I'm the most skeptical. You know, I'm very proud of what we've done, and I don't want to screw up our series.

I make one film in three years, if I go wrong it will take me another three years to prove myself.

Usually, I concentrate on work for a certain time, and finish when I clear a standard I set myself. But with 'Mononoke,' the production was so drawn out, it took forever to finish to my satisfaction.

With a series, keeping the quality high and writing incredibly fast, that's the first lesson you learn. You can't be real precious. When you're doing a feature film, you have 2 1/2 months; you sort of take your time. It's a different animal.

I couldn't imagine, and I don't say this with any pride, but I really couldn't imagine writing without a desperate deadline.

I have shot four films for sure. On most days, I wish that there were 48 hours in a day. When a movie is coming to an end and another is going to start, I've felt that I don't want to let go of this one just yet and say goodbye to the character nicely.

I think acting is boring because you have to sit for a long time. And being a director I am used to running around and being busy on sets. I lack the actor software.

There are some movies you do for the character; there are some movies you do for the people.

Any of us directing at Pixar, whether it's our first time or not, feel a lot of pressure to not make a bad Pixar film.

I love production. I could do it 365 days a year. Post is different. It's just too slow, and everything is very finite.

I have to do draft after draft... It takes me a long time, but I love doing it, and I have to do it every day, or I feel slack.

I'm a stickler when it comes to every aspect of my line. My development team probably hates working with me sometimes... but in a good way. I think that I push them to a certain degree to create something that's going to withstand the test of time.

We knew no matter how well 'Phir Hera Pheri' does, it would always be compared to 'Hera Pheri.' Yet, we took it as a challenge.

The trouble is, the older you get, it's hard to find time to make a film: it's a year to write, a year to get money, a year to make it, a year to edit. It's four years of your life.

We don't test out the songs live, and we don't play them for weeks on end in the studio. We have, like, one day to get two songs down. So what happens is, everybody's attention and energy gets ratcheted up. But it's good because it helps us focus.

Making 'Sweetback' took an exorbitant amount of energy and time.

The hardest thing about writing my second album is that I had 20 years to write my first album.

I tend to have a hard time working on pieces long before they're due. That's why I think the fact that I write a column is really good for me - the column has to be done, and there's no getting around it.

With a television series, there's a hard deadline, and so you have to write even when you're not writing well.