Varun Tej Quotes

Moviemaking is about telling a story. And you need to know what story you are going to tell.

Ultimately, a director is a storyteller. I wanted to fortify that part of my life as a director, so I thought the best way to do that is to study and learn about the greatest stories ever written.

Filmmaking is so heavy: there are so many people and trucks and teamsters and costume people and hair people and makeup people. I try to make it light and as simple as possible. It's great for actors. It puts the story up front. It's not about shots and dollies and lighting and sets.

A novel is both a story and a piece of writing. A movie is a story and a piece of filmmaking.

Well, there's two things I have criteria for doing a film: The script, which is the story, and the filmmaker, and it's a filmmaker's medium. I like really strong directors, and so when I do a film, I'm out there to serve the director, really, which is in turn to serve the script, to serve the director cause he's the one making the film. I relied on Todd Haynes for that.

One of the reasons I never had a problem handing over my characters to other creators is that I knew that they would add their own influences and takes on the characters and make them better for it.

I just love working with actors, and I love working with writers, working with designers. I feel that I am just a storyteller, and whether I am wearing the director hat or the playwright hat, it doesn't matter. And the rooms I tend to be in are pretty democratic, and the best idea wins.

I love movies. Movies have influenced me as a writer.

I want to work with anyone who's passionate about telling a story. I obviously have a list of people I really love, but it's a really long list.

Cary and I are working together on another movie, Charlotte's Web.

No other aspect of filmmaking has tempted me to do a film other than the script and the story itself.

Directors are our teachers, and I'm always craving to work with a great director. They're pretty much the first thing that interests me about a project. Let's put it this way: It'll take me a lot longer to read a script if there's no director attached.

I would like to write a movie and, if it wasn't too crazy, also direct.

The script is just a blueprint.

I think in most cases, when you're writing a song, you're just making up a little story, and you're not really thinking about making a point one way or another about it. You're just coming up with a little scenario and seeing it through, and that's it.

I am interested in people. I'm interested in telling stories, whether that is behind the camera or in front of the camera.

You can be technically strong, and focus all your efforts on elements like casting, music, cinematography and sets, but they are all just add ons. End of the day, filmmaking is really about how well you tell a story.

I'm a fan of creative writing and telling stories.

I'm not necessarily less gratified by films where you're given less room to maneuve. Because I love a great script, and I love to respect it, and I love to try to give a director what he needs and wants, especially having directed now. [Laughs.] I'm much more open to try to give him what he wants and figure it out. I like working with directors I respect and admire, obviously. And everybody has their own way.

David Mamet, Tim Kazurinsky, and Denise DeClue, who adapted [ About Last Night]. Between the three of them... I mean, it's always down to the writing. You're only as good as your writing.

I would recommend that any writer get off their ass at least once and just try it. Directing is a completely different set of muscles. It also affects your writing because, once you start directing, you tend to write your scripts with directing in mind.

You can make a thousand different movies about the same subject.

Bill Condon, I must say, may have been one of the best professional experiences of my life, collaborating with him. He, himself, is an Academy Award winning screenwriter. He is a storyteller first and foremost, so we speak the same language. We approach things always from the story.

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

I'm someone who has a singular goal in making films: I want to tell a story. There are certain stories that I want to tell.