Matthew Bourne Quotes

I try and create for the audience something that relates to real-life experience.

Whatever films I make, the mandate is that it should touch the audiences and engage them from the first scene.

That's what people want to watch - somebody telling a story. So if you go in and tell a story that makes sense to them, that touches them, then they're going to watch; then they'll tell a friend and that type of thing. In terms of how many people are watching in a given week, it's more the advertiser's job, not mine.

My style of songwriting is influenced by cinema. I'm a frustrated filmmaker. A fan once said to me, 'Girl, you make me see pictures in my head!' and I took that as a great compliment. That's exactly my intention.

The greatest artists know how to entertain, or else nobody would read them.

I firmly believe that emotions are universal, and I know that when they connect with the audience, it works. There is no such thing as an entertaining or a serious film; there are good films and bad films. Good films will always find a vast audience.

If you don't have something that glues the audience to the screen, you're in trouble.

These guys at Fox knew that as a filmmaker, I could always tell different types of stories and each can emotionally connect to a universal audience.

I found out a long time ago that if I didn't have a good story for a song, I could just make one up! Now it seems over half the stories in my show are made up. The funny thing is, those seem to be the ones that resonate the most with the audiences.

Creating emotion was what my career was all about. I wanted people to laugh at me; I wanted people to cry with me. I wanted people to feel good or to think about something when they watched me. I think that's why, even not being an Olympic champion, I have such a huge following around the world.

The power of story and the power of a well-crafted film or television show is really all you need to speak to people. I think Hollywood is sort of catching up to that.

I'm interested in putting something on stage that will have a very wide appeal without being condescending; that will reach an audience and make it part of the dance; that will get everybody in the theater.

TV is our window on the world. It's a powerful medium for great stories that become part of our very, very personal journey.

I suppose what I aspire to do is to make it easy for the audience to connect with a story.

Singers always have an advantage. You know, everyone can connect to a song in a way that they cannot do to a basketball act or a magician act or whatever.

People don't care how you feel. You need to paint pictures, you need to tell stories. That's what people want. They want to be entertained. Then all of the other stuff kind of filters across as part of the whole thing.

You have to find your tone and work within that to make it as real so the audience can really engage in the story you're telling.

You can watch someone on-stage cry and cry - but in the audience you feel nothing. It's easy to become indulgent. For me, what's important is the story first.

Acting and singing are actually very similar because they're both telling a story.

I love to entertain, I love to make people laugh, cry, and move them, perhaps moving them in their lives.

If you are writing a story and trying to draw an audience to come and hear you tell it, it's got to in some way relate to them. Who wants to come and hear about your specific problems? It's not therapy - it's supposed to be a communal piece of entertainment.

I think there's something really thrilling to having to get people laughing about something, and then, when you have them in that comfort space, you can drop the weight into the texture of the story.

Composers, like authors, have a lot in common. Our main goal is to connect with the listener emotionally.

I don't have a favorite genre. I love to work and live vicariously through every character. It's all about trying to bring the character to life and get the story across in a way that resonates with the audience. It's always interesting and challenging in a gratifying and unique way.

And that's what people want to see when they go to the theater. I believe at the end of the day, they want to see themselves - parts of their lives they can recognize. And I feel if I can achieve that, it's pretty spectacular.