Gregg Allman Quotes

The director is a bit analogous to the conductor of a symphony orchestra. It's a collaborative adventure.

When you're writing, in theory, everybody is serving you. When you're directing, you're serving everybody - in the guise of acting like everybody's serving you. But you're really serving the materials. You're serving the actors. You're in charge, but it's not free.

Isn't composing music akin to film direction?

My whole life, I've been watching conductors. I was 7 the first time I played with a conductor. Seeing the ones that do it well, it's an amazing thing.

I write the music, produce it and the band plays within the parameters that I set.

The actor is concerned with his own bit of it, but the director's somehow trying to work the whole thing into a much bigger picture. It's like conducting an orchestra.

I don't think I know enough about acting to direct. You need to be a slight megalomaniac, not where you want to take over the world, but where you want to make every single decision and the buck stops with you. It's an awful lot of stress.

I feel I should defer to the writers and the directors because they're the ones who have the complete vision. They see things through from the beginning to the end. I'm responsible for one small part, so my scope is much more limited than theirs.

I have so much respect for directors. It's a tremendous amount of pressure; you have to keep steadfast and keep what you know is right.

I'm sure my children will be artists. I hope they will direct because it is much more interesting. Acting is great, and I love it, but it is very passive, and it depends on other people's desire, and you depend on others all the time.

I like to oversee what I do, so I have a hand in writing my songs. I also have people there to help me with my vision.

I am aware that as an actor, I can blame others for the failure of a film, the director, the script, choice of co-stars, timing of the release and so on. But now, as the director, I will have to shoulder all the blame.

The point of having a director is that they make the final decision; it's their point of view, they set the rhythm and they make the final decisions.

It's different being a director. I suppose, especially if it's a story you've written and you feel compelled to tell, in some ways it's a lot easier than acting because you're orchestrating the piece. As an actor, sometimes you're trying to second-guess what people want.

For me, acting is like a holiday. When you're directing, you have a strong sense of responsibility for others. It's exciting but exhausting, especially when you're like me: always wanting to break the rules.

Directing is much more satisfying to me than acting.

I am just the band leader, and I just keep everything in tune.

To have the privileged position of being the guy who is responsible for shaping the entire experience for an audience as opposed to being just one instrument in that orchestra, being an actor, it's all-encompassing.

With Dream Theater, every creative aspect of the group went through me. I oversaw it all from top to bottom.

A great conductor is an alchemical force: someone who can absorb the historical weight of a famous melody, the expectations of an audience, and the mercurial brilliance of a host of musicians, and shape them all to his or her interpretative ends.

Before 'Memphis,' I had never considered working on a musical. But when Joe DiPietro sent me the script, I heard the entire score in my head.

Producing isn't just making beats on a beat machine. It's bringing together these string players with this flute player and this singer, and telling them to all work in the key of C major... You bring these people together and let them all cook.

As a director, people are trusting you with their lives, with their stories.

Becoming artistic directors is an enormous responsibility and not one that we take lightly.

A director is what a director wants to be. If you want to force something, you can fight to the death and maybe get fired, but it's your job to help push things along.