Eric Idle Quotes

Casey Affleck is someone I want to work with again. We almost had him on 'Pete's Dragon,' but his scheduling issues didn't work out.

The thing that helped me get into the film business was that I went to school in Athens, Georgia and managed to get on, um, working on music videos for a band called R.E.M. and that kind of opened up a lot of doors for me.

There are always roles that seem enticing that you can't do because of scheduling.

The business that people do in LA on the social level is amazing. You go to a restaurant, bump into this guy or that guy. The next day you get a call, and they want you in their movie.

The great thing about being in this business is that you meet people, and I met Sally Struthers.

I'm not totally sure what I want to be doing, but it's so fun to be on 'SNL' because you get exposed to so many different people and so many different experiences. It's a cool, lucky way to break into the business.

There are certain shows or people that I would love to work with. One of the greatest things about our business is that if you get to fan out on people you might actually get to meet.

I'm always looking for talented people that I want to collaborate with.

There's no show business in Canada, so everybody just did stand-up and we all thought, "Oh, we'll just keep doing stand-up." And then I'm like, "There's more work in the States."

I once had a young musician come to me and say that he wanted to be a professional musician. I asked him to write his list. When he came back to me, the three things in his life he most wanted were: to be paid for his music; to travel around the world; to meet new people. We came to the decision, after thinking really creatively, that if he got a job on a cruise ship, he would fulfill those goals.

I don't like talking about sequels or spinoffs or franchise until they actually happen, until they actually work with the audience.

Let me shake it off I just signed a couple deals I might break you off

The reason I got a break in Hollywood when I moved here a few years ago is my good buddy, who I was on the beach with when he was a publicist, is now the chairman of HBO.

Meeting people is difficult, period. LA is a difficult place to meet people anyway, and Hollywood is such a small community. But I don't make it a rule just to date other actors and people in the entertainment industry. It could work out with me and a dentist. It could work out with me and a lawyer.

For us, being a label, we took out the whole aspect of the business that goes into sifting through people who don't care, who don't get what you're trying to do. We can just hire and work with people who get it - the people who understand what this project is about. When you're on a label, you're just hoping somebody will stick their neck out and work for you. Most bands are just like, "I hope they do it. I hope they promote it." But being a label, we know exactly what's happening.

The TV industry works in this crazy system where everybody's trying to get the same actors at the same time.

For me the most important thing is to continue to work with the best people that I can find, and that will have me.

I was going to have Brian La Croix do a cameo on Degrassi. But, unfortunately, the scheduling didn't work out. When I was in Toronto, they weren't shooting. To me, that would've been a pretty crazy meta experience.

Showrunning is a thing where you have to work with tons of different people. You have to schmooze people, you have to talk to network people. I don't want to do any of that.

I came close to signing Elvis Presley. I offered $25,000 for his contract and they asked for $45,000 and I just didn't have the other $20,000. I should have gotten the Beatles. But one of my lawyers kind of messed up.

Can't do any work with a rock star; you have to go through their lawyers and their agents and their managers and you have to book them hotel rooms. When you work with your friends, you just call them up and they come over and you record and then you go out to see a movie.

Last time I was in Canada Celine Dion had just given birth to identical twins. Which is quite an achievement given her age and face.

You need names to get the movie made.

If someone is choosing between joining McKinsey or your startup it's very unlikely they're going to work out at the startup.

So I'm here, and not being one for missed opportunities, I made a list of the casting directors in New York and mark off the ones I've already met over the years. The few remaining I asked my agent and manager, "See if you can set up some meetings while I'm here."