Miguel Sapochnik Quotes

'Game of Thrones' couldn't be a movie. There's too much in it. You couldn't do it justice.

I think, as directors, they may recognize, more than the rest of the body of filmmakers, exactly what you do as a director, because I think sometimes the conception is if the camera isn't swinging around, and it's not pyrotechnic or worthily melodramatic, then the direction is uninvolved.

I don't make unconventional stories; I don't make non-linear stories. I like linear storytelling a lot.

Many people who have watched 'Pieta' have said my filmmaking has become more objective.

The don't-ask-don't-tell approach to plot and character that 'The Hurt Locker' relies on to set itself in motion doesn't offend me politically. It offends me as a storyteller.

I never met Peter O'Toole, but he one was of those rare actors whose success was defined by a single role. His incandescent performance in David Lean's 'Lawrence of Arabia' is one that nobody who saw it will ever forget.

Films have become shorter in length, jumpier in style, and simpler in story so that they can be more easily transferred to once under-exploited international markets.

I don't think there's any show comparable to 'Game of Thrones' in terms of the way it does the fantasy element to such a high standard: everything is created with so much care and detail. You really feel like you are transported into this entirely other fictional place.

My stories are full of facts; they have a beginning and an end. For that reason, they will never... occupy a place in contemporary literature.

With 'All Is Song,' I tried to construct a very traditional narrative that pulls no tricks.

I have nothing against these big CGI movies, but there are not enough of the other ones - the ones with stories about character that have a beginning, a middle and an end. I said that to a couple of studio heads and they said, 'That's novel.'

'Game of Thrones' is just incredible, what they pull off every week.

I had read the novel and I had heard David Lean was going to direct it - and it came as a surprise to me because American actors, if given the chance, can do style as well as anybody and speak as well as anybody.

I don't feel the obligation to have a big explosion in the first 20 seconds so the audience doesn't turn on another channel. We are trying to make something that looks like a feature film that was bought for television and I think we are succeeding.

I think 'Game of Thrones' was extraordinary. I want to do some period pieces. It would be lovely to tell great stories, that is my main ambition. And to be working with amazing creators.

Billy Wilder is really is a heavy influence on Bound. We felt that film noir was a genre where you could create a really contained story. We wanted to be on a set as much as we could to get the kind of style level we were looking for.

I'm very attracted to directors who want to experiment. The thing that attracts me the most are people who are trying find a language that is correct for their film, for that specific film.

In something like 'Frank,' which is a comedy, albeit a strange and emotional one, you can absolutely put in deleted scenes, and we did because they were just funny and great, but they weren't necessary in the overall structure.

There's nothing I've ever worked on that beat 'Game of Thrones' - that's a 10-hour movie; they put a lot of money in it.

That's the only thing I'm jealous about 'Game of Thrones': they get to go to Spain all the time.

I can't imagine David Lean justifying why he went to the desert to shoot 'Lawrence of Arabia.'

Some directors are interested in acting, and others are only interested in cranes and moving the camera.

I'm influenced by Jennifer Egan, Dave Eggers, David Foster Wallace: writers who are often not content to just stack paragraphs and have to break out of that.

I love the way the long scenes feel - one of the characteristics of '70s filmmaking is that you don't cut around a lot; you let things play out. I did that on 'Samurai Jack,' and it carried over into 'Clone Wars.'

When you watch stuff that is YA, it looks like it's been made YA. It doesn't look real.