David Nevins Quotes

Everyone is trying to do something that hasn't been done and that's a really good thing. You can only do so much with a story and some scripts don't give you the opportunities and other scripts do give you the opportunities to do things that haven't been done before.

I have a real interest in pushing some of the limits of things that studios don't want to make.

I don't want to just make the safe, easy commercial films.

You don't know what the country is ready for unless you're pushing that envelope, and I was told that I couldn't develop 'Will and Grace'.

The best films come about through experimentation.

I like taking up challenges. I prefer working with scripts that are different and veer from the tried and tested. So far, it's always worked.

The cable makers are the ones who are willing to take risks and do something original and push the envelope some.

I don't like playing standards. I like to do my own cutting edge work.

Everybody wants you to do this thing that you've always been doing forever. That's what they want: they want Martin Scorsese to make the same film two hundred times rather than trying to be something different.

The innovator, however, must in the first place be discontented, he must doubt the value of what he is doing or question the accepted ways of doing it. And secondly, he must be prepared to take fresh paths, to venture into fields where he is by no means expert. This is true, at least, of major forms of innovation; they make it possible for other men to be expert, but are not themselves forms of expertise

The thing I'm most proud of about - not all of our movies, but a lot of our movies - is that you might love 'em, you might hate 'em, but most of the time, they're trying to be different or trying new things, which I think is really important.

I think we shouldn't buckle up our creativity. You've got to experiment!

If you don't take a risk then what's the point. We can't keep making films in the same space.

If designers are willing to take risks, I think buyers should take risks, as well with press taking risks.

If you're making a smaller movie, you're almost obligated to do something unexpected and surprising.

I never imagined myself doing a one-man show. If I'm going to do one, I'd rather do one that breaks all the rules.

To make great movies, there is an element of risk. You have to say, 'Well, I am going to make this film, and it is not really a sure thing.'

If you're trying to do something different, you can't ask someone to help, because they'll want to make it not different.

I'm at the point now where I know I'm doing something right when a movie gets mixed reviews, because then I'm not in the box. I don't want to make it too easy for people and I don't want to make it too easy for myself. I want to try something unusual.

Some of the screen's best moments were realized because a director went against all reason, all logic. No matter how incredible a story seems, it can be made credible. If you feel an insane idea strongly enough, you've usually got something.

I admire actors who are bold and try to go forward over the cliche and propose something original to the audience.

I've always been controversial because I offer new ideas. For me to be controversial, I think this is positive.

We all feel that if we have a crazy idea that might get laughed at, there's nothing wrong with seeing if there's a crazy writer out there who agrees with us and can take it to a crazy network and somehow bring something that's a little bit daft and edgy to life.

Everything that an artist does is a risk. Some people want you to stay the same. If you want to evolve, they want to keep you in a certain place.

As a creator, I always want to betray fans' expectations.