J. Michael Straczynski Quotes

I would say that the energy on set is always the energy of the director because he's the boss.

I've found that the more experts you have on a movie, the less control the director has.

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.

Most directors prefer to direct everything themselves. I thought I could on Lord Of The Rings, but very quickly found out that the sheer scale prevented it.

As a director myself, you want to have colleagues and collaborators that respect your authority as the director. I'm very comfortable with that, and I've done a lot of work in second unit.

Being a director, just to begin with, is just, I think, one of the hardest jobs just because you have to work in every way. You have to work with actors, you have to be involved with the producers and the writing and the action. Every department comes to you; you have to deal with everything.

There is an isolated experience to being a director. It's very communal because there's a crew, but it's only you. You're the one on the hook.

A director must be a policeman, a midwife, a psychoanalyst, a sycophant and a bastard.

Films are a director's medium. We're all stemming from the director.

Looking back, the most challenging thing for me was actually directing. It's very tough. Being in front of the camera is easy since the director can tell me what to do. But being the director and giving people directions is the toughest thing for me.

Directors are the fulcrum of the movie. They guide us well, not merely rein actors in. Whenever we stray, they bring us back on track.

As an actor, we can only do what the director wants. Only the director has a vision of the entire film.

Every director works differently but one thing's important: they must have a vision. If they don't have a vision I don't care how they work.

When you do a movie, it's like going on a journey. It's really like the director is the captain of the ship, and that energy, everybody feels.

Throughout whatever I do, I always just say "Director" first. I am directing the storylines and I'm creating what it is.

Your director is your everything and you devote yourself to them and you want to help create their vision.

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.

I always used to associate good directors as being ones who are totally extreme and have an answer for everything and there are no loose ends.

I wrote a script and I've been whispering in director's ears for a really long time and I'd love to direct.

Some directors hand over portions of their movie to their head of department to the point where it's like, "I'm not going to talk to you about the costumes, but I'm going to let you talk to the expert." Rather than, "You want to talk stitching, let's talk stitching. You want to talk grade of leather? Let's."

If someone is going to talk about the process of making a film, it should be the director.

(Sometimes when) someone's directing for the first time, they're afraid to include everyone - they have to prove they're the director.

(When asked what a director does) I help.

At best, I think of a director as a magnet. You get all the metal fillings in all the individual actors and crew, and get those filings moving toward your magnetic direction.

I just realized that I need to be a director - for two reasons. One, directors were already my heroes at this point. I wanted to; when I wanted to be an actor I wanted to work with this director. Not work with this actor, I wanted to work for this director.