I don't make my living writing; I make my living as a producer and as a director.
— Grant Heslov
I think it's more interesting to throw people into a story and let them catch up instead of explaining and feeling like you have to slow down for them. I think audiences, for the most part, they don't want to be ahead of you.
Writing a screenplay is like writing a big puzzle, and so the hardest part, I think, is getting the story.
I didn't want to be 50 or 60 and auditioning for a three-line role.
'Monuments Men' is not a docudrama. It's not a documentary.
Actors know how to talk to other actors in a way that sometimes other directors just don't.
There are films that cost a lot of money that might be decent films. But if they don't perform in that first weekend or two, they're gone.
Look, a lot of directors were actors, even if they were unsuccessful actors which I think is helpful. I think it's a really helpful thing for a director to have experienced that. It helps you know how to talk to actors and how to get what you need from them.
Creatively, it's great, because when you write your own movies, you get to create whatever you want.
You work with great directors and terrible directors, and so you learn; you take what you think will work for you.
I'm very superstitious.
I find writing really difficult - definitely the most difficult of all the things I do.
'The Ides of March' was a fairly cynical film.
You have to make films you feel strongly about. And then hope you can find the audience.
There are times when you work with directors on set, and things are a bit rudderless, and those can be good directors.
I acted for so many years and sat on a million sets and worked with a million different directors so that is to me some of the best training you can get.
When I write, I make decent money doing it, but I don't wake up dreaming about writing.
Generally, screenplays suck.
When you look at a film like 'The Ides of March' or 'Good Night, and Good Luck' even, those are really contained pictures.
'Monuments Men' is a movie... I don't want to say for grown-ups, because some young folks could appreciate it, too. But if you're expecting 'Transformers,' you're going to be disappointed.
A film like 'Good Night And Good Luck,' you make that for $7 million because you know it's a black-and-white film, and it's not an easy sell. If you make it for $7 million, then everybody can have a chance to make a little bit of money, and you get to make the film you want to make.
It takes a long time to get a film made.
What you learn when you direct a film, even more so than as a producer, it's a marriage. It's like a relationship with that film so you've got to make sure that it's really something that you want to live with for three years or however long it is. So I haven't found the right thing to marry yet.
