Quotes & Sayings About Directing

you may be wrong to be right in the wrong direction, but, what is the wrong direction? — Ernest Agyemang Yeboah

I really love diving in, head first, with directing and not having to worry about hair, makeup or lines. — Chris Lowell

Acting, for me, is exhausting. I'm always more energized by directing. It's more intense to direct. I can pop in and express myself, then pop out again. It's a huge passion for me. — Jodie Foster

We do not believe that the heavens are sealed over our heads, but that the same Father who loved and cherished the children of Israel loves and cherishes us. We believe that we are as much in need of the assistance of our Heavenly Father in the directing of our lives as they were. We know that in the day and age in which we live the seal has been broken, and God has again spoken from the heavens. — George Albert Smith

When I was eight years old, I played a story game with my younger brother and sister to help them fall asleep. The 'word-story game' was where they would choose a word and I would create a story. Acting and directing are similar to this game, where I am given the words then I fill in the life of the characters. — Carson Grant

One day I decided to move towards documentaries or to move to more directing in documentaries at this point in my career. Why documentaries? I also love fiction. I would love to direct a fiction movie as well. But I think where I come from, reality is so interesting and has in it so many good stories to tell, this is why I'm doing that. I'm enjoying that. — Dror Moreh

Sir, Your letter of the 15th is received, but Age has long since obliged me to withhold my mind from Speculations of the difficulty of those of your letter, that their are means of artificial buoyancy by which man may be supported in the Air, the Balloon has proved, and that means of directing it may be discovered is against no law of Nature and is therefore possible as in the case of Birds, but to do this by mechanical means alone in a medium so rare and unassisting as air must have the aid of some principal not yet generally known. — Thomas Jefferson

The thing that's very close in the process is writing and acting, not directing. Directing's very different. — Sean Penn

It's always fun to do action and explosion, but I really enjoyed directing the emotion of the actors. — Roel Reine

Purpose creates a belief in a higher power, directing you toward your goal on the best path possible. — Lawren Leo

If we once admit that our life is here for the purpose of race-improvement, then we question any religion which does not improve the race, or the main force of which evaporates, as it were, directing our best efforts toward the sky ... Improvement in the human race is not accomplished by extracting any number of souls and placing them in heaven, or elsewhere. It must be established on earth, either through achievement in social service, or through better children. — Charlotte Perkins Gilman

You have the choice of deliberately directing your thinking, or allowing other forces to dictate your desires and attitudes. — Grant Von Harrison

Every human act had a power behind it, every power had an authority, and every authority had a purpose-dirty bombs constituted by free will and amended by angelic and demonic influence unto the driving of humanity-it was very much active directing. ~RUIN Katara Aggelos — Lucian Bane

After directing awhile, you get an instinct about it, but you have to be able to trust your own feelings. Invariably, two-thirds of the way through a film, you say, "Jeezus, is this a pile of crap! What did I ever see in it in the first place?" You have to shut off your brain and forge ahead, because by that time you're getting so brainwashed. Once I commit myself to a film I commit myself to that ending, whatever the motivations and conclusions are. — Clint Eastwood

Normally when people ask me what I do I say I'm an actor, and that's what I always wanted to be and that's the way I approach work even when I'm directing it. — Simon McBurney

Directing is a nice job. It's the best job for me. If i had to pay money to do it, I would do itIt's problematical. It's disapointing often. It's very challenging. It's frustrating as hell. It's extremely demanding and totally satisfying work. And if I wasn't doing this, I would have to do legitimate work for a living. There are guys out there really working for a living, cleaning streets or coal mining, teaching. Directing is playing. Acting. — William Friedkin

The last jobs I had were fixing cars and covering football games for a local access TV station. As in driving the mobile van to the field, setting up 3 cameras, teaching depressed grownups and interns how to use them and directing the game from the van and then wanting to kill myself. — Louis C.K.

With episodic, kind of one-hour directing, they always have guest directors come in, so they don't have the same person week after week. You get a break. — Melanie Mayron

Sometimes it's difficult directing yourself on film because you can't quite separate yourself from the subject. — Stanley Tucci

To be honest, I don't see myself acting forever. I just can't imagine myself being a 70-year-old man fighting for roles. I would love to do small parts in my friends' movies or things that I'm directing myself. I do envision myself behind the camera as I get a little bit older. — Dave Franco

Everything that I teach as an enlightened Buddhist teacher is towards directing an individual to happiness, a balanced wisdom and knowledge that is sometimes just bubbly and euphoric or just very still and profound. — Frederick Lenz

It's sort of one ongoing process where writing ends and directing starts. — Sean Durkin

I have always believed that directing a film is like telling a story. You have to tell it well so that it is appreciated. — Anupam Kher

I always say, 'I love producing, but directing is my passion,' and for a while, I had to produce to support my directing habit. — Michelle MacLaren

Being a father is like directing Alien or Invasion of the Body Snatchers. It's much more difficult than directing an episode of TV. Also, directing a show or movie lasts a few months at most, parenting lasts for decades. — Misha Collins

I think as he gets older, Quentin [Tarantino] is growing more and more into his directorial side, but the writer in him won't stop the pen. I don't think he deserved a directing nod. Like I said, it's beautifully shot - it's cinematography, obviously, deserves a nomination - but he's not the camera man. — Bun B.

The news may encourage us to imagine that the roots of a nation's problems have their fundamental origins in criminality at the top and yet, though there is clearly a role for targeting individual rotten apples, there is an equally vital task in directing attention to the colourless yet far larger institutional failures that lie concealed within our political and social arrangements. — Alain De Botton

I will be calmly active, actively calm. I am a prince of peace, sitting on the throne of poise, directing the kingdom of my activity. — Paramahansa Yogananda

You can experiment with directing metta toward a difficult aspect of yourself. There may be physical or emotional aspects of yourself you have struggled with, denied, avoided, been at war with. Sit quietly, sending yourself metta. After some time, turn your attention to the loneliness, anger, disability, addiction, or whatever aspect of your mind or body you feel most estranged from. Healing begins with the open, compassionate acknowledgment of these unpleasant aspects of our lives. Surround the painful element of your experience with the warmth and acceptance of metta. You can use phrases such as, ' May I accept this,' 'May I be filled with loving kindness toward this,' 'May I use the pain of this experience for the welfare of all. — Sharon Salzberg

Depending on the skill and will of the individual, the right leadership style may be coaching, motivating, or directing rather than delegating. A leader has to pick the right style of leadership for each employee, and it is not one-size-fits-all, — Thomas Lee

Producers don't like the director who ignores their opinion - but I always try not to be the nicest person when making a movie. It's easy to do that. Just say 'Yes sir', Alright', 'Okay' - but they're not seeing the movie because if they can, they should be directing the movie. — Ryuhei Kitamura

I enjoy directing, but I really like acting more. The idea of controlling the whole thing is not something that really appeals to me as much as being able to just control the world of the character that I'm dealing with. — Stacy Keach

I thought Jack's directing job was the best thing about the film. — Harvey Keitel

I feel responsible for everybody, and I couldn't imagine a scenario where I wouldn't be directing what was happening, at the end. — Greg Daniels

The only thing that gets me back to directing is good scripts. — Steven Spielberg

I am capable of directing, and I am good at that. In order to have longevity as actors, you have to keep changing it up a bit; you have to bring other talents to the table. I want this to be another feather in my cap instead of replacing what I already have. — Kirsten Nelson

Directing a film was something I was yearning to do. I always wanted to see if I had the capacity to be a good storyteller. — Kevin Spacey

When I'm directing or producing, I like to do different kinds of stories. But you have to know what you really like, and when you do, you have to front your position. — Danny DeVito

The directing motive, the end and aim of capitalist production, is to extract the greatest possible amount of surplus value, and consequently to exploit labor-power to the greatest possible extent. — Karl Marx

I've always wanted to work with Elizabeth Banks. She's so talented and funny, and she's become this force of nature - directing, producing. Being around her is kind of inspiring. — Gillian Jacobs

Directing is: you're overwhelmed the whole time. Your mind never stops. If you care about it. You wake up in the morning and you begin thinking about it and then you go to sleep at night and you're still thinking about it. — Campbell Scott

As a director, your work is finished only when it's on the screen. But I will always be an actor who occasionally directs. And no, I have no interest in directing myself. I wouldn't be able to concentrate on both jobs at once. — David Morrissey

Directing a movie is serious, it's not a joke. — Fred Durst

I started off as a director, so when I see other actors directing, it gives me hope that maybe they'll put me into that position at some point, too. — Niall Matter

I suppose that if I could have quit, I would have, because in those days I never wanted to be an actress, the acting was something to do while I waited for a chance to study writing and directing. But I guess I was just meant to be an actress. Because, here I am. — Judy Holliday

The holy spirit means the invisible power of Jehovah, holy because he is holy. This power of Jehovah operated upon the minds of honest men who loved and who were devoted to righteousness, directing them in the writing of the Bible. — Joseph Franklin Rutherford

Sometimes when I'm writing I'll play Cole Porter, just because the rhythms and the lyrics are so perfect that it's like having a smart partner in the room. I have a huge collection of music that I listen to when I'm writing, and I also prepare a lot of music before I start directing. I put it all onto an iPod that I have with me on the set. It's helpful to the actors, because for an emotional scene, I'll play it and say, this is how it feels, to keep us in the zone. — Nancy Meyers

Then the bull shook himself, turned his head and looked at us. There was an awed whisper from one of the young men: "By gaw, it's working!" I enjoyed myself after that. I can't think of anything in my working life that has given me more pleasure than standing in that pen directing the life-saving jet and watching the bull savouring it. — James Herriot

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

I had worked in this New York theatre company for my first eight or nine years out of college, acting and directing there, and I'd begun to write a little bit. — Clark Gregg

I attend film school, my background is acting and directing. But the acting does best, I like to work on the stage. — Tommy Wiseau

Let God direct your steps. The main reason why many steps fail is that people know God is an expert in directing steps, but they don't want to give him the contract. — Israelmore Ayivor

Directing music videos is all about capturing images. — Nia Long

I'm not sure that I could give notes to someone that I revere. That's a general challenge of directing, giving notes to someone you revere. The other big contribution to this, which most people I show footage to take note of is Mauro Fiore's cinematography is unbelievable. — Shawn Anthony Levy

My abilities grow with each job, whether it's writing or directing. When I stop learing, I'll stop working. — Peter Fonda

I was always directing; even back when I started on stage. I was always throwing out ideas. I just love creating stories and for some reason people would listen. — Mike Mayhall

You are limited, my friend, in what you can and cannot control, as are we all. If you are to become healthy, you must acknowledge the ineluctability of your brother's course. Acknowledge your limitations in directing it, Dominick. And that will free you. That will help to make you well. — Wally Lamb

Art is manipulation, the management of material, the directing of fate ... Who does that directing? — Eric Maisel

But at a certain point, and I don't really know ... people have asked me this. I don't know exactly what it was that pushed me towards directing, but I think it was a naive notion that if I directed I would be able to play all the roles. A kind of greed. — Peter Bogdanovich

The writing, acting and the directing all complement each other and make each other better. It's one of those amazing instances where everything seems to come together. — Alex Gansa

After directing movies, I respect any director in this world, because making a movie as a director is tons and tons of work. — Jordi Molla

If it were not for the assurance that I have that the Lord is near to us, guiding, directing, the burden would be almost beyond my strength, but because I know that He is there, and that He can be appealed to, and if we have ears to hear attuned to Him, we will never be left alone — Harold B. Lee

Directing is really my favorite thing to do, but if I never directed again, I'd be okay if all the work I did was good. — Jeff Garlin

My daughter Meredith Moon from my second wife has a band that does Appalachian music, with five-strong banjo, clawhammer style. I may have to direct her somewhere. Meredith was my middle name. I would have to direct her because I am always directing something. She's in the musician's union and she is only 21. Your kids surprise you. — Gordon Lightfoot

If we consider the manner in which those who assume the office of directing the conduct of others execute their undertaking, it will not be very wonderful that their labours, however zealous or affectionate, are frequently useless. For what is the advice that is commonly given? A few general maxims, enforced with vehemence, and inculcated with importunity, but failing for want of particular reference and immediate application. — Samuel Johnson

If you're directing, it doesn't really matter any more if it's going straight to TV - what matters is whether you have the resources to make a story that moves you. — Cary Fukunaga

It's natural for any actor that segues into directing to be an actor's director. You know how to relate to the actors. — Omar Epps

In April, I asked my staff to determine if Senate rules and relevant laws would allow me to direct the trustees to sell any remaining HCA stock. In May, my staff worked with outside counsel and with the Senate ethics committee staff to draft a written communication to the trustees. After obtaining pre-approval by mid-June from the Senate ethics committee, I issued a letter directing my trustees to sell any remaining HCA stock in my family's trust. — Bill Frist

I want to die in the saddle. I love writing, producing, acting, directing. — Peter Fonda

It's a lot of work that goes into producing and directing and all those kinds of things. It doesn't just happen. It's a lotta work. It's a lot more work than acting. — Kevin Connolly

There's people who live life authentically and there's people who live a life of fabrication. And it begins with the question of how you're gonna do your time. And these are observations I made about Folsom when I was there with Dustin Hoffman when he was directing 'Straight Time.' — Michael Mann

I have considered the directing, actually. Not so much the writing. That is not really interesting, but the directing is really interesting to me. — Timothy Omundson

I studied directing prior to acting and I've done music videos and documentaries and things that were sort of well-received. — Matthew Gray Gubler

If I'm going to take my clothes off I figured I might as well do it for something that I'm directing myself since I had complete control of the edit. — Rachael Taylor

I kind of don't believe in actors directing themselves. Obviously some people have done it well, but I don't see how I could. It's funny that you ask, because I've just been thinking that maybe I'd rather direct The Bell Jar than act in it. It's a huge leap to go from a short to a feature, so I'm tentative - I'm like, Well, that's just so triple-type-A personality of you. — Julia Stiles

Yet, analytical truth is not as mysterious, or as secret, so as to not allow us to see that people with a talent for directing consciences see truth rise spontaneously. — Jacques Lacan

Eric McCormack is directing talent waiting to happen. — Ron Livingston

I'll be directing some more 'Private Practice' episodes when we wrap 'Caprica.' — Eric Stoltz

The guiding metaphor of classic style is seeing the world. The writer can see something that the reader has not yet noticed, and he orients the reader's gaze so that she can see it for herself. The purpose of writing is presentation, and its motive is disinterested truth. It succeeds when it aligns language with the truth, the proof of success being clarity and simplicity. The truth can be known, and is not the same as the language that reveals it; prose is a window onto the world. The writer knows the truth before putting it into words; he is not using the occasion of writing to sort out what he thinks. Nor does the writer of classic prose have to argue for the truth; he just needs to present it. That is because the reader is competent and can recognize the truth when she sees it, as long as she is given an unobstructed view. The writer and the reader are equals, and the process of directing the reader's gaze takes the form of a conversation. — Steven Pinker

I can make a better living as an actor than I can as a director. Though I certainly would prefer to be directing movies. — Sean Penn

The only disadvantage to directing if you've been an actor is how self-conscious you are. When I'm directing, I'm always so aware when I'm speaking to an actor of how easily I could throw them off by saying something careless or not being clear or concise. So it does make you watch your words in a way that sometimes is unhelpful. — Sarah Polley

When I started, I was 23 years old directing my own music videos; I'm co-producing on my album; I'm hands-on with everything. I'm more than just a pretty boy: I'm an artist. I'm not saying I'm a hip-hop music artist, I'm an artiste. — ASAP Rocky

he has served for three of his four short years at Payne in administration, directing the undergraduate writing center and the much contested/maligned composition program. (No reasonable person outside a university would believe the teaching of composition to be controversial, but of course it is.) Professor West has an open-door policy — Julie Schumacher

I love directing. It's where my heart is, and it's the way my mind works. — Melissa Joan Hart

My college degree was in theater. But the real reason, if I have any success in that milieu, so to speak, is because I spent a lot of years directing, I spent a lot of years behind the camera. — Alton Brown

He wasn't directing it, of course, so I didn't work with Hitchcock. — Sally Kellerman

Making a movie and not directing the little moments is like drinking a soda and leaving the little slurp puddle for someone else. — Steven Spielberg

There's no real rules about what you do [while directing]; it's just you just use your instincts as to the pacing of a film and what is repetitive and what is the minimum amount you can get away with to tell the story, that scene didn't make it in. — Peter Jackson

Politics can be a factor neither in shaping Islam nor directing Muslims' acts and attitudes in Islam's name. — Fethullah Gulen

When I'm directing I'm working from 100% of my brain, but when I'm acting I'm working from my heart. — Matthew Gray Gubler

The root of any film project for me is this inner need to express something. What nurtures this root and makes it grow into a tree is the script. What makes the tree bear flowers and fruit is the directing. — Akira Kurosawa

If I dream that I'm directing, it's not a film, it's like a commercial for cotton candy, and I've got four feet of cotton candy all around me that I've got to break through, like a brick wall or a fortress. — Mike Birbiglia

When I write something, I want the best director to direct it. And that's not going to be me. So when David Fincher comes along and wants to direct 'The Social Network,' when Bennett Miller comes along and wants to direct 'Moneyball,' or when Danny Boyle wants to direct 'Jobs'? Hallelujah. I want them directing it. — Aaron Sorkin

Individuality is a real power inherent in all and the development and consequent expression of this power enables one to assume the responsibility of directing his own footsteps rather than stampeding after some self-assertive bell-wether. — Charles F. Haanel

It's been very exciting for me to start directing and conducting, exploring the symphonic repertoire, which I've always loved. — Joshua Bell

They offered me that film before I did Frida and I said, no, I'm not capable of directing. Then after seeing Julie direct, I was inspired by it. She motivated me to do it, because we don't have role models as woman for directors. — Salma Hayek

Alan Alda and his wife Arlene are two of the most life-affirming people I've ever met. He espoused equal rights for women while producing, writing, acting in and directing 'M*A*S*H'; he used to commute between the set and home because he didn't want to disrupt his kids' schooling. — Sanjeev Bhaskar

What I like most about directing is creating a world more so than anything. To me, the music is the wrapping paper on that world. — Matthew Gray Gubler

When not writing and directing, my bread and butter comes from acting and stunt work. I've been fortunate enough to be part of some amazing productions. — Mike Mayhall

I don't want to sound arrogant and say that I know everything about directing and I've got it cracked, but it was just all in all a joyous experience. To me, the key to directing, to be honest, is just surround yourself with brilliant people and let them do their thing — Dan Mazer