Quotes

Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977) is probably the most influential film of my generation. It's the personification of good and evil and the way it opened up the world to space adventure, the way westerns had to our parents' generations, left an indelible imprint. So, in a way, everything that any of us does is somehow directly or indirectly affected by the experience of seeing those first three films.

I feel like in telling stories, there are the things the audience thinks are important, and then there are the things that are actually important.

Directing's the best part. Whenever I've directed something, there's this feeling of demand and focus that I like. And secondly, it means that you've gotten through all the writing stuff, and the producing stuff, and casting, and prep, and all those stages that are seemingly endless. So directing is sort of the reward for all the work you put in before. And then there's the editing, which is another amazing stage of the process. It's incredible the moments you can create.

I'm an impatient guy and tend not to like to stay with one thing for a long time. I'll never be able to write as many scripts as I did for Felicity (1998) or Alias (2001) ever again. I'm just too impatient these days. I want to get on to the next project.

I've always liked working on stories that combine people who are relatable with something insane. The most exciting thing for me is crossing that bridge between something we know is real and something that is extraordinary. The thing for me has always been how you cross that bridge.

There's something about looking at Super 8 films that is so evocative. You could argue it's the resolution of the film somehow because they aren't crystal clear and perfect, so there is a kind of gauzy layer between you and what you see. You could argue it's the silence of them. You could say it's the sound of the projector that creates a moodiness. But there's something about looking at analog movies that's infinitely more powerful than digital.

[on missing writing Felicity (1998)] I miss writing for a show that doesn't have any sort of odd, almost sci-fi bend to it. It was just sort of pure romantic, sweet characters who had crushes on one another and were dealing with which party to go to and if they had a part-time job or not--stuff that was kind of fun to write about.

When I was a kid and saw Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977) for the first time, it blew my mind and around the same time, I had friends who were huge fans of Star Trek and I don't know if I was smart enough to get it, or patient enough. What I loved about Star Wars was the visceral energy of it, the clarity of it, the kind of innocence and big heart of it. Star Trek always felt a little bit more sophisticated and philosophical, debating moral dilemmas and things that were theoretically interesting, but for some reason I couldn't get on board. It really took working with all these guys and actually working on Star Trek for me to fall in love with that.

[on Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)] The thing that the great genre filmmaking has always done is taken issues of now and told them through allegory and made them palatable for larger audiences. But, you know, there are themes in the movie that were important to us: the idea of questioning authority, the idea that when the task you're given is morally questionable, what do you do? When protecting others, especially family, means making the ultimate sacrifice, what do you do? When you feel that desperate need for revenge and blood lust, what do you do?

[on producing both Star Trek (2009) and Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015)] There is no meta strategy to this, no Machiavellian plan. It was simply two opportunities to get involved in two disparate film series that are bigger than all of us. I don't feel any kind of Coke vs. Pepsi thing about it. It seems there is enough bandwidth for both of these very different stories to coexist. I feel incredibly lucky to be involved in either of them.

Looking back on my childhood, I have a list of things that are massively important to me. Without question, Star Wars was on the list, and Star Trek was not.

I actually had to use Industrial Light & Magic to remove lens flare in a couple of shots, which is, I know, moronic. But I think admitting you're an addict is the first step towards recovery.

[on Kodak's new Super 8 camera] While any technology that allows for visual storytelling must be embraced, nothing beats film ... The fact that Kodak is building a brand new Super 8 camera is a dream come true. [2016]

I don't think I have a signature.

To me the interesting main character is never the one without flaws.

I think you have a passion and an obsession for something when it's not necessarily ubiquitous.

I try to push ideas away, and the ones that will not leave me alone are the ones that ultimately end up happening.

You can never guess or assume what anyone is going to think.

All I know is that I've made some big screw-ups, and I've done some things that have done all right. I just keep trying to learn from the mistakes I've made.

What's a bigger mystery box than a movie theatre? You go to the theatre, you're just so excited to see anything - the moment the lights go down is often the best part.

Robotics are beginning to cross that line from absolutely primitive motion to motion that resembles animal or human behaviour.

My mother is the coolest, most amazing person I know.

I've had the same friends since I was in kindergarten.

You never want to have that ticking clock and know that you had all this time and didn't use it.

We're living at a time where if you do a Google search for a "show, review and network", you'll get the New York Times and Pete Billingsley from a town you've never heard of on the same results page. It's kind of democratizing the process so that everyone has access to a distribution system to express themselves.

Whenever a toddler sees a pile of blocks, he wants to tear it down.

I'm not trying to be coy or manipulative or Machiavellian, I want to spark people's imaginations.

I love movies with spectacle but spectacle can be a performance, it doesn't have to be a creature.

When I was a kid, among the other embarrassing things I would do, and there's a list of stupid things, but I would make these dumb comedy tapes. I would often make prank phone calls, but I would also do it with friends.

Pitching is always a weird, difficult thing.

Whenever I've directed something, there's this feeling of demand and focus that I like.

I think that even if you're wondering if two characters are ever going to kiss, drawing out the inevitability is part of the fun. Whatever the genre happens to be.

The goal is always to do B material in an A fashion.

When I was a little kid - and even still - I loved magic tricks. When I saw how movies got made - at least had a glimpse when I went on the Universal Studios tour with my grandfather, I remember feeling like this was another means by which I could do magic.

I love working with the right actor, and if the right actor happens to be unknown, that should be allowed, too, I think.

I hate to look at the stuff I've written and consider what it means or why I do it.

When you work on something that combines both the spectacular and the relatable, the hyperreal and the real, it suddenly can become supernatural. The hypothetical and the theoretical can become literal.

It's a leap of faith doing any serialised storytelling.

I hope to make movies that are so small they don't need to make anything to be profitable.

When there's an authentic mystery, as opposed to just a question being asked, that's what makes you lean forward.

I believe in anything that will engage the audience and make the story more effective.

The ability of a television series to make adjustments is something you've got to take advantage of.

I love the idea of anthropomorphizing machines. I love the idea of taking technology and giving it a personality.

All the times I've been lucky enough to be a part of a show that's actually gotten on the air, it's always that same mixture of excitement and utter fear.

The Internet now provides an immediate and very clear consensus of what it is that the audience is experiencing. It's something that you should never let lead you, and yet at the same time, you should never ignore it.

I don't try and write strong female characters or strong male characters, I just try and write, hopefully, strong characters and sometimes they happen to be female.

As a director/writer/producer, all you ever want is to work with actors who make you look better, who make the work you do seem as good as it can be and even better than it is.

Stories in which the destruction of society occurs are explorations of social fears and issues that filmmakers, novelists, playwrights, painters have been examining for a long time.

Making movies was more a reaction to not being chosen for sports. Other kids were out there playing at whatever; I was off making something blow up and filming it, or making a mould of my sister's head using alginating plaster.

I'm literally open to any medium that will have me.