the watch of time

The ‘Players’ – a director’s view:

“I believe that great writing makes great stories, and great stories make great films.  I start from that, so I really don’t move until I trust the material that I have in my hands…  There’s a totem pole in Hollywood for sure, about who they want to entrust certain material to. The more successful you are with your films financially, the more access you have to better material.

Something happens when you read something you want to make…  I’ll start making notes for adjustments to a character, or ideas for new scenes.  It happens very organically – either the material starts to pull you into it or it doesn’t.

…what the power of telling your own story through a film is – you find a piece of material that lines up with you, and everything starts to resonate at a whole different level.

… I want people to find the writing before we go changing things.  I like to get the screenplay solid enough that people can come in and participate without it being turned upside down… I really like to stick to the writing, because I know what’s there.  A lot of people just change and change and change…  If it’s coming from the writer, I trust it.  If it’s coming from everybody else, I tend to get a little bit concerned.

Writing is a very isolated, lonely experience, and then your writing goes out to people, and either it worked, or it didn’t work, or it kinda worked.  It’s the same thing as a director, when you put your movie out in front of people.

The more collaborative people are, the better it is to work with them.  You want to have a good experience.”

Excerpted with quotes from David Dobkin

                                                                                      Tales from the Script (2010)