I do love being amongst creative people and facilitating that and being inspired by people. I get very bored with just competence and require inspiration all around me.
There's certain people you want to see in comedies; there's certain people you just want to see in dramas. Not that there aren't individuals who do both, but it's not everyone.
Stephen Sondheim is calculus for actors. The words are witty and brilliant and profound but complicated.
One of the secrets of 'A Christmas Story' is that it's a relatable story. They feel like our family.
Producers should have the courage of their convictions. See your project through to its fruition. Seek help and be generous enough to take on collaborators and not be territorial as you're learning.
Winning an Oscar attracts the attention of directors and other actors and creates a boost in salary, particularly for someone like Halle Berry. For an established star like Denzel Washington, the benefits are less tangible.
Watching familiar characters take unexpected turns is very appealing.
Some of the metaphors you find in 'Wicked' - how those in power can exploit fear in others to maintain their power - I think, as Jews, we've seen that historically on more than one occasion.
As much as I love storytelling, I've always been drawn to talent.
'A Christmas Carol' and 'It's a Wonderful Life,' are movies we love with magic in them.
My personal challenge is always balance. My life has a lot of compartments to it, and I care about each of them deeply. So I wake up each day thinking, 'How am I going to balance today?'
Even in a manuscript form, 'The Girl on the Train' sort of leapt off the pages as a contemporary suspense drama-slash-thriller. It has all the mechanics of a thriller, but at the heart of it was a great character study.
I loved being a film executive. But something was always missing for me. I always had the feeling that I was looking over my shoulder - what's going on on Broadway?
The character we've always thought of as the Wicked Witch of the West is a green girl who's actually very good, misunderstood, and trying to make her way in the world. She's an outsider looking in, wanting to be loved. That's a universal experience that everyone's felt at some point in their lives.
I do love storytelling.
I have a certain kind of a taste for what will make a good movie or a good play or theater.
James McAvoy is not an action star.
I want my projects to be great, of course. The talent has to come from a diverse pool. Because that's the world we live in.
As a producer, it's your job to bang on the table and convince studio heads why great movies should be made.
It was just the DNA of my family. Giving back didn't feel like an entitlement; it was an obligation.
