I have these huge black foam boards on the wall, and tacked to them, I have these white punch cards with my story ideas, scenes and notes.
The problem is, if you make a film that has certain implications in the story, and then you don't follow through, it's a cop out really, isn't it?
It's all about who's where on the food chain. When I'm the story editor, I expect my writers to follow my vision. When I'm working for another editor, I'm obliged to follow their vision.
The story of my very first sale is the fact that I dreamed up a foolproof paper to cheat an insurance company out of several hundred thousand dollars.
It's their story, and I got to be the guy in the back while they were in the foreground.
Once we truly grasp the message of the 'New Testament', it is impossible to read the 'Old Testament' again without seeing Christ on every page, in every story, foreshadowed or anticipated in every event and narrative.
'The Story of Us with Morgan Freeman' is a reminder that people across the world are rebelling against norms and forging new paths for the most marginalized people in their own communities.
This thing called Patriot Act, through which we abdicated a lot of our civil rights to defend the country against terrorism, it's a four-year story.
I'm writing my story so that others might see fragments of themselves.
'Frankenstein' feels like an ancient tale, the kind of traditional story that appears in many other forms.
In the frantic search for an elusive 'cure,' few researchers stand back and ask a very basic question: why does cancer exist? What is its place in the grand story of life?
The Iraqi Free Press, which did not exist 18 months ago because there was no such thing as the Iraqi Free Press, broke a story about the U.N. Oil-for-Food scandal, which could potentially turn out to be the largest scandal in history.
I would rather read a poorly structured story that has fresh ideas than a tightly structured one with cliches.
One of the things that helps me tell a story through music is to create a character. I have to have a muse, whether it's Frida Kahlo, Martha Graham, Marlene Dietrich, or Pippi Longstocking.
If I want to knock a story off the front page, I just change my hairstyle.
I believe every one of us possesses a fundamental right to tell our own story.
It's a rare film that has staying power. 'A Christmas Story' is not just a funny movie but something that connects with people.
Every funny story has at least one unusual thing in it.
I don't sit down to write a funny story. Every single thing I sit down to write is meant to be sad.
I don't think I was anything short of ecstatic when I found out 'It's Kind of a Funny Story' would be premiering in Toronto.
