Laura Ziskin Quotes

I had very few skills. If I hadn't been a producer I'd been a failed actor. That would have been really disastrous.

For me as a filmmaker, I do the projects I'm really excited about.

What's great about making movies is the sort of additive process of bringing people together and having an idea and watching the idea be added to and at the end you have this thing.

Movies are arguably the most influential, important medium in the world. They have a tremendous cultural impact. Because women are now making movies, then women's ideas, philosophy, point of view will seep into that culture. And that's never happened in history. Ever, ever, ever. We can't even see the impact of that yet.

You know I'm proud that I was able to develop and produce movies that I wanted to make.

I think being a producer makes you a problem solver, so you kind of go, "Well there's a problem. What do we do? How do we solve it?"

In my world, the hero always defeats the villain, the boy always gets the girl, and cancer is no more,

Cancer is everybody's cause.

I think it's hard for women to be directors, particularly in the feature world because, biologically, your peak career-making years are also your peak baby-making years, and that's just the truth. And those are choices women have to make.

I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2004.

I describe myself as someone who was always putting on a show, even when I was a little girl. I wanted to be an actress but I liked organizing everybody and putting on plays. I was a producer.

When I was diagnosed I didn't know how epidemic cancer was. You find out that everybody you know is touched by this disease.