J J Abrams Quotes

The noise you hear after people see something you do
whether it's a TV show or a movie
that always makes you see that thing slightly differently. Without question. The ability of a television series to make adjustments is something you've got to take advantage of. And test-screening a movie can be helpful too. But the part that can be dangerous is when you take those notes as gospel, instead of taking them with a grain of salt. The key is to use the response as one of the tools in your box, as opposed to using it to determine what you do. ~ J.J. Abrams

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

What if the constellations no longer held?
[...] Would it not cause one to scrutinize the totality of one's surroundings carefully? Would it not terrify? ~ J.J. Abrams

I sort of love the idea of, you know, watching something and then having to wait for the next episode. ~ J.J. Abrams

When you go to commercial, you want something to call the viewers back, and if you don't have a decent act out, the audience probably won't be there in the numbers you want when the show returns. ~ J.J. Abrams

Whatever is being investigated, created or produced now, in movies or TV, needs to consider the context in which it is being distributed. It's not a vacuum. There are certain universal themes of love, conflict, loyalty or family that are everlasting and that need to be presented in a way that makes it feel relevant, even if it's a period piece. You need to consider what context that film, that story and those characters are being seen in. ~ J.J. Abrams

I've never done Twitter. ~ J.J. Abrams

It's cool to be a nerd. There's a general understanding that smartphones didn't come from jocks. The digital age was foreseen by a group of short-sleeved, buttoned-down, white-shirted guys and their female equivalents designing the very stuff that's now ubiquitous. ~ J.J. Abrams

George Lucas is the reason that we got to make this movie, you know, he was the man that created this whole galaxy, and I am incredibly grateful to him. He's an artist and he's a grown-up. And I take him at his word, and it doesn't mean I agree with everything he says, but I respect, you know, his right to his opinion. ~ J.J. Abrams

I feel like obviously the standard for what TV looks like changes all the time. ~ J.J. Abrams

I was, throughout school, in the theater program. Through elementary school, junior high, high school, and then J.J. Abrams, my closest friend in the world, we were living together. He was writing, and I was trying writing; I wasn't getting paid for it like he was, but I always had the acting bug. ~ Greg Grunberg

One of my favorite things about 'Star Trek' wasn't just the overt banter but the humor in that show about the relationships between the main characters and their reactions to the situations they would face; there was a lot of comedy in that show without ever breaking its reality. ~ J.J. Abrams

I don't think anyone wants a movie on time that's not worth your time. ~ J.J. Abrams

'Super 8' was a lot of fun. It was a lot of fun working with J.J. Abrams, who I think is a kid in a grown man's body, which is a great ingredient for any artist in our business. You have to be a kid at heart to be able to make believe, and his imagination is phenomenal. ~ Glynn Turman

As a kid, 'Star Wars' was much more my thing than 'Star Trek' was. ~ J.J. Abrams

I'm afraid the workings of J.J. Abrams' mind falls outside the predictive capacity of any coherent theory. ~ Antony Garrett Lisi

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

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. ~ J.J. Abrams

I have nothing against 3-D in theory. But I've also never run to the movies because something's in 3-D. ~ J.J. Abrams

J. J. Abrams is amazing. ~ Oscar Isaac

Don't sell your story, just tell your story. ~ J.J. Abrams

I've always liked working on stories that combine people who are relatable with something insane. ~ J.J. Abrams

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. ~ J.J. Abrams

I will say that what's been funny is, since the lightsaber's come out, I cannot tell you how many contradictory emails I have received from people who have both defended it with unbelievably detailed graphicsI've gotten things that are nuts, and I've gotten people who've shown how it'll kill you and how it doesn't make any sense. It's been the funniest thing to see the arguments that have developed over this thing. ~ J.J. Abrams

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

It was a lot of fun working with J.J. Abrams. He got me to drive a Corvette, which was pretty awesome, and jumping out of it was even cooler. ~ Jimmy Bennett

To be a self rewritten from a lost first draft. ~ J.J. Abrams

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

'Star Trek' was always a little bit closed emotionally. I never connected to the characters. ~ J.J. Abrams

This is where his life - his remade life - has brought him. Each strange juncture has led to the next and now he is here. He is here, and it is nowhere. ~ J.J. Abrams

Dr Brand talked about the difference between belief and expectation. As in: it's good to BELIEVE that our efforts are likely to bring positive results, but it's another thing entirely to EXPECT that they will. We can't demand a particular outcome; we're not entitled to any particular outcome. It's the expectation that makes us so miserable when things go wrong. ~ Doug Dorst J. J. Abrams

I'd like to use IMAX. The problem with IMAX is that it's a very loud camera. It's a very unreliable camera. Only so much film can be in the camera. You can't really do intimate scenes with it. ~ J.J. Abrams

Well, we knew that we wanted to tell a story that made bold choices, and one of those bold choices was meeting a storm trooper and seeing who this person was. That's something that had never been done. ~ J.J. Abrams

There's nothing wrong with doing sequels, they're just easier to sell. ~ J.J. Abrams

We're always pitching ideas and being told "no thank you." No offense taken, because I would so much rather be told the truth that they're not interested and be able to find the right show for that network down the line. ~ J.J. Abrams

On movies like Star Trek and Star Wars, you have so much that will be created or extended digitally, and it's a slippery slope where you can get lost in a world of synthetic. ~ J.J. Abrams

But I'm grateful for everyone who would want to read a spoiler because it means that they care and want to see the movie ... I know what it feels like, as an enormous Star Wars fan myself. ~ J.J. Abrams

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

I owe my career to J.J. Abrams. He fought for me. ~ David Anders

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

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. ~ J.J. Abrams

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

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

I was never really a comic-book fanatic. ~ J.J. Abrams

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

I guess the idea of not wanting to choose to direct a film, for which I've not read a script. It's a tough decision to make without seeing any pages. That's not to say that I don't have all the faith in the world in the spectacular writers. ~ J.J. Abrams

The magic that works, to me, is the magic that feels completely grounded and real and tangible. ~ J.J. Abrams

With a curse, Vishous took after the three free-thinkers, dematerializing out in front of where the trio seemed to be heading. As he re-formed, he knew they were fucking humans even before he saw that the one in the rear was running backward with what was no doubt a cocksucking Apple, iConformist POS front and center and on video record. He fricking iHated anything with a goddamn Macintosh trademark. V jumped out into the guy's path, which of course J. J. Abrams didn't notice, because, hello, he was too busy getting footage. ~ J.R. Ward

We live in an age of instant knowledge. And there's almost a sense of entitlement to that. ~ J.J. Abrams

I'd love to do a movie where the monster is human, where the issue is not otherworldly, or horror or science fiction. ~ J.J. Abrams

It's what happens. You love, then you lose, then you die. Even if you survive, you die. ~ J.J. Abrams

Every hour that you spend doing something, even if you love it more than anything, you're not with your family. Every project that you take on, that's another choice. ~ J.J. Abrams

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

Cameron Crowe is someone who I've admired for so long, and I've been friends with him for many years, and I've wanted to work with him so badly that I just never stopped bothering him about writing a script that would be for a pilot. ~ J.J. Abrams

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. ~ J.J. Abrams

I don't think it was hate,' Castus replied thoughtfully. 'I think it was fear. ~ J.J. Abrams

I'm obsessed with things that are distinctly analogue. ~ J.J. Abrams

I try to work on shows that I would want to watch. ~ J.J. Abrams

People never know what they want, though everyone says they do. If they did, nobody would ever be surprised. ~ J.J. Abrams

Honestly I'm excited about the possibilities of what comes next, and the funny thing is, that is sort of what "Star Wars" is kind of about. I mean, I remember being 10 years old and seeing that movie and leaving the theater and feeling like, oh, my God, anything is possible. And I feel like anything is possible right now. I don't know what's next, but I look forward to it. ~ J.J. Abrams

The idea to put episodes out weekly in theory makes as much sense as putting them all out at once. ~ J.J. Abrams

I went to see 'Star Trek Into Darkness,' and J.J. Abrams, who's a friend of mine, made this film, and I went to see it at the premiere. Believe it or not, I was really blown away by the comic timing of it. ~ James Gray

Well, we're all victims of our own gene pool. Unfortunately, someone must have peed in yours. - Walter Bishop, "Fringe" (TV) ~ J.J. Abrams

I was more of a Star Wars kid, actually. I always thought Star Trek was a lot of talk, and it felt a little self-important. It was hard for me to get into it. ~ J.J. Abrams

I think when you're 10 years old, it's too much to see something with the threat of death in every episode. Kids are better left naive about certain things. ~ J.J. Abrams

I do feel like no matter what you're doing, whether it's music or writing a play or a poem or drawing a picture or painting something, that you're speaking to what is it you want to express, what is it you want to see. ~ J.J. Abrams

I feel like I learn every day how I can be a better producer or writer or storyteller. The thing that keeps me the most balanced is just going home every day and getting my ass kicked by my kids, and having a wife who is the most wonderfully/brutally honest person I've ever met. I think that that is always the first lens through which I see the world. For everything else, I'm just grateful for the people I work with. ~ J.J. Abrams

I am lucky, I'm the first to admit that. ~ J.J. Abrams

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

J.J. Abrams is an all-time hero of mine, really lovely to be working with him. ~ Andy Serkis

I do think there's something about the digital age that is increasingly dehumanising us. We're in this very weird place where we're being pulled into experiences that aren't really experiences at all. ~ J.J. Abrams

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

Ratings have changed, viewer habits have changed and the options for the audience have grown enormously, but I don't think how you tell a story is fundamentally different. ~ J.J. Abrams

It is an incredible thing to see how many crazy things get thrown out that people then often write commentaries about how happy they are or how disappointed they are about something that's completely false. But, it's a lot of noise, frankly. ~ J.J. Abrams

This," he says, "is precisely what campfires are for. The sharing of stories. There's a spiritual connection between flame and narrative."

S. nods. He understands Stenfalk's proposition intuitively; we create stories to help us shape a chaotic world, to navigate inequities of power, to accept our lack of control over nature, over others, over ourselves. ~ Doug Dorst J. J. Abrams

I want to be host of 'SNL.' I want to work with Steven Spielberg, Leonardo DiCaprio, J.J. Abrams, Emma Stone and Tim Burton, Sean Penn, Cameron Crowe. I want to work with Adam Sandler - he is so funny - and Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. ~ David Mazouz

Robotics are beginning to cross that line from absolutely primitive motion to motion that resembles animal or human behavior. ~ J.J. Abrams

When I work, I'm the actor. I'm going to do my job. I'm not going to direct the movie. If I wanted to direct it, I would direct it. I wanted J.J. Abrams to direct Mission: Impossible. I work with people that I respect. I expect them to do their jobs, and I will do mine. And I am there as a producer to help in any way, but no one makes a movie by themselves. It's a collaboration. ~ Tom Cruise

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" or "Alias" ever again. I'm just too impatient these days. I want to get on to the next project. ~ J.J. Abrams

Obviously with the Internet and increased access to other means of watching shows, the audience has dispersed and is all over the place and that is a challenge. ~ J.J. Abrams

I love stories where the impossible appears believable, plausible and real. Maybe it's silly, but it's one of the reasons Michael Crichton's writing always appealed to me: he took outlandish ideas and made them seem completely within the realm of possibility. I remember reading "Jurassic Park" and feeling like: "Oh, yeah
no, that's totally happening right now. They're bringing back dinosaurs! ~ J.J. Abrams

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. ~ J.J. Abrams

I have no style. There are certain people who just have a visual sense that defines their work. You could probably watch 30 seconds of anything they do and you'll know exactly who directed it. I don't have that skill. ~ J.J. Abrams

J. J. Abrams is a director that I've admired for a long time, from the very first scripts he wrote - including 'Regarding Henry,' which I was in. ~ Harrison Ford

I'm working on the Star Wars script today and the people in my office have covered up all my windows with black paper. I guess they wanted to make sure no one could see what I was doing. It seems rather extreme. ~ J.J. Abrams

I know the you who's in the margins. I know you're thinking hard about what you want and why– more than some people ever do. I know you can take on a challenge and kick its ass. And I know you've tried harder to understand me than anyone has in a long time. ~ Doug Dorst

I was just like, "I want to make a decent 2-D movie." I was so worried that, instead of being a decent 2-D movie, it would have been a bad 3-D one. ~ J.J. Abrams

If you watch the first [Star Wars] movie, you don't actually know exactly what the Empire is trying to do. They're going to rule by fear
but you don't know what their endgame is. You don't know what Leia is princess of. You don't yet understand who Jabba the Hutt is, even though there is a reference to him. You don't know that Vader is Luke's father, Leia is his sister
but the possibility is all there. The beauty of that movie was that it was an unfamiliar world, and yet you wanted to see it expand and to see where it went. ~ J.J. Abrams

I may be even more grateful to George Lucas now than I was as a kid. ~ J.J. Abrams

When I was a kid, it was a huge insult to be a geek. Now it's a point of pride in a weird way. ~ J.J. Abrams

I feel like the beauty of this age of filmmaking is that there are more tools at your disposal, but it doesn't mean that any of these new tools are automatically the right tools. And there are a lot of situations where we went very much old school and in fact used CG more to remove things than to add things. ~ J.J. Abrams

I think admitting youre an addict is the first step towards recovery. ~ J.J. Abrams

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

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

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. ~ J.J. Abrams

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. ~ J.J. Abrams

It's more important you learn what to make movies about than how to make movies ~ J.J. Abrams

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

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

And the parents who knew "Star Wars" could take kids and feel like they've gone back to a place that is familiar and yet found brand-new characters that took them somewhere they'd never been. And it was important me that we embrace that feeling, and you can call it retro, but I think it's what "Star Wars" is. ~ J.J. Abrams