Dick Wolf

“If the scripts are not good, I'll tell somebody, 'This isn't good.'”

“The threat to free television. The reason television is free is because it is a life support system for commercials. That fundamental aspect is about to change.”

“The most positive step is to try to expand the employment base by making it, if not economically friendly, at least not economically disastrous, for studios to take on deficits.”

“It's show business. No show, no business.”

“There was an interesting article in Los Angeles Magazine about women directors. A woman director makes one bad independent film and her career is over. Guys tend to get an opportunity to learn from their mistakes.”

“I do love television. But the business is accelerating and people are not getting the chance to fail.”

“I think most people don't react well to being screamed at. It's counterproductive.”

“Their argument is that most shows are losers, which is true, but it's also disingenuous to say, 'We are not going to take the risk unless it is totally covered by the few successful shows that are out there.'”

“If you're going to vote on a television contract, there is a certain rationality to saying that the same structures that are applied to Health Plan participation should be placed on the right to vote on a strike.”

“I get bored with establishing shots of people getting out of cars and walking into buildings, getting into elevators and then 45 seconds later they have a line.”

“There are professional negotiators working for the writers and the actors, but basically you've got the writers and actors negotiating against businessmen. That's why you get rhetoric.”

“I try to just communicate what I want done as clearly and simply as possible.”

“And the consumer doesn't care. They don't watch networks, they watch TV shows.”

“Advertising is the art of the tiny. You have to tell a complete a story and deliver a complete message in a very encapsulated form. It disciplines you to cut away extraneous information.”

“There are other options out there, after all, like read a book, go on the Internet, rent a movie.”

“The ad revenues still go up because nothing dependably delivers the eyeballs that successful series do.”

“People recognize certain things, like 'D' means 'this dialogue stinks.' We're dealing with shows that are written here, shot in New York and posted back here. Accurate communication is a necessity.”

“I would say that if you really wished to be a working member of the community, don't go out on strike because then there's no work and no potential of work.”

“Everybody knows things are not the same. The people running the TV end of a major vertically integrated company know how much money a successful show can make.”

“I don't think you can really make television based on what you think audiences want. You can only make stories that you like, because you have to watch it so many times.”