Jeff Baena

“I remember when I was in film school. It was my second year, and some kid did - had this really over-religious symbolism; like, it said 'John 3:16' and had angels falling over, and it was just this insane - it wasn't that great.”

“My pet peeve is when people criticize things when they're just trying to have a conversation.”

“For me, the whole idea of performance is not being self-aware, and then sort of just experiencing.”

“When you are a writer, the assist-to-turnover ratio... there are a lot more turnovers than assists.”

“I've been a writer for years, but it was mainly as a function of trying to be a director, so I just got work as a writer. I want to keep directing.”

“You can't avoid being an egotistical person and ultimately somewhat narcissistic. You can try to curb it by recognizing that behavior. But at the same time, your repetitive behavior has its own psychology, and it's impossible to get out of that.”