Why Directors Quit Writing | Quentin Tarantino

Quentin Tarantino discusses why so many writer-directors stop writing, and how they can lose their creative voice in doing so.

[brgreg]

He’s right. It’s funny that he’s an Elvis guy because he’s describing what set The Beatles apart. The writing

[leogarcia-cuesta]

Writing a script is such a skill of concentration because one must know the angles and tone to describe the scene. My issue is when the hell is McDonald’s going to give me the time to sit and think about the page!

[aintnuthinbutathang]

I'm not even as big a Tarantino fan as most people but he's completely right and the directors I respect the most write all their scripts, and I put them in a separate category from directors whom I also love but who don't write anything.

[jeremyhenderson]

You know a Fincher film when you see one, I'd say that constitutes as the "voice" he was alluding to.

[garycogswell]

Simple but effective like a good script. Best words I ever heard Mr Tarantino speak.

[wdb_hb]

I’m a writer/director myself (3 feature films) but in regards to Fincher and other directors that direct other people’s scripts, you can still have that voice. A director ultimately is the lead creative of the film, so he choose the look and feel of the film and how it is told. If a director likes a certain topic and continues to find scripts that fit that topic, there’s a clear distinction of the director without him/her having to write the script as well.

I use Denis Villeneuve (director of Dune) as an example. He only directs but his film discography is very wide and you can still spot his films just by the tone, visuals and storytelling.

[LubedizTamil]

He is not only a director but also a critic ❤️

[gotchewz]

What about Stanley Kubrick? I get what Tarantino is saying, but you don’t have to be a writer to be a brilliant distinct filmmaker. It works for him, but how many directors go done that path where they HAVE to also write the script and the movie suffers for it.

[ZeroESG.goopootoob]

This isn't about directors who "quit" writing screenplays, it's about directors who choose to not write the films that they direct.

[radiantlight]

Its a very tough road being a writer director; the most difficult thing to do

[dranipani]

Thank you so, so much for sharing this clip. I loved that he could talk genuinely about the challenge of deliver several original projects...

[Stykzman]

Sam Witwer said something about this, he said something along the lines of how anyone can look back at a piece of art and say "they should have done this or they should have done that, " but real talent is making the decision on the day you need to make it and seeing it through.
So between David Fincher and Tarantino, Fincher is a great director but his talent comes from looking at other people's writing and saying how he could communicate it better. Tarantino has to make the entire vision front to back, and it leads to different approaches in terms of how things are executed.

[Treevors]

Since I was like 13 I have been coming up with stories I got a shit ton of them I think they were ahead of their time to be honest I don't have confidence in anything except for my movie ideas and still coming up with new ideas and it's not hard it's like kind of a flash in a way like a b and c comes to me beginning middle end and then I just need to put in filler in a way to get to A to B to C that's the way I kind of think about it but I had one shot and I messed it up hopefully I can catch lightning in a bottle twice if I try

[dannygoodlet]

He's definitely right. Steven Spielberg is an amazing director, but he doesn't write his shit anymore. Writer/Director movies are the ones I'm drawn to. Mostly because of the the voice he's talking about

[Gholla]

He’s the Goat for a reason even if he’s crazy

[Je-Vette]

I get much more interest in a film with a written and directed by———(same person). It’s a vision of unique creativity. Even if it’s a weak storyline it’s often better because it’s not a committee decision thing

[Segkee]

Barry Jenkins didn’t write moonlight. He rewrote it. This is also very different (according to QT’s rules). We should be weary of the director who claims writing credit on projects that don’t originate with them. I realize this isn’t the perfect example, but Fincher, even if he changes the script, will never claim writing credit.

[bernlin]

Also fair to say that people like David perhaps enjoy working on scripts that have already had some initial work done by a proper writer 😛 directing and writing aren't the same skill, after all, and it's fair to say that, like singer-songwriter, it tends to include both high caliber artists, but also artists who crave a lot of creative control over the final product.

[rishavmitra]

In that case Fincher is not a good example because there is definitely a distinct voice in his movies… no matter what kind of script he is working with, you know a fincher movie when you see one. Fincher is definitely on par with any writer/director out there…

[michaelwilliams]

It's not like they're all original ideas. Rum Punch is Jackie Brown, Django and Inglorious Basterds are taken from other sources material as well.