'Survivor' was, to me, an absolute reaction that the audience was having to the sort of staid nature of narrative drama on television. Thomas Schlamme More Quotes by Thomas Schlamme More Quotes From Thomas Schlamme There's always been an ongoing struggle between commerce and art. Thomas Schlamme struggle art I remember running into Aaron's Sorkin office and going "The show's West Wing going to work! I know it's going to work!" And it was literally that moment: the energy, the place, the feel. I didn't know the show would be successful but I thought it was going to be good and I don't have that feeling very often. And we were rehearsing all of that not knowing who the President of the United States was! Thomas Schlamme office successful running Aaron Sorkin whole thing was that he didn't want the pomposity of the presidency in the West Wing. But once we cast Martin Sheen and we realised Martin's incredible accessibility, nothing felt pompous or aloof. If the show is about all the planets, let's end it with the sun. Thomas Schlamme pompous aloof incredibles Just besides how smart Aaron Sorkin stuff is, really, is how visceral it is, how sensual it is. Not sexual, sensual. Always tactile. When you read his scripts, the scripts read fast and the words almost jump off the page. Thomas Schlamme smart sensual I'm a voyeur. I say that with no embarrassment. If I could have a superpower, being invisible would be it, no question. I'm fascinated by human behavior; observing people and seeing how much story gets told without a lot of dialogue, and how much our brain fills in. Thomas Schlamme story behavior brain people I'm engaged: I'm interested in other people. I think that's just as important as knowing how to do the job. Thomas Schlamme job think important people I think 'The West Wing' hit at a moment in time that was just right for that show. Thomas Schlamme just think moment time I worked as a production assistant on a couple of films, and finally, I got a job at an animation studio as an editor. After that, work begat work. I got into directing music videos and commercials. Thomas Schlamme videos job music work When you're part of history, you don't know it. You're just sort of living your life. Thomas Schlamme know you life history When we were doing 'Sports Night' and 'West Wing' at the same time, I thought I was the luckiest guy in the world because my two interests were politics and sports. Thomas Schlamme politics time sports night
