I try to just save a fresh, clear head for whoever I'm working with, so hopefully it's helpful that there's someone who doesn't have to sit in the editing room for 12 hours a day, and who's blinded by the massive footage and options that they have.

Judd Apatow

Categorized in : Trying Editing Clear Head

[My] dream writers room: "'Taxi.' I need to write for someone named Judd."

Judd Apatow

dream writing needs

'Deadwood.' I could have watched that forever.

Judd Apatow

forever

I literally cannot remember one joke.

Judd Apatow

jokes remember

I did get good enough to get on HBO's Young Comedians Special, but I certainly wasn't the person who got launched off of HBO's Young Comedians Special. That would be Ray Romano that year. I had some semi-intelligent jokes, but when people would see me, they would think, "Oh, that's a good writer." No one would ever have said, "Oh, that's a good performer."

Judd Apatow

hbo intelligent thinking

One of my fears is that I'm suddenly not going to be funny, but still think I am. That's like my nightmare that I can wake up in a cold sweat from.

Judd Apatow

sweat wake-up thinking

I start thinking about the next movie before it's a success, so I can never have one moment of happiness or peace. I'm instantly thinking about the next one.

Judd Apatow

next moments thinking

The ones [comedies] that I always liked, whether it's Terms of Endearment, Broadcast News, or Fast Times of Ridgemont High, they were all about two hours, or a little bit over two hours. With that extra 15 or 20 minutes, you can get to real character and you're not just stuck in plot.

Judd Apatow

real character two

Every time I'm in editing, there's always a moment where you think, "Maybe this should be six or seven minutes shorter, but I'm losing character and story that I think is important." When I like things, I'm not in a rush for them to end.

Judd Apatow

editing character thinking

There are people that entertainment is something they do at the end of a long hard day at work, and they want to be entertained and have it over quickly. They're like, "Entertain me fast!"

Judd Apatow

entertainment long people

I feel the responsibility to make things which on some level have something positive to say.

Judd Apatow

levels responsibility feels

I was a big TV kid.When I was a kid, I would go home at 3:00 and watch TV straight through to the end of Letterman at 1:30 in the morning.I was obsessed with comics.And I would watch Jerry Seinfeld and Jay Leno and study them as if it was Tolstoy.

Judd Apatow

home morning kids

I started a radio show where I interviewed comics. And I interviewed Leno and Seinfeld and John Candy and Father Guido Sarducci and Garry Shandling, all when I was 16. And they kind of told me what to do.

Judd Apatow

radio kind father

A lot of the turning points happen in high school and in college, and it defines a lot of how you see the world and how you decide to defend yourself from the world. Some people - their defense mechanism is, I'm really smart or I'm sexy or I'm the leader. And other people - they hide or they make jokes.

Judd Apatow

smart sexy school

I don't think I'm going to get so mature that I lose touch with the whatever wounded part of myself that feels the need to be funny. I'm already old enough that I realize that's not going to happen.

Judd Apatow

realizing needs thinking

I still feel like a weird kid who is about to take a punch in the face. So, I think it's permanent.

Judd Apatow

faces kids thinking

I love when people work together who know each other very well. Some of my favourite movies are people who are close friends or families.

Judd Apatow

close-friends working-together people

I really think more about being honest and truthful about feelings and how people behave for the movies that I direct, but I also love movies like Zohan and Anchorman, just balls to the wall, how much can you make people laugh in one 90 minute period.

Judd Apatow

anchorman wall thinking

You hear people say: "One day, when I'm in a good position I can make my passion project." I've seen a lot of people get into that position and not make it.

Judd Apatow

passion one-day people

People are disappearing from movies, and normal human behaviour is disappearing from movies... You are not always fighting a creature in life. That's part of life, it's a pretty big part of life, but it's not all of life.

Judd Apatow

behaviour fighting people

I loved the idea that I could write a joke and someone else would have to take the risk of performing it.

Judd Apatow

risk writing ideas