When I was starting out, the first women studio heads and writers were just getting into their perches - development execs learning their chops. Lynda Obst More Quotes by Lynda Obst More Quotes From Lynda Obst No single movie or event makes or breaks your career. Everything can be undone, including success. Lynda Obst make-or-break events careers True power is invisible and impeccable, like good taste. It is never clumsy or artless. Powerful people whisper, suggest, seduce, in order to coerce. They only use volume for effect. This is how you can tell a blowhard from a mogul. ... Most powerful people don't need to coerce; their mere presence is coercive. Lynda Obst true-power powerful order To whom one reports is a unit of measure. It measures the exact distance between the player and the center of power. It is the closest we can get to a calibrated answer to the question 'How big am I?' More than the size of an executive's office or even his title, which no one remembers anyway, the fewer people between the player and a 'yes,' the more powerful he is. Lynda Obst distance powerful player I think there are always actor parts, and then there are movie-star parts, and an actors always an actor until he does a movie-star part. Lynda Obst stars doe thinking Like the color black, business mixed with anything turns to business. Lynda Obst black color business Self-love knows no impediment. Lynda Obst impediments self knows Breakthroughs, in art, in culture, in personality, come when tackling the unexpected. Lynda Obst change personality art There is a fine line between perseverance and madness. Lynda Obst perseverance madness lines with all these tentpoles, franchises, reboots and sequels, is there still room for movies in the movie business? Lynda Obst movie stills rooms The first thing you notice about women in Hollywood, besides their low percentage of body fat, is how few are married. And the number of great-looking, successful single women without a social life is staggering. ... The most glaring misconception about Hollywood is that it is the romance capital of the world. Lynda Obst romance successful numbers Always remember the famous adage about the movie business: You can't make a living, you can only get rich. Lynda Obst rich hollywood remember The key to moving a maybe to a yes is to make the buyer feel as though other buyers have already said yes. ... It helps if it's true, but it never is. No one wants to be the first yes. Why is this? I don't know, but I think it's anthropological. Lynda Obst keys moving thinking The only way I can access all my strength is to relax. ... The paradox is that you must learn to be relaxed while using all your power. Lynda Obst paradox relax way Every single one of us who has been a Woman in Film for more than five minutes is sick of the phrase Women in Film. Lynda Obst phrases film sick The lack of women directors is a sad fact of life. Kathryn Bigelows thrilling Best Director win may help turn things around. Lynda Obst winning may directors Love and friendship, two of life's abiding rewards, are endangered species in Hollywood. People crave both, mistaking alliance for friendship, lust for love, and ambition for both. Lynda Obst ambition two people Directing is the last frontier for women in the movie business. We are studio heads, we are producers and we are writers, but we are not directors in any numbers. Lynda Obst lasts numbers directors One of our jobs is to keep women working, which we do by keeping women coming to the movies. And doing that means making good, smart, often funny movies that women can identify with-with terrific dialogue we all remember and cherish, and stories that illuminate our lives and decisions and turning points. Lynda Obst smart jobs mean In most fields of endeavor there are no easy jobs; there are only graceful ways of performing difficult ones. Lynda Obst work jobs way What turns a work crisis into a life crisis is the infusion of dread. Lynda Obst infusion trouble work
