When you go to commercial, you want something to call the viewers back, and if you don't have a decent act out, the audience probably won't be there in the numbers you want when the show returns. J. J. Abrams More Quotes by J. J. Abrams More Quotes From J. J. Abrams I remember being taught to read at a very early age. Like creepy young. I remember being in the crib, reading. My parents were very impressed. My reading speed, comprehension and overall ability has remained at that level ever since. J. J. Abrams creepy parent reading On movies like Star Trek and Star Wars, you have so much that will be created or extended digitally, and it's a slippery slope where you can get lost in a world of synthetic. J. J. Abrams stars war world I'm actually a huge fan of digital as well. I appreciate how that technology opens the doors for filmmakers who never had access to that level of quality before. However, I do think film itself sets the standard for quality. You can talk about range, light, sensitive, resolution -- there's something about film that is undeniably beautiful, undeniably organic and natural and real. J. J. Abrams technology real beautiful Approaching any movie with a three in the title you know you are not going to get a political polemic. You are not going to get some sort of political statement or ultra-deep message. J. J. Abrams titles political messages Whenever a toddler sees a pile of blocks, he wants to tear it down. J. J. Abrams block tears want I hate to look at the stuff I've written and consider what it means or why I do it. J. J. Abrams hate mean looks I'm not as optimistic as Gene Roddenberry was. I fall somewhere in the middle. But as a romantic, I like to think things are going to get bigger rather than worse. J. J. Abrams optimistic fall thinking If you watch the first [Star Wars] movie, you don't actually know exactly what the Empire is trying to do. They're going to rule by fear -- but you don't know what their endgame is. You don't know what Leia is princess of. You don't yet understand who Jabba the Hutt is, even though there is a reference to him. You don't know that Vader is Luke's father, Leia is his sister -- but the possibility is all there. The beauty of that movie was that it was an unfamiliar world, and yet you wanted to see it expand and to see where it went. J. J. Abrams stars war father The magic that works, to me, is the magic that feels completely grounded and real and tangible. J. J. Abrams tangible magic real I do think there's something about the digital age that is increasingly dehumanising us. We're in this very weird place where we're being pulled into experiences that aren't really experiences at all. J. J. Abrams digital age thinking I love stories where the impossible appears believable, plausible and real. Maybe it's silly, but it's one of the reasons Michael Crichton's writing always appealed to me: he took outlandish ideas and made them seem completely within the realm of possibility. I remember reading "Jurassic Park" and feeling like: "Oh, yeah - no, that's totally happening right now. They're bringing back dinosaurs!" J. J. Abrams real reading silly Withholding things in a story is no good if you aren't building to something substantial. It becomes foreplay without the main event, and no one wants that. J. J. Abrams events stories want I don't try and write strong female characters or strong male characters, I just try and write, hopefully, strong characters and sometimes they happen to be female. J. J. Abrams strong writing character Robotics are beginning to cross that line from absolutely primitive motion to motion that resembles animal or human behavior. J. J. Abrams lines behavior animal I'm an impatient guy and tend not to like to stay with one thing for a long time. I'll never be able to write as many scripts as I did for "Felicity" or "Alias" ever again. I'm just too impatient these days. I want to get on to the next project. J. J. Abrams guy writing long We're always pitching ideas and being told "no thank you." No offense taken, because I would so much rather be told the truth that they're not interested and be able to find the right show for that network down the line. J. J. Abrams able taken ideas I've just been lucky to work on things that I felt would be cool to see. It's not that I had a strategy or anything. J. J. Abrams strategy lucky would-be The noise you hear after people see something you do - whether it's a TV show or a movie - that always makes you see that thing slightly differently. Without question. The ability of a television series to make adjustments is something you've got to take advantage of. And test-screening a movie can be helpful too. But the part that can be dangerous is when you take those notes as gospel, instead of taking them with a grain of salt. The key is to use the response as one of the tools in your box, as opposed to using it to determine what you do. J. J. Abrams tv-shows keys people All the times I've been lucky enough to be a part of a show that's actually gotten on the air, it's always that same mixture of excitement and utter fear. J. J. Abrams mixtures lucky air Cameron Crowe is someone who I've admired for so long, and I've been friends with him for many years, and I've wanted to work with him so badly that I just never stopped bothering him about writing a script that would be for a pilot. J. J. Abrams writing long years