the only reason I could deal with the
pressure on Star Wars is because I love
making that movie and and if it didn’t
work of course I would have been crushed
but it I wasn’t doing it because it was
a job but most people talk about writing
screenplays but don’t actually write
them the people who write them you’re
already like in you know the top 10%
could you actually have written 10 years
ago if we wanted to do that we have to
kill a stuntman
we’d actually hello bleep nation its
Evan my one word is believe and I
believe in people more than they believe
in themselves and my sincere hope is
that if you see in yourself what I see
in you you’ll be able to change the
planet so to help you on your journey
today we’re going to learn from film
director and producer JJ Abrams and my
take on it top ten rules of success rule
number six is my personal favorite and
I’d love to know which one you guys
liked the best
also as you’re watching if you hear
something that really resonates with you
please leave it down in the comments
below I put quotes around it so other
people can be inspired by it as well and
if you leave it within the first couple
hours of this video going live you have
a chance to win one of two daily prizes
given all the opportunities that are
there in the world to try and figure out
the thing that actually makes you want
to get up in the morning the thing that
you actually love I just I just know
that if I weren’t lucky enough to have
have been given the opportunity to write
a movie or a show or direct anything
appreciating I would still go home from
whatever that day job is and I would try
to do it because I loved it not because
I really want to make a certain amount
of money it’s great to be comfortable it
can be dangerous to be comfortable but
it’s great to be comfortable but I I
just feel like if you can figure out the
thing that makes you tick find that
thing and other thing I would say I
guess is a lot of young people I find
are under such pressure there’s a kind
of sense of it’s all or nothing which i
think is really unfair meaning I don’t
know if it’s the media and the way
things are presented or if it’s because
there’s so much success that is that is
celebrated in society but there is a
sense I’ve heard enough that I feel like
I haven’t thought of this till now that
it is a kind of theme that that young
people feel like if they don’t know what
they’re born to do that there’s somehow
broken and I think that it needs to be
looked at differently which is that it
means if you don’t know that thing it
means that every door is is the
possibility that’s a beautiful thing so
I just feel like I would say don’t
stress yourself out you know the only
reason I could deal with the pressure on
Star Wars is because I love making that
movie and and if it if it didn’t work of
course I would have been crushed but it
I wasn’t doing it because it was a job
and if you can find that thing and deal
with the pressure of maybe not making
the amount of money that you would like
to yet or not getting to the company
you’d like to get or not having success
with your startup yet these are all
things that I think you can swallow if
the thing you’re doing speaks to you
because the resources have been so
limited for so long
there were a lot of people who would say
God if I only had access to a camera I
would make a movie there’s a lot of talk
about I remember I was in college I was
been most of my time in my room writing
screenplays really bad screenplays but I
was in my room doing that when I
probably have been studying or something
there are a lot of people remember at
parties who would talk about writing and
that they wanted to be a writer but I
would always notice that they were out
every time I would have to go out they
would always be out and they I just know
that there are people who talk about
what they would do if but they’re not
actually doing the thing and so it’s a
lot easier to actually write a
screenplay than you think it is
might not be good but most people talk
about writing screenplays but don’t
actually write them the people who write
them you’re already like in you know the
top 10% could you actually have written
it hey I love the movie star wars so
much I love the the original trilogy I
was 11 years old when I saw the first
one I had a profound impact on me and so
the idea of getting so close to
something kind of scared me a little bit
and also I’ve been working on a bunch of
things and Katie my wife and I had you
know plans with a family to go away for
really yeah and then kind of Kenny
college is like wandering star wars so
really like I said no thank you
but then she said can we talk in person
I said of course and she came in and we
met and all we had to do was start
talking about it and I just felt myself
like you got carried away with you so
yeah the idea that if I Katie said
afterwards the meeting I talked about
she said if you if you pass the stuff
you’ll probably regret it for the rest
your life you should really consider a
lot of times riders will say I’m working
on this thing but I don’t know if any
was going to like it feel sort of like
this boring thing that I love you know
and it’s amazing how often that boring
thing that you love becomes a sensation
and I think the key is to do that once
you start working on something saying oh
well like this this would be cool for
them I mean literally we were working on
this book you know and we were like this
is insane and it is never going to you
know happen and and we’ll see and you
know to approach something with a kind
of excitement that is shared in this
weird way where you just know it makes
you happy
and then to see it on the you know New
York Times bestseller list like oh my
god like that’s nuts
I never would have dreamed it it’s
really a result of you know having an
idea that stayed with me and that I love
but that Lyndsey felt like oh this could
be something
finding Doug who took it and said oh my
god
what about this and it was like at each
stage we were sort of you know just
turned on by what it could be but never
thinking oh this is going to work really
well because actually we were thinking
oh my god
no publishers ever gonna pull this off
you know which little brown and Mohawk
books totally did you know and and even
if they do who’s going to want it and
it’s been nice to have it received
warmly and very unexpected frankly but
the answer is just to work on things
that you actually care about wherever
you can and and to not try and think too
hard about what it’s going to be like
when it goes out into the cold hard
reality of the world Ellie watching a
movie and you hear a lion and it feels
like oh they thought that was going to
be a line in the trailer like you just
know down on the set someone’s like
that’s a trailer mode like it doesn’t
because it doesn’t feel real necessarily
in life but it just feels like a great
sound bites a great thing
the there’s a visual equivalent of that
and you got to be really careful because
sometimes I’ll think oh this is like one
of those moments and then you end up
doing it and the truth is it ends up
feeling posed it just doesn’t feel
authentic I tried for those sometimes
they never seem to work I think that the
key for any of this stuff and you know
whether we’ve accomplished it or not is
up to the audience but I think that the
key to any movie working certainly a
movie called Star Trek which you know
could you know be seen as campy is
finding authenticity and and it’s
whether it’s in a little nuance a little
moment a character exchange a look a
glance or a huge plot point there’s
something for me that is if I don’t
really understand what’s going on if I
can’t really get into under the skin of
these characters none of the spectacles
going to matter it’s a very strange
thing I was
a baseball game recently with Stephen
King and he was telling me about this
idea he has for this story he wants to
write and he was talking about it in a
way and yes
what he was telling me was terrifying
but if it was the way he was telling it
that was so incredible to me because he
was saying he was saying it like this he
was like well I know I’m not gonna say
what the story was because he would then
kill me
but he said I know that there’s this
person who and he started time and I
know that there and listening to the way
he was saying what he knew because he
hadn’t worked on it he hadn’t sat down
outlined to the end there was no
strategy to it but it was like he was
just his intuition of what what it
should be and he knew enough to know
he’s got something to take that leap of
faith and any creation any act of
creation is a leap of faith and I just
think that it’s part of it the fun of it
is knowing that it may work and and he
you know the other guys want to say
which is years ago I was working with
James L Brooks who you know did some of
my favorite movies and TV shows and this
is 20-some years ago but I remember I
was reading a book about how he wrote
broadcast news and how he structured it
and how at a certain point in act 2
there was a transition then the end of
act 2 act 3 he done this and all the
stuff and I said to him 1 2 has a gem so
I asked us about broadcast is when you
did that transition from the second act
of the 3rd act you know did you know
that Jane was going to do this you know
and he’s like what do you thing about
and I said well that phase like what
transition and what I realized was
because it was almost was that the
writer of this book and how to write
screenplays had deconstructed what James
L Brooks had written and had written
about how he had done it but he hadn’t
done it that way he just wrote and told
the story that he believed in and he
found it but you can always deconstruct
as companies do left and right what you
make and they can go oh this is what
they did and this is why they did it and
can deconstruct it and then try and but
they’re already starting from a place of
artifice of duplication as opposed to a
place that I know you and I know how you
do it of authenticity and I feel this
thing that should exist and you take
that leap of faith that it may work the
thing that I think is it was it’s not as
much advice that I was given per se but
what I kind of learned early on is that
that your voice is as important as
anyone elses and you may not always be
right and you shouldn’t be cocky about
it but that there’s a kind of I felt
like I needed to learn that the ideas
that I had we’re as good as anyone elses
ideas you know certainly not better and
I loved the collaboration so it wasn’t
like I felt like it was a battle but it
was it’s one of those things I think
that it’s good to be reminded or if you
don’t know it all be told that that
thing that you feel if you really feel
it other people do too and and that’s
something that is to be you know mind
and to be to be celebrated the truth is
that if the master you’re serving is the
project is the the idea is the book in
this case being territorial or you know
if I were to you know not be willing to
share this idea I’d be nowhere near this
room right now and I would not be
talking to you the whole point of it is
if there’s an idea that’s worth doing
and if you think you can do it yourself
great you know that you should you
should do it but no movie gets made with
one person no television show does and
what a lot of books do I knew this book
wouldn’t just myself and I the
collaboration was really something that
was born out of a discussion with
Lindsay Webber and in talking about it
with her the idea of like well let’s
find someone that we can collaborate on
this thing and so you know my name is on
the book I’m already getting too much
credit as it is the truth is that you
know Doug is the author of record
this book and my involvement yes I had
the original idea and they probably felt
that it was you know easier to go out
and sort of sell the book if I was part
of that but the experience of doing it
was such a wonderful experience the
collaboration was so great and any time
I’m sure that you felt this if you ever
collaborated with people in this way
when someone is better than you are at
something and they inspire you your
ideas get better and then you’re
suddenly saying wait I mean how about
this I never would have thought of it
but what about this you know I I will
say I’m working right now with Lawrence
Kasdan you know on a script and working
with him has been such a joy because he
will throw out ideas that in a million
years I would never have thought of that
are patently better than any idea I
would have had that day and all of a
sudden he ups my game because he is so
good and I felt the same exact thing
working with Doug he brought to to me
into to Lindsay
a world that took a notion that could
have gone any direction and I I think
just elevated it completely so I embrace
the collaboration I don’t care who has
the best idea when we’re working on a
movie I always tell the crew whoever has
the idea if there’s a moment that you
think will make this this moment better
more authentic funny or scary more
interesting please share it when I
talked to the the kind rep from Ted and
I said listen you know what should I
talk about he said don’t worry about
just just be profound
and I I took enormous comfort in that so
thank you if you’re here I try to think
what do I talk about it’s a good
question why do I do so much stuff that
involves mystery and I started trying to
figure it out and I started thinking
about why do I do any of what I do and I
started picking about my grandfather
I loved my grandfather Harry Kelvin was
his name my mother’s father he died 1986
he was an amazing guy and one of the
reasons he was amazing
after World War two he began an
electronics company he started selling
surplus parts kits to schools and stuff
so he had this incredible curiosity as a
kid I saw him come over to me with
radios and telephones and all sort of
things and he’d open them up you’d
unscrew them and reveal the inner
workings which many of us hadn’t heard
take for granted but it’s an amazing
gift to give a kid to open up this thing
and show how it works and why it works
and what it is he was the ultimate
Deconstructor in many ways and my
grandfather was a kind of guy who would
not only take things apart but he got me
interested in all sorts of different odd
crafts like you know printing like the
letterpress I’m obsessed with printing I
looked with silk-screening and book
binding and box making and I was a kid I
was always like taking apart boxes and
stuff and last night in the hotel I took
apart the Kleenex boxes looking at it
I’m telling you this it’s a beautiful
thing I swear to God I mean when you
look at it look at the the box and you
sort of see how it works it reads us
here and I met him years ago at a Book
Fair he does pop-up books I’m obsessed
with like engineering of paper but like
the scoring of it the printing of it
where the thing gets glued you know the
registration marks for the ink I just
love boxes my grandfather was sort of
the guy who you know kind of got me into
all sorts of these things he would also
supply me with tools he was this amazing
encourage er this patron sort of to make
stuff and he got me a super8 camera when
I was 10 years old and in 1976 that was
sort of an anomaly to be a 10 year old
kid access to a camera and you know it
was so generous I couldn’t believe it
he wasn’t doing it entirely without some
manipulation I mean I would call him and
I’d be like listen grandpa I really need
his camera
I do understand this is like I really
know I want to make movies I’ll get
invited to Ted one day this is like and
you know and my grandmother was the
greatest cuz she’d be like you know like
she’d get on the phone and she be like
Harry it’s better than the drugs he
should be serious if she was dead past
so so I found myself getting to stuff
thanks to her assist and suddenly you
know I had a sub sizer when I was 14
years old just kind of stuff and it let
me make things which to me was sort of
the dream he sort of humored my
obsessions with other things too like
magic the thing is we go to this magic
store in New York City called
lieutenants magic it was this great
magic stores a crappy little building in
Midtown but you’ve been the elevator the
elevator would open there be this little
small magic store you’d be in the magic
store and it was just it was a magical
place I got all these sort of magic
tricks oh here I’ll show you this kind
of thing so be like you know right which
is good but now I can’t move now I have
to do the rest of the thing I’m like
this I’m like oh wow look at my computer
over there anyway
so one of the things that I bought at
the magic store was this cannons mystery
magic box the premise behind the mystery
magic box of the following 15 dollars
buys you $50 worth of magic which is a
savings now I bought this decades ago
I’m not kidding if you look at this
you’ll see it’s never been opened but
I’ve had this forever
now I was looking at this in my office
and as it always is on the shelf and I
was thinking why have I not open this
and why have I kept it because I don’t
I’m not a packrat I don’t keep
everything but for some reason I haven’t
opened this box and I was I felt like
there was a key to this somehow and
talking about something at Ted that I
haven’t discussed before and board
people elsewhere so I thought maybe
there’s something with this I started
thinking about it and there was a giant
question mark I love the design for what
it’s worth of this thing and I start
thinking why oven I opened and I
realized it I haven’t opened it because
it represents something important to me
it represents my grandfather I might
love to cry at Ted because you know I’m
not good
ah but
for the hair the thing is that it
represents infinite possibility it
represents hope it represents potential
and what I love about this box and when
I realized I sort of do in in whatever
it is that I do is I I find myself drawn
to infinite possibility that sense of
potential I realized that mystery is the
catalyst for imagination now it’s not
the most groundbreaking idea but when I
started to think that maybe there are
times when mystery is more important
than knowledge I started getting
interested in this and so I start
thinking about loss and stuff that we do
and I realized oh my god like mystery
boxes are everywhere in what I do and
how in the creation of lost Damon
Lindelof and I who created the show with
me we were basically tasked with
creating this series that we had very
little time to do we had eleven and a
half weeks to write it cast it crew it
shoot it cut it post it turn into our
pilot so it’s not a lot of time and that
sense of possibility what did this thing
be there was no time to develop it I’m
sure you’re all familiar with those
people who tell you what you can’t do
what you should change and there was no
time for that which is kind of amazing
and so we did the show for those of you
who you know haven’t seen it or don’t
know I’m gonna tell you this one little
clip from the pilot just to show you
[Music]
[Applause]
I mean compassion
somebody must regularly – how far apart
are they coming I don’t know
now ten years ago if we wanted to do
that we have to kill a stuntman
we’d actually
it would be harder it would take cake to
would be a bitch so the amazing thing
was we were able to do this thing and
part of that was the amazing
availability technology knowing we could
do anything I mean we could never have
done that we might have been able to
write it would have been able to depict
it like we did and so part of the
amazing thing for me is in the creative
process technology is like mind-blowing
ly inspiring to me I realized that that
that blank page is a magic box you know
it needs to be you know filled with
something fantastic I use now the
ordinary people script I’d flip through
it the romance of the script was amazing
to me when I would inspire me I wanted
to start trying fill pages with the same
kind of spirit and and and thought and
emotion that that script did so that is
you know the I love Apple computers I’m
obsessed so the Apple computer like
those the power book this computer right
like it challenges me it basically says
you know what are you going to write
worthy of me like I feel this I’m
compelled and I often them like you know
dude today I’m out I got nothing
so does that in terms of the content of
you look at stories you think whoa what
are stories but mystery boxes there’s a
fundamental question in TV the first act
is called teaser it’s literally the
teaser it’s a big question
so you’re drawn into it then of course
there’s another question and it goes on
and on it looked like Star Wars you got
the Droid being the mysterious woman
who’s that we don’t know mystery box you
know then you meet Luke Skywalker he
gets the joy to see the holographic
image you learn all it’s a message you
know she wants to you know find obi-wan
Kenobi he’s her only hope but who the
hell is alone Kenobi mystery box then
you go and he meets Ben Kenobi Ben
Kenobi so is obi-wan Kenobi holy SH you
know so it keeps us
how’d you guys not see that shoes who
Stephen King he is doing we lighted this
house just know he’s the greatest he
skates carrier right he’s Frank well
he’s got a very you know he’s it
obviously one of the most brilliant
minds as hard as he murdered anyone he
saw it’s funny his Paisley I’m maybe
many many years ago we were doing the
show lost and Damon Lindelof and Carlton
Cuse and I went to Maine to have a
meeting with him for this magazine
oh no well the interview hand we all
survived we all lived no good to
interview him and he interviewed us for
this magazine is all good behind glass
no no the Senate image and by the end of
the of the interview he said you guys
want to go see a movie
we’re like sure so I’ve told the story
before but we don’t you see a movie and
of the horror movie yes it film you guys
getting cut up no no no it was it was
called a dispense a very scary well-made
movie and we go to see this movie and
I’m in this theater in Maine with
Stephen King sitting next to Stephen
King watching a horror movie which is
like a dream in life right so you’re
watching and every time someone was
really horribly killed he would go
that’s awesome he like he loved it he
was so epic so when you loved it at all
I was like mentally in one of the
million he Steve mcKane I don’t know was
everything going to a harmonious even
case it was fantastic
thank you guys so much for watching I
made this video because the TF nerd
asked me to if there’s someone you like
to to profile in their future top ten
please check out the link down in the
description below and you can cast your
vote on who we should do next I also
want to give a quick shout out to Terry
Whelan Terry thank you so much for
picking up a cup of my book your
one-word given it that five-star
feedback on Amazon I’m humbled and I
really really appreciate your support
thank you guys again for watching I
believe in you I hope you continue to
believe in yourself and whatever your
one word is much love I’ll see you
do you think there will be a time when
you’ll be able to you know create your
own idea for the big screen write your
own script instead of working on
franchise I never expected to that the
first thing I would direct would would
be based on a television series it’ll be
a sequel to in series of films based on
TV show when Tom Cruise getting the
opportunity to direct that movie it was
you know the most surreal amazing living
to this moment I cannot believe he asked
me to direct that film it doesn’t make
sense to me like this still to me is
like what how do you let me do that
movie so I got to direct a movie that
you know was of a genre I adore starred
someone who is you know biggest actor in
the world and the nicest guy ever I got
to work with the greatest crew ever it
was like the dream situation so I did
that movie for many many many reasons
not necessarily because it was based on
a you know TV show or yeah and I thought
wow I’ve gotten that chance you know so
grateful and and now find some original
thing to do and I was working on Star
Trek as a producer and I was never a fan
of Star Trek to begin with oh and I
finally read the script that we’ve been
developing I thought oh my god this
movie got great characters amazing
action it’s incredibly emotional about
the great optimism I was referring to
it’s just it’s got you know spectacle
and intimacy and all the things I loved
it I thought well this is nuts if I
don’t do this movie I’m gonna regret it
all right JJ I need to know what’s the
deal with a smoke monster
JJ will you finally bring back go Jar
Binks you’re developing an epic series
called things tonight JJ what does it
feel like to be you awesome
JJ what happened to Darth Vader’s
grandchildren Oh George this is great
you tell me man
you made always fun my question is do
you think that we’re alone the new
universe or not it’s just got very grim
no I don’t think we’re alone in the
universe I don’t I don’t I don’t but
let’s see what this is I have a question
for you I want to know why you didn’t
cast me as Chewbacca a little offended I
think you know my reputation of my
ability to transform and not only can I
grow hair I can grow hair all over my
body
next question little disappointed but
I’d love to know the answer to that why
you haven’t returned my calls
he was already cast this is that I had
nothing to do that
pressure on Star Wars is because I love
making that movie and and if it didn’t
work of course I would have been crushed
but it I wasn’t doing it because it was
a job but most people talk about writing
screenplays but don’t actually write
them the people who write them you’re
already like in you know the top 10%
could you actually have written 10 years
ago if we wanted to do that we have to
kill a stuntman
we’d actually hello bleep nation its
Evan my one word is believe and I
believe in people more than they believe
in themselves and my sincere hope is
that if you see in yourself what I see
in you you’ll be able to change the
planet so to help you on your journey
today we’re going to learn from film
director and producer JJ Abrams and my
take on it top ten rules of success rule
number six is my personal favorite and
I’d love to know which one you guys
liked the best
also as you’re watching if you hear
something that really resonates with you
please leave it down in the comments
below I put quotes around it so other
people can be inspired by it as well and
if you leave it within the first couple
hours of this video going live you have
a chance to win one of two daily prizes
given all the opportunities that are
there in the world to try and figure out
the thing that actually makes you want
to get up in the morning the thing that
you actually love I just I just know
that if I weren’t lucky enough to have
have been given the opportunity to write
a movie or a show or direct anything
appreciating I would still go home from
whatever that day job is and I would try
to do it because I loved it not because
I really want to make a certain amount
of money it’s great to be comfortable it
can be dangerous to be comfortable but
it’s great to be comfortable but I I
just feel like if you can figure out the
thing that makes you tick find that
thing and other thing I would say I
guess is a lot of young people I find
are under such pressure there’s a kind
of sense of it’s all or nothing which i
think is really unfair meaning I don’t
know if it’s the media and the way
things are presented or if it’s because
there’s so much success that is that is
celebrated in society but there is a
sense I’ve heard enough that I feel like
I haven’t thought of this till now that
it is a kind of theme that that young
people feel like if they don’t know what
they’re born to do that there’s somehow
broken and I think that it needs to be
looked at differently which is that it
means if you don’t know that thing it
means that every door is is the
possibility that’s a beautiful thing so
I just feel like I would say don’t
stress yourself out you know the only
reason I could deal with the pressure on
Star Wars is because I love making that
movie and and if it if it didn’t work of
course I would have been crushed but it
I wasn’t doing it because it was a job
and if you can find that thing and deal
with the pressure of maybe not making
the amount of money that you would like
to yet or not getting to the company
you’d like to get or not having success
with your startup yet these are all
things that I think you can swallow if
the thing you’re doing speaks to you
because the resources have been so
limited for so long
there were a lot of people who would say
God if I only had access to a camera I
would make a movie there’s a lot of talk
about I remember I was in college I was
been most of my time in my room writing
screenplays really bad screenplays but I
was in my room doing that when I
probably have been studying or something
there are a lot of people remember at
parties who would talk about writing and
that they wanted to be a writer but I
would always notice that they were out
every time I would have to go out they
would always be out and they I just know
that there are people who talk about
what they would do if but they’re not
actually doing the thing and so it’s a
lot easier to actually write a
screenplay than you think it is
might not be good but most people talk
about writing screenplays but don’t
actually write them the people who write
them you’re already like in you know the
top 10% could you actually have written
it hey I love the movie star wars so
much I love the the original trilogy I
was 11 years old when I saw the first
one I had a profound impact on me and so
the idea of getting so close to
something kind of scared me a little bit
and also I’ve been working on a bunch of
things and Katie my wife and I had you
know plans with a family to go away for
really yeah and then kind of Kenny
college is like wandering star wars so
really like I said no thank you
but then she said can we talk in person
I said of course and she came in and we
met and all we had to do was start
talking about it and I just felt myself
like you got carried away with you so
yeah the idea that if I Katie said
afterwards the meeting I talked about
she said if you if you pass the stuff
you’ll probably regret it for the rest
your life you should really consider a
lot of times riders will say I’m working
on this thing but I don’t know if any
was going to like it feel sort of like
this boring thing that I love you know
and it’s amazing how often that boring
thing that you love becomes a sensation
and I think the key is to do that once
you start working on something saying oh
well like this this would be cool for
them I mean literally we were working on
this book you know and we were like this
is insane and it is never going to you
know happen and and we’ll see and you
know to approach something with a kind
of excitement that is shared in this
weird way where you just know it makes
you happy
and then to see it on the you know New
York Times bestseller list like oh my
god like that’s nuts
I never would have dreamed it it’s
really a result of you know having an
idea that stayed with me and that I love
but that Lyndsey felt like oh this could
be something
finding Doug who took it and said oh my
god
what about this and it was like at each
stage we were sort of you know just
turned on by what it could be but never
thinking oh this is going to work really
well because actually we were thinking
oh my god
no publishers ever gonna pull this off
you know which little brown and Mohawk
books totally did you know and and even
if they do who’s going to want it and
it’s been nice to have it received
warmly and very unexpected frankly but
the answer is just to work on things
that you actually care about wherever
you can and and to not try and think too
hard about what it’s going to be like
when it goes out into the cold hard
reality of the world Ellie watching a
movie and you hear a lion and it feels
like oh they thought that was going to
be a line in the trailer like you just
know down on the set someone’s like
that’s a trailer mode like it doesn’t
because it doesn’t feel real necessarily
in life but it just feels like a great
sound bites a great thing
the there’s a visual equivalent of that
and you got to be really careful because
sometimes I’ll think oh this is like one
of those moments and then you end up
doing it and the truth is it ends up
feeling posed it just doesn’t feel
authentic I tried for those sometimes
they never seem to work I think that the
key for any of this stuff and you know
whether we’ve accomplished it or not is
up to the audience but I think that the
key to any movie working certainly a
movie called Star Trek which you know
could you know be seen as campy is
finding authenticity and and it’s
whether it’s in a little nuance a little
moment a character exchange a look a
glance or a huge plot point there’s
something for me that is if I don’t
really understand what’s going on if I
can’t really get into under the skin of
these characters none of the spectacles
going to matter it’s a very strange
thing I was
a baseball game recently with Stephen
King and he was telling me about this
idea he has for this story he wants to
write and he was talking about it in a
way and yes
what he was telling me was terrifying
but if it was the way he was telling it
that was so incredible to me because he
was saying he was saying it like this he
was like well I know I’m not gonna say
what the story was because he would then
kill me
but he said I know that there’s this
person who and he started time and I
know that there and listening to the way
he was saying what he knew because he
hadn’t worked on it he hadn’t sat down
outlined to the end there was no
strategy to it but it was like he was
just his intuition of what what it
should be and he knew enough to know
he’s got something to take that leap of
faith and any creation any act of
creation is a leap of faith and I just
think that it’s part of it the fun of it
is knowing that it may work and and he
you know the other guys want to say
which is years ago I was working with
James L Brooks who you know did some of
my favorite movies and TV shows and this
is 20-some years ago but I remember I
was reading a book about how he wrote
broadcast news and how he structured it
and how at a certain point in act 2
there was a transition then the end of
act 2 act 3 he done this and all the
stuff and I said to him 1 2 has a gem so
I asked us about broadcast is when you
did that transition from the second act
of the 3rd act you know did you know
that Jane was going to do this you know
and he’s like what do you thing about
and I said well that phase like what
transition and what I realized was
because it was almost was that the
writer of this book and how to write
screenplays had deconstructed what James
L Brooks had written and had written
about how he had done it but he hadn’t
done it that way he just wrote and told
the story that he believed in and he
found it but you can always deconstruct
as companies do left and right what you
make and they can go oh this is what
they did and this is why they did it and
can deconstruct it and then try and but
they’re already starting from a place of
artifice of duplication as opposed to a
place that I know you and I know how you
do it of authenticity and I feel this
thing that should exist and you take
that leap of faith that it may work the
thing that I think is it was it’s not as
much advice that I was given per se but
what I kind of learned early on is that
that your voice is as important as
anyone elses and you may not always be
right and you shouldn’t be cocky about
it but that there’s a kind of I felt
like I needed to learn that the ideas
that I had we’re as good as anyone elses
ideas you know certainly not better and
I loved the collaboration so it wasn’t
like I felt like it was a battle but it
was it’s one of those things I think
that it’s good to be reminded or if you
don’t know it all be told that that
thing that you feel if you really feel
it other people do too and and that’s
something that is to be you know mind
and to be to be celebrated the truth is
that if the master you’re serving is the
project is the the idea is the book in
this case being territorial or you know
if I were to you know not be willing to
share this idea I’d be nowhere near this
room right now and I would not be
talking to you the whole point of it is
if there’s an idea that’s worth doing
and if you think you can do it yourself
great you know that you should you
should do it but no movie gets made with
one person no television show does and
what a lot of books do I knew this book
wouldn’t just myself and I the
collaboration was really something that
was born out of a discussion with
Lindsay Webber and in talking about it
with her the idea of like well let’s
find someone that we can collaborate on
this thing and so you know my name is on
the book I’m already getting too much
credit as it is the truth is that you
know Doug is the author of record
this book and my involvement yes I had
the original idea and they probably felt
that it was you know easier to go out
and sort of sell the book if I was part
of that but the experience of doing it
was such a wonderful experience the
collaboration was so great and any time
I’m sure that you felt this if you ever
collaborated with people in this way
when someone is better than you are at
something and they inspire you your
ideas get better and then you’re
suddenly saying wait I mean how about
this I never would have thought of it
but what about this you know I I will
say I’m working right now with Lawrence
Kasdan you know on a script and working
with him has been such a joy because he
will throw out ideas that in a million
years I would never have thought of that
are patently better than any idea I
would have had that day and all of a
sudden he ups my game because he is so
good and I felt the same exact thing
working with Doug he brought to to me
into to Lindsay
a world that took a notion that could
have gone any direction and I I think
just elevated it completely so I embrace
the collaboration I don’t care who has
the best idea when we’re working on a
movie I always tell the crew whoever has
the idea if there’s a moment that you
think will make this this moment better
more authentic funny or scary more
interesting please share it when I
talked to the the kind rep from Ted and
I said listen you know what should I
talk about he said don’t worry about
just just be profound
and I I took enormous comfort in that so
thank you if you’re here I try to think
what do I talk about it’s a good
question why do I do so much stuff that
involves mystery and I started trying to
figure it out and I started thinking
about why do I do any of what I do and I
started picking about my grandfather
I loved my grandfather Harry Kelvin was
his name my mother’s father he died 1986
he was an amazing guy and one of the
reasons he was amazing
after World War two he began an
electronics company he started selling
surplus parts kits to schools and stuff
so he had this incredible curiosity as a
kid I saw him come over to me with
radios and telephones and all sort of
things and he’d open them up you’d
unscrew them and reveal the inner
workings which many of us hadn’t heard
take for granted but it’s an amazing
gift to give a kid to open up this thing
and show how it works and why it works
and what it is he was the ultimate
Deconstructor in many ways and my
grandfather was a kind of guy who would
not only take things apart but he got me
interested in all sorts of different odd
crafts like you know printing like the
letterpress I’m obsessed with printing I
looked with silk-screening and book
binding and box making and I was a kid I
was always like taking apart boxes and
stuff and last night in the hotel I took
apart the Kleenex boxes looking at it
I’m telling you this it’s a beautiful
thing I swear to God I mean when you
look at it look at the the box and you
sort of see how it works it reads us
here and I met him years ago at a Book
Fair he does pop-up books I’m obsessed
with like engineering of paper but like
the scoring of it the printing of it
where the thing gets glued you know the
registration marks for the ink I just
love boxes my grandfather was sort of
the guy who you know kind of got me into
all sorts of these things he would also
supply me with tools he was this amazing
encourage er this patron sort of to make
stuff and he got me a super8 camera when
I was 10 years old and in 1976 that was
sort of an anomaly to be a 10 year old
kid access to a camera and you know it
was so generous I couldn’t believe it
he wasn’t doing it entirely without some
manipulation I mean I would call him and
I’d be like listen grandpa I really need
his camera
I do understand this is like I really
know I want to make movies I’ll get
invited to Ted one day this is like and
you know and my grandmother was the
greatest cuz she’d be like you know like
she’d get on the phone and she be like
Harry it’s better than the drugs he
should be serious if she was dead past
so so I found myself getting to stuff
thanks to her assist and suddenly you
know I had a sub sizer when I was 14
years old just kind of stuff and it let
me make things which to me was sort of
the dream he sort of humored my
obsessions with other things too like
magic the thing is we go to this magic
store in New York City called
lieutenants magic it was this great
magic stores a crappy little building in
Midtown but you’ve been the elevator the
elevator would open there be this little
small magic store you’d be in the magic
store and it was just it was a magical
place I got all these sort of magic
tricks oh here I’ll show you this kind
of thing so be like you know right which
is good but now I can’t move now I have
to do the rest of the thing I’m like
this I’m like oh wow look at my computer
over there anyway
so one of the things that I bought at
the magic store was this cannons mystery
magic box the premise behind the mystery
magic box of the following 15 dollars
buys you $50 worth of magic which is a
savings now I bought this decades ago
I’m not kidding if you look at this
you’ll see it’s never been opened but
I’ve had this forever
now I was looking at this in my office
and as it always is on the shelf and I
was thinking why have I not open this
and why have I kept it because I don’t
I’m not a packrat I don’t keep
everything but for some reason I haven’t
opened this box and I was I felt like
there was a key to this somehow and
talking about something at Ted that I
haven’t discussed before and board
people elsewhere so I thought maybe
there’s something with this I started
thinking about it and there was a giant
question mark I love the design for what
it’s worth of this thing and I start
thinking why oven I opened and I
realized it I haven’t opened it because
it represents something important to me
it represents my grandfather I might
love to cry at Ted because you know I’m
not good
ah but
for the hair the thing is that it
represents infinite possibility it
represents hope it represents potential
and what I love about this box and when
I realized I sort of do in in whatever
it is that I do is I I find myself drawn
to infinite possibility that sense of
potential I realized that mystery is the
catalyst for imagination now it’s not
the most groundbreaking idea but when I
started to think that maybe there are
times when mystery is more important
than knowledge I started getting
interested in this and so I start
thinking about loss and stuff that we do
and I realized oh my god like mystery
boxes are everywhere in what I do and
how in the creation of lost Damon
Lindelof and I who created the show with
me we were basically tasked with
creating this series that we had very
little time to do we had eleven and a
half weeks to write it cast it crew it
shoot it cut it post it turn into our
pilot so it’s not a lot of time and that
sense of possibility what did this thing
be there was no time to develop it I’m
sure you’re all familiar with those
people who tell you what you can’t do
what you should change and there was no
time for that which is kind of amazing
and so we did the show for those of you
who you know haven’t seen it or don’t
know I’m gonna tell you this one little
clip from the pilot just to show you
[Music]
[Applause]
I mean compassion
somebody must regularly – how far apart
are they coming I don’t know
now ten years ago if we wanted to do
that we have to kill a stuntman
we’d actually
it would be harder it would take cake to
would be a bitch so the amazing thing
was we were able to do this thing and
part of that was the amazing
availability technology knowing we could
do anything I mean we could never have
done that we might have been able to
write it would have been able to depict
it like we did and so part of the
amazing thing for me is in the creative
process technology is like mind-blowing
ly inspiring to me I realized that that
that blank page is a magic box you know
it needs to be you know filled with
something fantastic I use now the
ordinary people script I’d flip through
it the romance of the script was amazing
to me when I would inspire me I wanted
to start trying fill pages with the same
kind of spirit and and and thought and
emotion that that script did so that is
you know the I love Apple computers I’m
obsessed so the Apple computer like
those the power book this computer right
like it challenges me it basically says
you know what are you going to write
worthy of me like I feel this I’m
compelled and I often them like you know
dude today I’m out I got nothing
so does that in terms of the content of
you look at stories you think whoa what
are stories but mystery boxes there’s a
fundamental question in TV the first act
is called teaser it’s literally the
teaser it’s a big question
so you’re drawn into it then of course
there’s another question and it goes on
and on it looked like Star Wars you got
the Droid being the mysterious woman
who’s that we don’t know mystery box you
know then you meet Luke Skywalker he
gets the joy to see the holographic
image you learn all it’s a message you
know she wants to you know find obi-wan
Kenobi he’s her only hope but who the
hell is alone Kenobi mystery box then
you go and he meets Ben Kenobi Ben
Kenobi so is obi-wan Kenobi holy SH you
know so it keeps us
how’d you guys not see that shoes who
Stephen King he is doing we lighted this
house just know he’s the greatest he
skates carrier right he’s Frank well
he’s got a very you know he’s it
obviously one of the most brilliant
minds as hard as he murdered anyone he
saw it’s funny his Paisley I’m maybe
many many years ago we were doing the
show lost and Damon Lindelof and Carlton
Cuse and I went to Maine to have a
meeting with him for this magazine
oh no well the interview hand we all
survived we all lived no good to
interview him and he interviewed us for
this magazine is all good behind glass
no no the Senate image and by the end of
the of the interview he said you guys
want to go see a movie
we’re like sure so I’ve told the story
before but we don’t you see a movie and
of the horror movie yes it film you guys
getting cut up no no no it was it was
called a dispense a very scary well-made
movie and we go to see this movie and
I’m in this theater in Maine with
Stephen King sitting next to Stephen
King watching a horror movie which is
like a dream in life right so you’re
watching and every time someone was
really horribly killed he would go
that’s awesome he like he loved it he
was so epic so when you loved it at all
I was like mentally in one of the
million he Steve mcKane I don’t know was
everything going to a harmonious even
case it was fantastic
thank you guys so much for watching I
made this video because the TF nerd
asked me to if there’s someone you like
to to profile in their future top ten
please check out the link down in the
description below and you can cast your
vote on who we should do next I also
want to give a quick shout out to Terry
Whelan Terry thank you so much for
picking up a cup of my book your
one-word given it that five-star
feedback on Amazon I’m humbled and I
really really appreciate your support
thank you guys again for watching I
believe in you I hope you continue to
believe in yourself and whatever your
one word is much love I’ll see you
do you think there will be a time when
you’ll be able to you know create your
own idea for the big screen write your
own script instead of working on
franchise I never expected to that the
first thing I would direct would would
be based on a television series it’ll be
a sequel to in series of films based on
TV show when Tom Cruise getting the
opportunity to direct that movie it was
you know the most surreal amazing living
to this moment I cannot believe he asked
me to direct that film it doesn’t make
sense to me like this still to me is
like what how do you let me do that
movie so I got to direct a movie that
you know was of a genre I adore starred
someone who is you know biggest actor in
the world and the nicest guy ever I got
to work with the greatest crew ever it
was like the dream situation so I did
that movie for many many many reasons
not necessarily because it was based on
a you know TV show or yeah and I thought
wow I’ve gotten that chance you know so
grateful and and now find some original
thing to do and I was working on Star
Trek as a producer and I was never a fan
of Star Trek to begin with oh and I
finally read the script that we’ve been
developing I thought oh my god this
movie got great characters amazing
action it’s incredibly emotional about
the great optimism I was referring to
it’s just it’s got you know spectacle
and intimacy and all the things I loved
it I thought well this is nuts if I
don’t do this movie I’m gonna regret it
all right JJ I need to know what’s the
deal with a smoke monster
JJ will you finally bring back go Jar
Binks you’re developing an epic series
called things tonight JJ what does it
feel like to be you awesome
JJ what happened to Darth Vader’s
grandchildren Oh George this is great
you tell me man
you made always fun my question is do
you think that we’re alone the new
universe or not it’s just got very grim
no I don’t think we’re alone in the
universe I don’t I don’t I don’t but
let’s see what this is I have a question
for you I want to know why you didn’t
cast me as Chewbacca a little offended I
think you know my reputation of my
ability to transform and not only can I
grow hair I can grow hair all over my
body
next question little disappointed but
I’d love to know the answer to that why
you haven’t returned my calls
he was already cast this is that I had
nothing to do that
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