Jane Goldman
There's video footage of my 10th birthday where I'm wearing, like, a little pink T-shirt. Then my dad comes in brandishing a copy of 'Eraserhead,' going, 'Look what we've got for tonight!'Collection: Birthday
I've yet to meet a bitter teenager. Bitterness, jealousy and jadedness, I think, are the most unattractive qualities in a person, and unfortunately they do seem to come with age.Collection: Jealousy
Vengeance is the act of turning anger in on yourself. On the surface it may be directed at someone else, but it is a surefire recipe for arresting emotional recovery.Collection: Anger
Normally with film, it's normal for the screenwriter to never be seen again after finishing until the premiere.
I really enjoy the company of my kids... I'm not one of those people who goes 'Yeah, my kids are my mates', that's a dreadful kind of mother, but I'm fortunate that there are times that they do want me around, and I feel lucky that they let me into their world.
I was into Alan Moore and Frank Miller. I was a teenager when all those books where coming out for the first time - 'Watchmen,' 'V for Vendetta.' It was a great time to get into comics.
If you're writing a novel, you can afford to see where the spirit takes you, but in terms of structure and engineering with a screenplay, you have to be quite pragmatic; otherwise, it will run away from you.
I really enjoy the challenge of adapting.
I don't think anyone has ever been corrupted by a T-shirt.
I play 'World of Warcraft,' which means I end up hanging out with teenage boys a lot.
Teenagers come to things fresh and can really teach us an awful lot.
It's really weird because my house is very ornate, but my writing lair is very, very blank. It's white, the furniture is white. It gives me nothing to look at, so I just have to concentrate!
I'm not too easily distracted now I've had practice, but I write with nothing to look at. I used to rent an office that just had a view of a wall!
I don't tend to be a nitpicker when I'm watching movies, so as long as something is true to the spirit of the original, that's very much what we got for. You try to never do something that the original author wouldn't have done themselves.
You need to be invested in what happens. The characters are your conduit to the story. Many modern horror films are fun but not frightening because one has not connected with the characters.
Japanese horror films take the business of being frightening seriously. There is no attempt at postmodernism or humour. They are incredibly melancholy, with a strong emotional core, while remaining absolutely terrifying.
The things you encounter in your formative years always stay with you.
Always build. If you start at fever pitch, there's nowhere to go.
Establish character - otherwise, it is difficult to connect with what is frightening.
After starting as a journalist for newspapers and magazines, I began to write books and had success with a novel and four nonfiction books for young adults.
A friend of mine, Neil Gaiman, had the film rights to his book 'Stardust' bought by producer Matthew Vaughn and suggested I adapt it for the screen.
'Stardust' ended up being my first film in 2007.
I've always loved science fiction, fantasy, manga, comic books; so I guess, to some degree, those things influence my personal idea of what looks nice, which definitely isn't everyone else's.
People's intolerance, I find puzzling.
You can tell a lot in shorthand.
There is always a reverence issue, and I'm no different from any audience member that if someone's adapting a book or comic that I like, I really don't want them to screw it up.
You want, in a sense, to relate to the main character, so often, the main character POV is a bit more of a blank slate.
All English people have a fascination with Jack the Ripper. I don't know why, because it's so dreadful, but such a strange, endearing part of our culture. Morbid fascination sums it up.
I know what I miss as a cinemagoer is that balance of films that actually scare me; they're so few and far between.
I loved ghost stories. I love horror stories. I love all of that stuff, but I really yearn for something to actually frighten me. It's more of a yearning for that than something that has to necessarily be cerebral or sophisticated. Good storytelling and something that actually frightens you.
When it's something you really adore, I think you don't want to be the one who accidentally writes a crap episode.
I think when you really adore something, and you've grown up with it, you almost don't want to be part of it. I want to enjoy it as a fan and don't want to ruin the magic.
Everybody should be free to love and marry who they want.
I've been really lucky not to have a duff experience with a director.
Honestly, I think most directors are about, 'Let's do the most fun and effective thing here and figure out how afterwards.'
I think most of the time you can make something happen, and it's about not letting your imagination be limited by that.
I enjoy the medium of film, and I think I understand it well, and I like working with directors, so yeah, I think I'll stick with this.
I pretty much always wanted to be a writer.
I was so clear on the fact that I wanted to be a journalist that I asked my parents if I could go to a tutorial college to do my O-levels early, which I did when I was 13.
I love my work, but my home life is so fulfilling that I don't tend to be driven by work ambitions.
Quite honestly, I'm so happy to be Jonathan's wife and my children's mum that anything else is a bonus.
I like it when characters respond to things that are outrageous and movie-like in an authentic way.
I came to comic books when I was about 15.
I've always been drawn to spooky things, to the unusual, to things that are dark but in a friendly way.
I see my role as a translator, telling the story that's in the book using the more visual language of film.
I like looking at a book and asking myself, 'How do I replicate that experience I just had as a reader?'
The idea that you could make a living from writing always thrilled me.
If you disapprove of violence, then you can't think there is any age when violence is appropriate.
A lot of people use the phrase 'underage violence,' which, to me, is meaningless.
I'm personally fed up with people seeing women and girls cast as victims.