Judd Apatow
College is the reward for surviving high school. Most people have great fun stories from college and nightmare stories from high school.
Well, every movie is an experiment. And the only way you can grow at what you're doing is to take chances. You can't try to stick with what worked last time.
I think that everything I do tends to root for the underdog.
Eventually, the nerds and the geeks will have their day.
I don't know if you can be a born-again virgin.
I still feel like a nerd.
I always see other people as predecessors and admire them.
There are only so many hilarious actors so when they cross-pollinate, people assume it's always the same actors and directors.
There was definitely a period when I just felt out of sync with earth.
If you look at who drives the box office numbers at these films, it's men.
Up until 'Bridesmaids', the general consensus was that women preferred comedy a bit softer.
All of my jokes were about not being able to meet anybody. I didn't have any insight into anything - even my own insecurities.
I'm the guy who gets uncomfortable. That's why I was able to write 'The 40-Year-Old Virgin' and 'Knocked Up.' I believe in those guys.
There's something honorable about holding out for love and not breaking up for the sake of the baby. I see people get divorced, and there is a part of me that thinks, I wonder how hard they tried?
I'm making a movie about relationships, and I'm surrounded by guys scared of talking to girls.
My way of dealing with the world has always been to make fun of it and observe it but not take part in it. That's how I became a writer. But when you have kids, suddenly you have to be part of things. It leads almost to a breakdown because your whole defense mechanism is now really destructive.
To me, I've never understood why there is any question about are women as funny as men.
I think a lot of studios today are run by women, and we are entering a time when a lot of women have evolved in Second City and Upright Citizens Brigade and wanted to become writers and comedians.
I think a lot of Hollywood is in retreat right now trying to figure out how to make money and make the safest bets.
The thing that is incredibly helpful is that we screen the movies and we ask the audience if they like it or not and we ask a lot of questions and do testing on the movies. For comedies, at least, it's very helpful. If they're not laughing and they don't say that they loved it, then I have screwed up.
For me, until I know that the audience really gets what I'm trying to communicate I'm not done.
Television is much more difficult because at every moment the network can force you to change things based on their belief about what would make it popular. You're in a constant debate with a gun at your head, and the gun is cancellation. So it's hard to win the arguments.
I've had movies bomb with terrible reviews, I've had movies make a lot of money with terrible reviews, I've had movies get good reviews and make money. And I like it best when the movies do well and the reviewers like them.
It's so difficult to shock America these days.
I wanted to see how funny I could be without making the choice that every 10 minutes something big and visual had to happen.
People like the comedy more when they care about the characters.
The moment you think of a joke is the best moment.
I put on a big show when I write something I think is funny.
I always felt as a kid that I was underappreciated, invisible or weird, but I've always secretly thought people would one day appreciate what is different about me. I'm always putting that message out there.
I love magazines and film critics, so I eat it up. I'm not one of those people who says 'I never read anything.' I generally read all of it.
Don't be a jerk. Try to love everyone. Give more than you take. And do it despite the fact that you only really like about seven out of 500 people.Collection: People
I always feel like I'm very far from my potential.Collection: Feels
We are at this weird moment where there's an economic model that supports creativity. People are demanding something new and fresh.Collection: Creativity
Every day I live by only one rule, be a good guy.Collection: Guy
In the writing, I'm just trying to go deeper, emotionally, and learn more about myself and reveal more and find a way to connect with people in new ways.Collection: Writing
I feel like Superbad and Freaks And Geeks are somewhat timeless. That's always gratifying, when you feel like 30 years in the future, people will still get it, and it won't seem creaky. It won't come across like The Incredible Mr. Limpet.Collection: Years
I think the story should always determine the visual approach. There are situations where you want things to feel alive and like life, and there are situations that should have some magic and the separation with the grain.Collection: Thinking
I'm always surprised when you do something very different that people don't get behind you more, because you're always told, "Take chances! Stretch!" And when you do it, sometimes people get really supportive and excited, but sometimes people go at you because you've tossed out the formula.Collection: People
Most people are really fighting to not be adults. And, when it happens, it's a big transition. And a lot of that is just awful. It's awful to have to get a job and really be responsible for other people. And it is funny, too. Like, we're all kind of little idiot kids trying to act like we know what we are doing.Collection: Jobs
I literally cannot remember one joke.Collection: Remember
Television is much more difficult because at every moment, the network can force you to change things based on their belief about what would make it popular. You’re in a constant debate with a gun to your head, and the gun is cancellation. So it’s hard to win the arguments.Collection: Gun
Every joke is an experiment. When you sit, alone, and write a script, or just a joke, you really have no idea if it will succeed.Collection: Writing
I am always driven by the terror of humiliation.Collection: Design
I loved the idea that I could write a joke and someone else would have to take the risk of performing it.Collection: Writing
The only way you survive on all these services is if you're groundbreaking. There's pressure to be groundbreaking, which is the greatest thing that's ever happened. It's a bizarre aspect of what's happened with all of these subscription services is everyone is trying to outdo each other by doing great things.Collection: Trying
For a long time, TV was just the land of handsome, beautiful people, and now it's the opposite.Collection: Beautiful
You can do weird things on TV - there are happy stories, sad stories, dark stories. But with a movie, it always has to end satisfying. Unless you're the Coen brothers, and it ends with somebody getting shot in the head.Collection: Brother
I think, there were probably problems with show business where producers and directors would try to get the writing credit also. So they created a rule where the bar, to get your name added to the writing credits, if you've done a revision, is very high if you're also the producer or director.Collection: Writing
I'm getting older, so how people face grave circumstances is of interest to me. And you meet a lot of people who are very courageous, and it doesn't reek of something funny to write about, but I always think that the higher the stakes, the bigger the laughs can be, and the more emotional the scenes can be.Collection: Writing
When the entire country was watching one show there was a major discussion happening; is it possible for that to happen in a 1 million channel universe?Collection: Country