As a writer, or as a filmmaker, you have to present yourself, and part of what yourself is is what youre interested in, or what you think is funny, or what you think is sad, or what you think is horrible. – Charlie Kaufman
Directing is a more pragmatic experience, where you have to deal with the restrictions of time and money that force you to make certain decisions you dont have to make when youre writing. – Charlie Kaufman
I think you just assume that your memory is just sort of a video playback of your experience, but its nothing like that at all. Its a complete refabrication of an event and a lot of it is made up, because youre filling in spaces. – Charlie Kaufman
When Im writing, Im trying to immerse myself in the chaos of an emotional experience, rather than separate myself from it and look back at it from a distance with clarity and tell it as a story. Because thats how life is lived, you know? – Charlie Kaufman
The general consensus among historians, among the ones who can handle the fact that Lincoln is, in fact, historical fiction, is that we demonstrate enormous fidelity to history and that, beyond that, weve actually contributed a line of thinking about Lincolns presidency thats somewhat original. – Tony Kushner