The key to moving a maybe to a yes is to make the buyer feel as though other buyers have already said yes. ... It helps if it's true, but it never is. No one wants to be the first yes. Why is this? I don't know, but I think it's anthropological.

To whom one reports is a unit of measure. It measures the exact distance between the player and the center of power. It is the closest we can get to a calibrated answer to the question 'How big am I?' More than the size of an executive's office or even his title, which no one remembers anyway, the fewer people between the player and a 'yes,' the more powerful he is.

One of our jobs is to keep women working, which we do by keeping women coming to the movies. And doing that means making good, smart, often funny movies that women can identify with-with terrific dialogue we all remember and cherish, and stories that illuminate our lives and decisions and turning points.

When I was starting out, the first women studio heads and writers were just getting into their perches - development execs learning their chops.

Like the color black, business mixed with anything turns to business.

I think there are always actor parts, and then there are movie-star parts, and an actors always an actor until he does a movie-star part.

The only way I can access all my strength is to relax. ... The paradox is that you must learn to be relaxed while using all your power.