I figured I’d probably write 50 scripts in my life. Out of those 50, I figured maybe five would be produced, and that maybe one or two would be successful. So I always kind of expected I’d write at least one successful film in my life. [...] The way it all came together was kind of like Murphy's law in reverse—I don’t expect that kind of experience again any time soon.

You never want your second act or the whole movie to just be this relentless march towards its goal. You want things to take the audience by surprise.

A good story is a good story, whatever the medium.

I like to begin every screenplay with a burst of delusional self-confidence. It tends to fade pretty quickly, but for me, at least, there doesn't seem to be any other way to start writing a script.

Good writing is deceptive in that it hides its own artifice - it makes it seem easy.

I had read enough mediocre scripts and was determined not to inflict another one on the world.

Working at Pixar has been like my graduate school for screenwriting.