Diving into the life and greatness of Woody Allen from Eric Lax's biography, Woody Allen

Woody Allen was once asked in an interview how he makes one film a year, quite a great feat. Woody simply responded, “It’s not all that big a deal when you think of it because what I do is make films. It’s not that I’m torn between other activities.”

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3:30 - Find the thing that makes you feel alive

8:00 - Increase your volume to do great work. Woody Allen wrote 50 jokes a day. Not all were great. But when you write and everyday and write a lot, you create a bulk of volume that will lead to success eventually

9:40 - How much do you want it, "“You have to want it more than anything else in the world. It’s a tough scramble and you just have to want it.”

11:10 - Enthusiasm is the ultimate projection of success

16:00 - “Every writer has trouble with beginnings, that the beginning is the hardest part, and once you get going it does get a little easier.”

18:10 - Becoming a comedian and overcoming fear,  “The scariest moment is always before you start.”

27:10 - Greatness doesn't dabble. Woody Allen makes a film a year because he is just always working on material.

30:20 - "I’m obeying nobody but my artistic muse. The experience is doing the project; the critical and commercial responses are not terribly relevant…If I don’t like something, it doesn't matter how many awards it’s own. It’s important to keep your own criteria and not defer to the trends of the marketplace.” 

34:20 - "Writing doesn’t come easy. I learned to get at it early in the morning nand work at it and rewrite and rethink and tear up my stuff and write it again. I was brought up in a hard-line approach–you never wait for inspiration, you have to do it and force it until you get it right."

37:00 - “Thank god the public only sees the final product.”

41:30 - "I love work. I’d work seven days a week. I don’t care about hours. When we solve this problem, whether it’s five or ten at night, then we move on to something else. Hours or days mean nothing,"

43:00 - If you're meeting your standards and expectations, that's a bad thing

45:00 - Make the process as easy as possible

47:00 Key takeaways

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