John Collee

Birthday: 1955

John Collee studied medicine at Edinburgh University and has worked as a doctor in the UK, Sri Lanka, Madagascar, the Solomon Islands, and the former Soviet Union.In addition to his film and TV work he has written three novels - Kingsley's Touch, Paper Mask (1990) and The Rig, (all published by Penguin.) - and contributed a weekly column to Th... Show more »

Being a screenwriter is like being a furniture maker. Every piece you make is different but there ar...Show more »

Being a screenwriter is like being a furniture maker. Every piece you make is different but there are only a few structures which work. You get to know at a glance if it will stand up or fall over. Show less «

Clearly anyone can write a great story if they have sufficiently vivid experiences to write about. M...Show more »

Clearly anyone can write a great story if they have sufficiently vivid experiences to write about. My advice to young writers is get a life. Find out what fear, pain, exhaustion love and hunger really feel like. Then work out how to put that feeling in pictures. Show less «

You know, this whole thing about the solitary tortured artist is nonsense I think. All the great cre...Show more »

You know, this whole thing about the solitary tortured artist is nonsense I think. All the great creative people I know have become great precisely because they know how to get along with people and swim around in the communal unconscious. Show less «

If you're holding out to see your name in lights you're always going to be disappointed. The journey...Show more »

If you're holding out to see your name in lights you're always going to be disappointed. The journey is two years minimum and you're names up there for two weeks at the very end ... if at all. Show less «

I think to be successful stories have to operate on the level of parable. They have to be a sort of ...Show more »

I think to be successful stories have to operate on the level of parable. They have to be a sort of philosophical discourse in disguise. To put it another way: if you don't have a theme you're sunk. Once you know the theme, you know exactly what you're doing. Sometimes you don't get it till the second or third draft, but once you know it changes everything. Show less «

Most directors are egomaniacs. Thats why they're directors. And most successful writers are masters ...Show more »

Most directors are egomaniacs. Thats why they're directors. And most successful writers are masters of adaptation, so they can get along with pretty much anyone. Show less «

Less dialogue is generally more. Oddly, what people pay money to see at the cinema is the process of...Show more »

Less dialogue is generally more. Oddly, what people pay money to see at the cinema is the process of thought -- or rather their own thoughts and emotions reflected in the face of an actor. Show less «

John Collee

John Collee's FILMOGRAPHY

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