“Suppliers are only as good as you are. Don’t hand your work over to a supplier hoping that they will produce the magic. They won’t. You are the magic. The art of the art director is to get talented people to exceed their own capabilities. It’s difficult. If you give a film director a free hand, he will do what he does because he thinks that’s what you want from him. It probably won’t be. You are employing him for the best thing on his reel or the one which is relevant to your job. He may have done one or two great jobs in his life, and you’re hoping to get a job of that standard. Very unlikely. If you brief him too tightly, it won’t allow the freedom to make his work the thing you employed him for. The art is to inspire him. It’s for you to have the vision that allows him to expand into something he hasn’t done before. It is the same with photographers, typographers, illustrators, directors, color graders, editors, musicians and technicians. It’s for you to lead them along the path of enlightenment. All will respond if you help show them a better way. But you must show no fear. It must be what you think, not what the client may think or your boss will think. This is your job. Don’t refer back to those in authority, they will play for safety. You’re on your own. FLY OR DIE.”