Home
Authors
Tags
App
Get QuoteDark Inspirational Quotes App
" There's hip-hop music in 'Power,' but the show is not about the hip-hop industry. "
Courtney A. Kemp
Power
Show
Industry
Related Quotes:
" There's a difference between talent and skill. You might have writing talent, but skill is learned. You have to practice. I remain teachable. I was sure that I didn't know everything. People who work with me will tell you I don't think I know everything. I watch people sink around me thinking that they knew everything. "
Courtney A. Kemp
Work
Writing
People
" New York is the center of the world. I grew up in Connecticut, outside of the city, and my father commuted to the city for work. "
Courtney A. Kemp
Father
New York
World
" When it comes to power as it functions between humans, it all comes down to desire. If you know what someone wants, you can control them. It is as simple as that. And the reverse is also true: If you have control over your own desires, no one will ever own you. As humans, we are plagued with desire - it consumes us, it fuels us, it destroys us. "
Courtney A. Kemp
Power
True
You
" I say a prayer several times a day about what I can control and what I can't control. "
Courtney A. Kemp
Control
Prayer
I Can
" I think women judge other women more harshly, always, which is a shame. "
Courtney A. Kemp
Judge
Shame
More
" When I watch television, I want to be surprised. "
Courtney A. Kemp
Television
Want
Surprised
" Every writer should be able to write anything if you do the research and you're sensitive enough to ask the questions. "
Courtney A. Kemp
Write
Questions
Enough
" I had very much wanted to be the very first black female editor-in-chief of 'Vogue.' Barring that, I wanted to work at 'Entertainment Weekly.' "
Courtney A. Kemp
Entertainment
Work
Black
" The baseline character in a lot of Western literature is a man. So we, as women, do a lot of suspending of our disbelief to experience a novel or a play or a movie through that male character. "
Courtney A. Kemp
Women
Character
Play
" I knew I wanted to write professionally and get paid. "
Courtney A. Kemp
Knew
Paid
Wanted
" I think television is about the characters you want to see again, and so you want to invite these people into your home. And certainly, seeing them get into bad situations and then watching them have to get themselves out, that's always super satisfying. "
Courtney A. Kemp
Television
Home
You
" There are some aspects of the story of 'Power' that clearly are about race in the sense that any one of us now who's black and was raised in this country was raised with a lie, which is, 'You can never be president.' That's not true. "
Courtney A. Kemp
Black
You
Power
" I always like to write myself into a corner. I think the best stuff comes from only having a few ways out. "
Courtney A. Kemp
Always
Write
Think
" I'm from an upper-middle class background. But because there was no one of my race where I grew up, I was very isolated. I felt different from everybody else. "
Courtney A. Kemp
Class
Race
Up
" When you pretend to be an authority on everything, it forces your subordinates to defer to your opinion - which may not be the most informed in the room. If you have humility concerning the gaps in your experience or ability, it allows others to shine. "
Courtney A. Kemp
Experience
Opinion
Humility
" I really try to plot in a fearless fashion. I try not to care about not knowing the answer before I get there; I just jump in first and see what happens. "
Courtney A. Kemp
Not Knowing
Fearless
Fashion
" There's always going to be a part of me that wants an Emmy. Truthfully, I'm probably more motivated by people being entertained. I'm more motivated by people being like, 'Oh snap! Did you see that?' "
Courtney A. Kemp
People
More
Me
" Comedians are on the road so much that when they're just getting to act and sit in one place, they're really grateful and just ready. "
Courtney A. Kemp
Sit
Grateful
Road
" I worked at 'Mademoiselle,' and then it shut, and I worked at 'GQ' for three years, during which I was freelancing. I wrote for 'Vibe.' I did music reviews. I wrote for 'Time Out.' I was desperate to get into 'Entertainment Weekly' or 'New York Magazine.' Like, desperate. "
Courtney A. Kemp
Three
New
Music
" Knowing what I don't know helps me every day. "
Courtney A. Kemp
Knowing
Know
Every Day
" My dad was born with no money. "
Courtney A. Kemp
Born
Money
Dad
" Great power is setting a goal, working hard for it, and achieving it in exactly the way you expected with no consequences and no remainders after the long division is done. But does that happen to anyone? The unexpected always hitches a ride along with everything you planned. "
Courtney A. Kemp
Long
Great
Unexpected
" When I was a little girl, my imagination was what helped me deal with some sort of negative elements in my childhood. "
Courtney A. Kemp
Imagination
Me
Girl
" I always wanted to make a show that had everything I wanted to watch, as opposed to just one or two things. "
Courtney A. Kemp
Two
Always
Everything
" I first became a showrunner at 36 years old. I had no experience doing this job, which is as complicated and multi-faceted as anything I'd ever tried. "
Courtney A. Kemp
Complicated
Experience
Job
" Not many people get to create a television show that actually makes it on the air. "
Courtney A. Kemp
Air
Television
Show
" If you wanna be your own boss, you gotta work your way up - have the skills. "
Courtney A. Kemp
Work
Boss
Way
" 50 Cent and I really started to bond over our love for music. The first conversations we had were about Curtis Mayfield. "
Courtney A. Kemp
Music
Over
Started
" What I'm about to say won't be popular, but it's true: If being a television showrunner is the job you want, and you are a woman, I would not suggest you have children. The reality is that you just cannot do both well. "
Courtney A. Kemp
True
You
Reality
" There are so many different things that create an alchemy of success. Just like there are so many different things that create an alchemy of a failure. "
Courtney A. Kemp
Create
Success
Things