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" Wherever I go, stuff accumulates. "
Courtney A. Kemp
Go
Wherever
Stuff
Related Quotes:
" When I first arrived in Los Angeles from New York in 2004 to try to break into television, I couldn't believe how segregated it was - how many neighborhoods were nearly all-white or all-black or -Asian or -Latino. "
Courtney A. Kemp
Try
New York
New
" I think as long as I can tell you a story about people that you understand, it doesn't matter if you don't like what they do; you understand why they did it. "
Courtney A. Kemp
I Can
Think
Story
" I want to be a strong voice, period. "
Courtney A. Kemp
Strong
Voice
Want
" When I watch television, I want to be surprised. "
Courtney A. Kemp
Television
Want
Surprised
" There's hip-hop music in 'Power,' but the show is not about the hip-hop industry. "
Courtney A. Kemp
Power
Show
Industry
" Humans are powerless, and even in our exercise of free will, either the Universe is gonna get down with your plan, or it isn't. "
Courtney A. Kemp
Exercise
Down
Free
" I remember watching episodes of 'The Sopranos' and being filled with dread knowing what was coming or anticipating what was coming. I don't think that that's always a bad thing. I think sometimes the audience needs a little catharsis held away from them. "
Courtney A. Kemp
Think
Remember
Sometimes
" My dad and his sister, who is no longer with us, used to dance on the streets for money. They had nothing. "
Courtney A. Kemp
Sister
Dance
Streets
" 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
" When I was pitching 'Power,' I had an executive say, 'Well, I already have a black show.' He said that right to my face. "
Courtney A. Kemp
Said
Say
Black
" 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
" If I weren't a showrunner, I'd be a much more accomplished mother; if I were not a mother, I would be a much more accomplished showrunner. I have to be okay with getting a B in both. "
Courtney A. Kemp
Accomplished
Okay
Mother
" Any underrepresented audience loves to see themselves on TV, but what's more important is that we're writing about universal themes - good versus evil, can you change yourself? These themes resonate for everyone. "
Courtney A. Kemp
Change
Evil
Yourself
" When people watch 'Power' and they find out the showrunner is black, it's not surprising. What is surprising is that I am a woman and my background is not particularly urban. "
Courtney A. Kemp
Woman
I Am
Power
" 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 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
" The impetus for 'Power' was me writing about my dad, who was an advertising executive and very interested in image. He thought that perception was reality and what people thought of you was what was real about you. "
Courtney A. Kemp
Reality
People
Writing
" 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
" I love Pusha T and The Clipse. "
Courtney A. Kemp
T
Love
I Love
" The Shawshank Redemption' isn't a movie about a black guy and a white guy who become friends - it's a movie about freedom. At the end, the cathartic experience of seeing our own emotions reflected back to us, that's the purpose of storytelling. "
Courtney A. Kemp
End
Experience
Freedom
" When I'm at work, I want to be with my daughter, and when I'm with my daughter, I probably should be working, and it just is what it is. "
Courtney A. Kemp
Work
Want
Just
" It was not something that ever occurred to me, to be able to be in TV. I was very lucky. "
Courtney A. Kemp
TV
Lucky
Me
" I am not going to say that only people of color can write people of color, because that means only white people can write white people, and that's not OK. "
Courtney A. Kemp
Going
Color
White
" 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
" 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 always ask the actors, 'What have you never done before?' "
Courtney A. Kemp
Never
You
Ask
" If you look at the back pages of 'New York Times Magazine,' and they talk about these 6.5-million-dollar condos with a great view, like you're going to pay for a great view. Well, the top floor of the projects have a great view, too. "
Courtney A. Kemp
Back
Great
Look
" In 2011, when my father passed away - I had my daughter first; I had her on January 24, and I had a seizure during the delivery. I lived through that, and five weeks later, my father died suddenly of a heart attack, and I lived through that. And then my daughter had surgery, and I lived through that. "
Courtney A. Kemp
Father
Her
Attack
" 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
" 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