Quotes from Marc Platt

Musicals have long given voice to outsiders and speak of experiences in our culture and environment.

One of the secrets of 'A Christmas Story' is that it's a relatable story. They feel like our family.

The financial side of Broadway is the easy part. Plenty of people want to put money in a Broadway show. The challenging part is finding the material that excites me enough to spend a couple of years of my life devoted to it.

There's certain people you want to see in comedies; there's certain people you just want to see in dramas. Not that there aren't individuals who do both, but it's not everyone.

Many actors in films are willing to go to Broadway, and screenwriters are writing plays. It's almost commonplace.

Good direction is often based on the ability to communicate.

I want my projects to be great, of course. The talent has to come from a diverse pool. Because that's the world we live in.

I don't think anyone can ever predict a phenomenon. It's not something you can bank on.

As a producer, it's your job to bang on the table and convince studio heads why great movies should be made.

As a producer, when you get to work with a filmmaker who is joyful about making films, you want to do it again and again.

I'm a very hands-on producer.

Navigating the studio system has its own challenges, and, as a producer, you want to be astute and clever.

In any adaptation, the challenge is to take the essence of the original source of the material, be faithful to it to a point, but to also recognize that you're telling a story in a very different medium. It has to exist on its own, and it has to offer something unique to that experience.

There were 100 intellectual reasons not to pursue 'Wicked.' There were times where it was very challenging, where the mind said, 'This is maybe too challenging,' but the heart willed it. The heart willed it to succeed.

Some of the metaphors you find in 'Wicked' - how those in power can exploit fear in others to maintain their power - I think, as Jews, we've seen that historically on more than one occasion.

'Wicked' has been one of the biggest hits in Los Angeles theatre history, and we are thrilled that theatergoers here have embraced the musical and welcomed us so heartily.

Producers should have the courage of their convictions. See your project through to its fruition. Seek help and be generous enough to take on collaborators and not be territorial as you're learning.

Thankfully, as much as Hollywood is interested in brands, I think people are still looking for originality and freshness.

'Defying Gravity' is a big, theatrical, grand gesture. In film, how do you match that?

The theme of 'A Christmas Story' is that you can count on Christmas - that everybody has a Christmas story. Everybody has that time in the holiday season that they remember.

I have a certain kind of a taste for what will make a good movie or a good play or theater.

I always believe that a good story will find its audience and that it will attract different kinds of elements of creative people who will make it more compelling.

I love getting up in the morning. I love coming to my office. I love going to movie sets. It's really what every parent wishes for their kid - to do what makes them happy.

The character we've always thought of as the Wicked Witch of the West is a green girl who's actually very good, misunderstood, and trying to make her way in the world. She's an outsider looking in, wanting to be loved. That's a universal experience that everyone's felt at some point in their lives.