Courtney A. Kemp Quotes

Courtney A. Kemp

Profession : Writer

Birth : May 4, 1977

When I watch television, I want to be surprised.

Courtney A. Kemp

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 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

God is in control of everything.

Courtney A. Kemp

Being a showrunner is doing a bit of everything. It's not just writing. It's also management: managing actors, managing producers, managing a crew, being kind to people, being a good boss, observing deadlines.

Courtney A. Kemp

If you are other, you don't think twice about hiring people who are other.

Courtney A. Kemp

As a woman, I don't feel like I have a responsibility to create better female characters. I feel like I have a responsibility to create good characters. Because the truth is, those kinds of things ghettoize us even more as writers.

Courtney A. Kemp

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

It's ridiculous that we let broadcast and cable shows compete against each other at the Emmys. They are not the same animal.

Courtney A. Kemp

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

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

When human beings say they have power, it always makes me laugh a little bit.

Courtney A. Kemp

I want to tell more stories about lying, dual lives, self-deception - those are my favorites.

Courtney A. Kemp

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

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

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

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

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