--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When I was a TV director working on Judd…" description: "\"When I was a TV director working on Judd Apatow's show Undeclared. I was surrounded by so many young people. People like Seth Rogen, who was 9 years ol..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b81/greg-mottola-18911_ambiguous_when-i-was-a-tv-director-working-on-judd_1729944.jpg" --- # When I was a TV director working on Judd Apatow's show… ![“When I was a TV director working on Judd Apatow's show Undeclared. I was surrounded by so many young people. People like Seth Rogen, who was 9 years old or something. It was just a ridiculous amount of talented young people. I started to think I'd like to see a young-love movie, but not one done…” quote by Greg Mottola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b81/greg-mottola-18911_ambiguous_when-i-was-a-tv-director-working-on-judd_1729944.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b81/greg-mottola-18911_ambiguous_when-i-was-a-tv-director-working-on-judd_1729944.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b81/greg-mottola-18911_ambiguous_when-i-was-a-tv-director-working-on-judd_1729944.jpg) > “When I was a TV director working on Judd Apatow's show Undeclared. I was surrounded by so many young people. People like Seth Rogen, who was 9 years old or something. It was just a ridiculous amount of talented young people. I started to think I'd like to see a young-love movie, but not one done in that glossy, Hollywood, high-concept manner we've become accustomed to. One that was, for lack of a better way of putting it, a little more ambiguous, '70s-style, where everyone was flawed, middle-class characters.” [Greg Mottola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-mottola/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker reflects on early career exposure to youthful talent and desires a film that captures authentic, imperfect middle‑class life, avoiding glossy Hollywood formulas. **In simple terms:** He wants a realistic, ambiguous love story about ordinary people. Key Takeaway Create stories that embrace imperfection. Themes authenticity nostalgia class filmmaking Mood reflective nostalgic hopeful Type analytical inspirational When to use this quote - screenwriting - indie film production - casting young actors - story development Key Concepts indie cinema character-driven narrative 70s aesthetic Questions to Reflect On - How can filmmakers portray flawed characters without alienating audiences? - What elements make a love story feel timeless? A Different Perspective Balancing commercial appeal with artistic honesty can be difficult. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ambiguous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ambiguous/) [Better way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/better-way/) [Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Cinema](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cinema/) [Done](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/done/) [Flawed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flawed/) [Like Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like-young/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Ridiculous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ridiculous/) [Rogen Years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rogen-years-1421371/) [Seth Rogen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seth-rogen/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/young/) [Young love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/young-love/) [Young people](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/young-people/) ## Related quotes > [“There is nothing like young love. It comes at a time before the heart knows to protect itself, when everything important is raw and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alessandra-torre/there-is-nothing-like-young-love-it-comes-at-a-time-before-the-heart/) [Alessandra Torre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alessandra-torre/) > [There are a lot of really funny guys who are very natural in what they do: Jonah Hill, Michael Cera, Seth Rogen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-ferrell/there-are-a-lot-of-really-funny-guys-who-are-very-natural-in-what/) [Will Ferrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-ferrell/) > [ In this case, I don't know why they \[Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg\] thought I would be a good lavash wrap or I would… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-krumholtz/in-this-case-i-don-t-know-why-they-seth-rogen-and-evan-goldberg/) [David Krumholtz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-krumholtz/) > [ We smoked a lot of weed together \[with Seth Rogen and Jason Segel\]. Lonely potheads will literally spend every day with each other until… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-krumholtz/we-smoked-a-lot-of-weed-together-with-seth-rogen-and-jason-segel/) [David Krumholtz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-krumholtz/) > [I think there's this new kind of character; it's a sidekick-slash-leading man role. People like Zach Galifianakis and Seth Rogen have been really successful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tyler-labine/i-think-there-s-this-new-kind-of-character-it-s-a-sidekick-slash/) [Tyler Labine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tyler-labine/) > [Seth Rogen told me to read 'Preacher,' and 'Preacher' was amazing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-pena/seth-rogen-told-me-to-read-preacher-and-preacher-was-amazing/) [Michael Pena](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-pena/) > [ We \[me and Seth Rogen\] have always wanted to work together. That was the whole point. We talked about it actively, and then we… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-krumholtz/we-me-and-seth-rogen-have-always-wanted-to-work-together-that-was-the/) [David Krumholtz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-krumholtz/) > [ Seth \[Rogen\] had written a script with this guy, Evan \[Goldberg\], who none of us knew, and he was prepared to move to L.A.… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-krumholtz/seth-rogen-had-written-a-script-with-this-guy-evan-goldberg-who-none/) [David Krumholtz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-krumholtz/) > [ It was amazing how much their \[Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, Shauna Robertson\] process seemed familiar to me, translating that into the work that I… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-rogen/it-was-amazing-how-much-their-seth-rogen-evan-goldberg-shauna/) [Seth Rogen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-rogen/) > [James Franco, Seth Rogen, and Evan Goldberg are the ideal guys to adapt 'The Disaster Artist.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-sestero/james-franco-seth-rogen-and-evan-goldberg-are-the-ideal-guys-to-adapt/) [Greg Sestero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-sestero/) > [ They \[Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg\] thought of this brilliant pot, or whatever, movie \[Pineapple Express\], an action movie and I guess they figured… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-rogen/they-seth-rogen-and-evan-goldberg-thought-of-this-brilliant-pot-or/) [Seth Rogen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-rogen/) > [I like the guys who wrote their own stuff and were able to perform it, like Seth Rogen. He popped off so young. When…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-devine/i-like-the-guys-who-wrote-their-own-stuff-and-were-able-to-perform-it/) [Adam DeVine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-devine/) > [ I always thought that Seth \[Rogen\] was a fun, caustic, bombastic, sweet, underdog-type of person that I would root for the way you used… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judd-apatow/i-always-thought-that-seth-rogen-was-a-fun-caustic-bombastic-sweet/) [Judd Apatow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judd-apatow/) > [ We essentially spent our college years together \[with Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg\], so those were the kind of lasting friendships and the bond… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-krumholtz/we-essentially-spent-our-college-years-together-with-seth-rogen-and/) [David Krumholtz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-krumholtz/) > [I had a very specific type of terrible network experience where I was told that people like Seth Rogen and Jason Segel weren't leads,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judd-apatow/i-had-a-very-specific-type-of-terrible-network-experience-where-i-was/) [Judd Apatow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judd-apatow/) ## More by Greg Mottola > [I was naïve when I was young, I was sheltered. I had illusions about who I was going to be, delusions, and a little…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-mottola/i-was-na-ve-when-i-was-young-i-was-sheltered-i-had-illusions-about/) [Greg Mottola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-mottola/) > [Believe me, there is a ton of stuff we shot on Superbad that was unusable, because people were just riffing and riffing. It's just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-mottola/believe-me-there-is-a-ton-of-stuff-we-shot-on-superbad-that-was/) [Greg Mottola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-mottola/) > [I feel like I'm long overdue for a "one for me" movie, so I've got two low-budget indy personal things I'm working on.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-mottola/i-feel-like-i-m-long-overdue-for-a-one-for-me-movie-so-i-ve-got-two/) [Greg Mottola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-mottola/) > [ Isla \[Fisher\] is so pretty we were trying to decide who the hell should play against her that would intimidate her, and one day… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-mottola/isla-fisher-is-so-pretty-we-were-trying-to-decide-who-the-hell-should/) [Greg Mottola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-mottola/) > [ Jon Hamm was the first I thought of for the other role in \[Keeping Up with the Joneses\], I recently worked with him on… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-mottola/jon-hamm-was-the-first-i-thought-of-for-the-other-role-in-keeping-up/) [Greg Mottola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-mottola/) > [ \[Gal Gadot\] is really intense and scary and also incredibly warm and sweet. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-mottola/gal-gadot-is-really-intense-and-scary-and-also-incredibly-warm-and/) [Greg Mottola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-mottola/) > [ \[Keeping Up with the Joneses\] is not one of those movies where people get shot and fall down and there's no reality of what… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-mottola/keeping-up-with-the-joneses-is-not-one-of-those-movies-where-people/) [Greg Mottola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-mottola/) > [ I'm a huge fan of Zach's \[Galifianakis\] and I auditioned Zach a million years ago on a movie called Duplex which I was fired… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-mottola/i-m-a-huge-fan-of-zach-s-galifianakis-and-i-auditioned-zach-a-million/) [Greg Mottola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-mottola/) > [I guess bittersweet is probably my favorite tone, as a lover of Woody Allen and Federico Fellini and the French New Wave. You know,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-mottola/i-guess-bittersweet-is-probably-my-favorite-tone-as-a-lover-of-woody/) [Greg Mottola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-mottola/) > [I lived on Thompson Street in SoHo for 13 years and I watched it go from a little Italian neighborhood to the Mall Of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-mottola/i-lived-on-thompson-street-in-soho-for-13-years-and-i-watched-it-go/) [Greg Mottola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-mottola/) > [I'm really glad to have made a movie that way on Superbad, because I learned a lot about what can be done and what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-mottola/i-m-really-glad-to-have-made-a-movie-that-way-on-superbad-because-i/) [Greg Mottola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-mottola/) > [I was in college - Carnegie Mellon, which is one of the reasons Pittsburgh was appealing to me - and I personally feel that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-mottola/i-was-in-college-carnegie-mellon-which-is-one-of-the-reasons/) [Greg Mottola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-mottola/) > [Brian Eno records and music became a huge obsession of mine in college, in a way that a pop song can provide solace. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-mottola/brian-eno-records-and-music-became-a-huge-obsession-of-mine-in/) [Greg Mottola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-mottola/) > [I am very interested in the small decisions people make that do set you on a different road in your life. As much as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-mottola/i-am-very-interested-in-the-small-decisions-people-make-that-do-set/) [Greg Mottola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-mottola/) > [Brian Eno records and music got me through. It made me feel like there were other people out there who had the same questions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-mottola/brian-eno-records-and-music-got-me-through-it-made-me-feel-like-there/) [Greg Mottola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-mottola/) [Explore all 33 Greg Mottola quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-mottola/) ## More Ambiguous quotes > [Virtually every major technological advance in the history of the human species- back to the invention of stone tools and the domestication of fire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-dennett/virtually-every-major-technological-advance-in-the-history-of-the/) [Daniel Dennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-dennett/) > [Happiness can be bought with a bottle of wine and has become ambiguous through overuse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/happiness-can-be-bought-with-a-bottle-of-wine-and-has-become/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Somehow, in the novel format, I don't really like to do upfront, ideological discussion. In my heart, literature remains a poetic and ambiguous medium.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/xiaolu-guo/somehow-in-the-novel-format-i-don-t-really-like-to-do-upfront/) [Xiaolu Guo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/xiaolu-guo/) > [Redundancy is ambiguous because it seems like a waste if nothing unusual happens. Except that something unusual happens-usually .](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/redundancy-is-ambiguous-because-it-seems-like-a-waste-if-nothing/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [“In general we are reminded that the word heimlich is not unambiguous, but belongs to two sets of ideas, which, without being contradictory, are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/in-general-we-are-reminded-that-the-word-heimlich-is-not-unambiguous/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [I want each poem to be ambiguous enough that its meaning can shift, depending on the reader's own frame of reference, and depending on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-arthur/i-want-each-poem-to-be-ambiguous-enough-that-its-meaning-can-shift/) [James Arthur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-arthur/) > [Photography appears to be an easy activity; in fact it is a varied and ambiguous process in which the only common denominator among its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-cartier-bresson/photography-appears-to-be-an-easy-activity-in-fact-it-is-a-varied-and/) [Henri Cartier-Bresson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-cartier-bresson/) > [My drawings inspire, and are not to be defined. They place us, as does music, in the ambiguous realm of the undetermined.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/odilon-redon/my-drawings-inspire-and-are-not-to-be-defined-they-place-us-as-does/) [Odilon Redon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/odilon-redon/) > [Words are such gross machinery, so primitive and ambiguous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-herbert/words-are-such-gross-machinery-so-primitive-and-ambiguous/) [Frank Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-herbert/) > [Wave particle duality is a core feature of our world. Or rather, we should say, it is a core feature of our mathematical descriptions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-wertheim/wave-particle-duality-is-a-core-feature-of-our-world-or-rather-we/) [Margaret Wertheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-wertheim/) > [Humor is really one of the hardest things to define, very hard. And it's very ambiguous. You have it or you don't. You can't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heinrich-b-ll/humor-is-really-one-of-the-hardest-things-to-define-very-hard-and-it/) [Heinrich Böll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heinrich-b-ll/) > [I was perceiving myself as good as a man or equal to a man and as powerful and I wanted to look ambiguous because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-lennox/i-was-perceiving-myself-as-good-as-a-man-or-equal-to-a-man-and-as/) [Annie Lennox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-lennox/) > [I was always, like, ambiguous. Is that how you say it? When I was turning 16 I talked to my mom about transitioning and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adore-delano/i-was-always-like-ambiguous-is-that-how-you-say-it-when-i-was-turning/) [Adore Delano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adore-delano/) > [I am Indian-American, but I often play ethnically ambiguous roles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tiya-sircar/i-am-indian-american-but-i-often-play-ethnically-ambiguous-roles/) [Tiya Sircar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tiya-sircar/) > [Humor is really one of the hardest things to define, very hard. And it's very ambiguous. You have it, or you don't. You can't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heinrich-b-ll/humor-is-really-one-of-the-hardest-things-to-define-very-hard-and-it-2/) [Heinrich Boll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heinrich-b-ll/) [Browse all 271 Ambiguous quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ambiguous/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "When I was a TV director working on Judd Apatow's show Undeclared. I was surrounded by so many young people. People like Seth Rogen, who was 9 years old or something. It was just a ridiculous amount of talented young people. I started to think I'd like to see a young-love movie, but not one done in that glossy, Hollywood, high-concept manner we've become accustomed to. 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