When Louis Bloom, a driven man desperate for work, muscles into the world of L.A. crime journalism, he blurs the line between observer and participant to become the star of his own story. Aiding him in his effort is Nina, a TV-news veteran.

Lou Bloom: What if my problem wasn't that I don't understand people but that I don't like them? What if I was the kind of person who was obliged to hurt you for this? I mean physically. I think you'd have to believe afterward, if you could, that agreeing to participate and then backing out at the critical moment was a mistake. Because that's what I'm telling you, as clearly as I can.
Lou Bloom: Do you know what fear stands for? False Evidence Appearing Real.
Lou Bloom: A friend is a gift you give yourself.
[from trailer]
Lou Bloom: [repeated line] You have to make the money to buy a ticket.
Detective Fronteiri: You filmed him dying.
Lou Bloom: That's my job, that's what I do, I'd like to think if you're seeing me you're having the worst day of your life.
Lou Bloom: I feel like grabbing you by your ears right now and screaming, "I'm not fucking interested!". Instead, I'm going to drive home and do some accounting.
Lou Bloom: Now I like you, Nina. And I look forward to our time together. But you have to understand, fifteen thousand isn't all that I want. From here on, starting now, I want my work to be credited by the anchors and on a burn. The name of my company is Video Production News, a professional news-gathering service. That's how it should be read and that's how it should be said. I also want to go to the next rung and meet your team, and the station manager, and the director, and the anchors, and start developing my own personal relationships. I'd like to start meeting them this morning. You'll take me around, you'll introduce me as the owner and president of Video Production News, and remind them of some of my many other stories. I'm not done. I also want to stop our discussion over prices. This will save time. So when I say that a particular number is my lowest price, that's my lowest price and you can be assured that I arrived at whatever that number is very carefully. Now, when I say that I want these things, I mean that I want them and I don't want to have to ask again. And the last thing that I want, Nina, is for you to do the things that I ask you to do when we're alone together in your apartment, NOT LIKE THE LAST TIME. So, I'll tell you what. I have the van crash on Moorpark tonight. It was a couple of stringers actually. That could lead by itself on an average night. I'd be willing to throw that in for free. So what do you say, do we have a deal?
Lou Bloom: Why you pursue something is as important as what you pursue.
Lou Bloom: My motto is if you want to win the lottery you've got to make money to get a ticket.
Lou Bloom: Who am I? I'm a hard worker. I set high goals and I've been told that I'm persistent.
Rick: You saw him. You saw him!
Lou Bloom: I can't jeopardize my company's success to retain an untrustworthy employee.
Rick: You're crazy. You're crazy.
Lou Bloom: You took my bargaining power Rick. You used it against me. You would've done it again. Just admit it.
Rick: I don't know. I don't know.
Lou Bloom: I know. I know.
Nina Romina: Friends don't pressure friends to sleep with them.
Lou Bloom: Actually that's not true because as you know Nina, a friend is a gift you give yourself.
Lou Bloom: I'm promoting you to executive Vice President of video news.
Rick: What am I now?
Lou Bloom: You're an assistant.
Rick: Does it come with a raise?
Lou Bloom: Absolutely.
Rick: How much?
Lou Bloom: Pick a number, you pick a number.
Rick: Hundred... hundred... 75 dollars a night.
Lou Bloom: Agreed.
Rick: Wait what about more?
Lou Bloom: Not now, we closed the deal.
Rick: I could have gotten more couldn't I?
Lou Bloom: Absolutely.
Lou Bloom: Remember, use your zoom, steady hands.
Lou Bloom: Why hire you? Sell yourself. Go.
Rick: Okay. Well, I'm Rick, of course. I took three buses to get here. I finished high school. I need a job. I'll do just about anything. That's me. Hire Rick.
Detective Lieberman: Can we come in?
Lou Bloom: Do you want to?
Lou Bloom: You see, Rick, they've done studies, and they found that in any system that relies on cooperation, from a school of fish or say even a professional hockey team for example, these experts have identified communication as the number one single key to success.
Lou Bloom: You don't work with me, you're someone I sell to
Nina Romina: And I don't wanna fuck that up.
Lou Bloom: What if by saying no you fuck it up?
Lou Bloom: Get out of your head, Rick, it's a bad neighborhood.
Lou Bloom: Bloody?
Nina Romina: Well, graphic. The best and clearest way that I can phrase it for you, to capture the spirit of what we air, is think of our news cast as a screaming woman running down the street with her throat cut.
Lou Bloom: I understand.
Rick: You gotta call the cops.
Lou Bloom: And we will. At the right time.
Lou Bloom: Stay in the car.
Rick: Why?
Lou Bloom: Because I said so.
Nina Romina: In the future if you don't have anything, man up and stop dodging my calls.
Lou Bloom: I have something, triple murder in Granada Hills.
Nina Romina: That's just breaking now.
Lou Bloom: I got there before the cops.
Lou Bloom: The price hasn't been negotiated yet.
Lou Bloom: Do you know Los Angeles?
Rick: Yeah, grew up all around this place.
Lou Bloom: Can you start tonight?
Rick: Doing what?
Lou Bloom: I run a successful T.V news business, maybe you saw my item this morning fatal carjacking
Rick: I don't have a T.V, that sounds cool
Lou Bloom: Do you have a phone?
Rick: Yeah
Lou Bloom: Does it have GPS?
[Last Lines]
Nina Romina: I think Lou is inspiring all of us to reach a little higher.
Nina Romina: Home invasion in Granada. He got there before the cops. We have 10 minutes to airtime, how much of this can we show?
Linda: You mean, legally?
Nina Romina: No, morally; of course, legally.
Nina Romina: We find our viewers are more interested in urban crime creeping into the suburbs. What that means is a victim or victims, preferably well-off and/or white, injured at the hands of the poor, or a minority.
Frank Kruse: This is my job.
Nina Romina: Your job's writing the tweet of the day and getting Deb to turn sideways during the weather forecast.
Rick: Slow down, man.
[Lou speeds up]
Rick: That's too fast.
Rick: Hey man don't film that, he's one of us
Lou Bloom: Not anymore, Rick, we're professionals, he's a sale