Filmmaker Quotes

“To make a real independent film where the filmmaker is in charge creatively, one must sacrifice personal, financial, and physical well-being.”

“Filmmaking is not the work of the weak-minded. It may not be rocket science, but it requires ten times more strength of the mind than that.”

“Everybody's a filmmaker today.”

“When you see a filmmaker getting too fancy... you can bet he's worried either about his story or his ability to tell it.”

“Later film shoots’ casting calls would advertise that they’re “fun shoots” and a “good way to get exposure”—but working in entertainment is not entertaining, even though it is not what’s traditionally thought of as “work.” You know what’s fun, indie filmmakers? Being paid for your time.”

“Too many film schools, as well as any number of screenwriting gurus and an obscene number of how-to-write tomes, have made a business of catering to fledgling screenwriters and filmmakers by exploiting their belief that the only thing standing between them and an Oscar is the right kind of knowledge. If only one knew enough, one could easily become rich and famous. Unfortunately, almost all are susceptible to that eternal malady – “that last great infirmity of the soul” – which is FAME. And whilst I don’t deny the value of technical knowledge, such knowledge matters very little if the story one is trying to tell doesn’t matter, either because it’s incoherent or simply because it fails to make us care.”

“When given an opportunity, deliver excellence and never quit.”

“A filmmaker has almost the same freedom as a novelist has when he buys himself some paper.”

“For a filmmaker, it's a rare chance to do a personal film on a big canvas.”

“My three Ps: passion, patience, perseverance. You have to do this if you've got to be a filmmaker.”