Quotessence
Home / Authors / Curtis Hanson
Curtis Hanson

Curtis Hanson Quotes

Film director

Filter quotes by topic

AllPeopleAudienceCharacterKnowsMadeBoysFilmmakerStoriesWayWonderWritingFilmActorsConfidentialFirstsIfsOpportunityScriptsThinkingWanted

Famous Curtis Hanson Quotes

“Roger [Corman] didn't actually hire me, though. I was hired by AIP [American International Pictures], the studio that made the picture, which was Sam Arkoff and Jim Nicholson. It was a great learning experience for me, because not only did I work on the script, but they hired me back to go on location when they were making the movie, to write new scenes and so forth.”

WritingMadeGoes OnSceneInternationalScriptsStudiosLocationRogerLearning ExperienceNicholson
Author:Curtis Hanson
Create image

“Initially, it connected with me when I was a kid, seeing a lot of movies while growing up in Los Angeles. And Sam's [Fuller] pictures are an expression of such a distinct voice that he was one of those filmmakers who made me aware that there was, in fact, a real presence behind the camera that was telling the story, as opposed to actors just presenting it.”

MadeRealFactsStoriesKidsActorsVoiceBehindsGrowing UpGrowingSeeingExpressionCamerasConnectedFilmmakerLos AngelesPresenting
Author:Curtis Hanson
Create image

“It was just a wonderful experience, one for the memory book for sure. The sad thing about it was that the picture came under this absurd cloud of controversy. Here was a movie based on the central theme that racism is something that is taught, and it's illustrated by this story of a dog and the efforts of humans to re-train it after it had been trained to go after black people. And it created this ridiculous controversy and wound up being the last Hollywood movie that Sam [Fuller] made.”

PeopleHumansMadeBookStoriesLastsBlackMemoriesEffortWonderfulDogTaughtRacismHollywoodTrainCloudsWoundsRidiculousAbsurdThemeBlack PeopleControversySad ThingsHollywood MoviesWonderful Experience
Author:Curtis Hanson
Create image

“In terms of talking with my collaborators as they came onboard - Jeannine Oppewall, our production designer, Dante Spinotti, our cinematographer, and so forth - I said to them, "Let's pretend that this is a place like Honolulu. Let's ignore the fact that all these other movies have been made here for decades and try to come at it with a fresh eye, as if it were an exotic city that people aren't that familiar with. And let's present our own view of it, create a world that's unique to this movie [L.A Confidential].”

PeopleIfsWorldTryingHas BeensMadeSaidFactsEyeTermViewsCitiesTalkingUniqueProductionsDecadesFamiliarDesignerExoticCollaboratorsCinematographersConfidentialHonolulu
Author:Curtis Hanson
Create image

“The bigger problem still is that it determines in many ways what movies get made in the first place. Because as sources of finance are considering a project, they ask themselves, "Does this lend itself to a simplistic marketing approach which will guarantee a big opening weekend?" As a movie-goer, I think that's tragic, because when you look back at those movies that made us fall in love with movies in the first place, most of them were not high-concept, and most of them would not have "won their weekend."”

ThinkingWayFirstsLooksDoeMadeStillsProblemBigsFallAsksSourceProjectsApproachConceptsBiggerFalling In LoveMarketingDetermineOpeningFinanceGuaranteesTragicWeekendConsideringBigger Problems
Author:Curtis Hanson
Create image