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Mike Mills

Mike Mills Quotes

Composer

Mike Mills is a renowned composer, born on December 17, 1958. His musical works span a variety of styles, including classical, jazz, and pop music. Mills is known for his unique musical talent and profound understanding of music.

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Famous Mike Mills Quotes

“I was so happy with my bow ties from the last kickstarted project that I'm back for more.”

Lasts Projects Ties Bows I'm Back Bow Tie

Author:Mike Mills

“Being a good Hans Haacke student, part of his influence on me is that there's no difference between a gallery show and a film - or even an ad and a T-shirt-in terms of cultural legitimacy. They're just different contexts in which to have some sort of communication.”

Different Shows Film Term Differences Influence Students Communication Shirts Ads T Shirt Gallery Legitimacy

Author:Mike Mills

“Life is too short for a half-rack.”

Life Is Half Too Short Life Is Too Short Racks

Author:Mike Mills

“My dad's gay experiences really had a very positive influence on me and my straight relationships - how to better accept all the weirdness and ambiguity and ups and downs and paradoxes. I knew from the beginning I was writing about love.”

Writing Accepting Influence Dad Gay My Dad Paradox Ambiguity Ups & Downs Weirdness Very Positive Positive Influence

Author:Mike Mills

“It's funny now how much we look at - whatever you want to call it: art, design, culture stuff, film - online, and how in the online world, you're instantly global.”

World Want Looks Art Film Culture Stuff Design Online Art Design

Author:Mike Mills

“People ask 'How does doing a film compare to doing an ad?' Well, when you're doing a commercial you don't have to sell tickets. You have a captured audience. Which is actually completely rare and great; it gives you a lot of freedom. When you make a film, you have to do advertisements for the film.”

People Giving Wells Doe Film Asks Audience Sells Compare Ads Tickets Captured Advertisements

Author:Mike Mills

“OK, so my parents were married in 1955 and my mom knew my dad was gay and my dad knew he was gay and so I was, like, 'Why in the heck did you get married?' Like, what was going on? What was that time? It's like this crazy paradox that my whole life is based on, or my family's based on. So I spent a lot of time trying to understand '55.”

Trying Whole Life Is Parent Crazy Mom Dad Gay Married My Family My Dad My Mom Whole Life Paradox

Author:Mike Mills

“If you ask me, the place that a story happens is as equal character. It's almost like an ecological viewpoint: These people are living in this piece of land, and in this piece of land in this time this is possible. For me, I almost think location first. It's time first - what year is it - then where are we, and then who is in it.”

People Ifs Thinking Years Firsts Character Stories Happens Asks Pieces Land Equal Ask Me Location Ecological Viewpoints

Author:Mike Mills

“There's some movies I watch, they're kind of like my anti-anxiety pill, my anti-depressant pill. I watch them at least once or twice a month probably. And I never stop learning from them as a filmmaker.”

Kind Watches Months Anxiety Filmmaker Pills Never Stop Learning Depressants

Author:Mike Mills

“My experience, with both my parents, is that grief has a lot of down, sad things, but I was also really emotionally raw, in the first year after each of them passed. Flowers smelled more intensely, my relationships were hotter, and I was more willing to risk. I was going for it a lot more. I was 'unsober' and I wasn't playing by my rules.”

Years Firsts Parent Grief Risk Willing Flower Sad Things Hotter Going For It

Author:Mike Mills

“We never did things as we were supposed to do. That was part of our ethic. We did what felt right to us, not what someone told us we should do.”

Should Felt Ethics

Author:Mike Mills

“Grief and memory go together. After someone dies, that's what you're left with. And the memories are so slippery yet so rich.”

Together Dies Left Memories Grief Rich Slippery

Author:Mike Mills

“The oldest sibling always knows things that the younger ones don't.”

Author:Mike Mills

“There's great sadness and life doesn't work out like you would want, on a lot of levels, but there's no need to feel all alone. This happens to everybody, so there's no self-pity. This is the ride that humans are on, and all of it is essential for our natural part of it.”

Want Needs Feels Humans Self Happens Natural Levels Sadness Like You Essentials Work Out Pity Self Pity All Alone

Author:Mike Mills

“I would hate to think I'm promoting sadness as an aesthetic. But I grew up in not just a family but a town and a culture where sadness is something you're taught to feel shame about. You end up chronically desiring what can be a very sentimental idea of love and connection. A lot of my work has been about trying to make a space for sadness.”

Thinking Feels Trying Has Beens Ideas Ends Hate Culture Space Sadness Taught Grew Grew Up Connections Towns Shame Aesthetic Sentimental Promoting

Author:Mike Mills

“Sadness is a super important thing not to be ashamed about but to include in our lives. One of the bigger problems with sadness or depression is there's so much shame around it. If you have it you're a failure. You are felt as being very unattractive.”

Ifs Important Problem Felt Our Lives Sadness Bigger Shame Important Things Ashamed Unattractive Bigger Problems

Author:Mike Mills

“To me, sadness and humor aren't disrelated and humor is the best tool I've had against the sadness in my life.”

Author:Mike Mills

“No one leaves the edit room thinking, 'Yeah, I nailed that one!' Everyone I know goes into their first premiere or their first screening thinking, 'I screwed up so bad. I'm sorry, I messed up.' It's just a real common feeling.”

Thinking Knows Firsts Real Feelings Rooms Common Yeah Sorry I'm Sorry Edits Messed Up Screwed Up Screening Premieres

Author:Mike Mills

“Film is endlessly just beyond your reach. I think that's what I love so much about it.”

Author:Mike Mills

“Humans are vulnerable, messy little animals and that's normal. And all I want to do is make a space for that in my films.”

Want Humans Littles Film Space Animal Normal Vulnerable Messy

Author:Mike Mills

“I am intrigued by inanimate objects. They're a piece of history, someone's statement and ideas of life.”

Ideas Pieces Objects Statements Intrigued Inanimate Objects

Author:Mike Mills

“I definitely believe in the energy of the set and the energy of the actor, way more than your written word.”

Way Believe Actors Energy Written Written Word

Author:Mike Mills

“I don't really believe that documentary is objective reality and fiction is all illusion.”

Believe Reality Fiction Illusion Objectives Documentaries Objective Reality

Author:Mike Mills

“I guess I watch movies to make myself happier a lot.”

Watches Watch Movie

Author:Mike Mills

“I pretty much believe that a film is a film and when an audience watches a film, they finish it.”

Believe Film Watches Audience

Author:Mike Mills

“I'm into people's emotional lives and relationships and the complications of living. That's my turf.”

People Emotional Complication Emotional Life Turf

Author:Mike Mills

“I'm not a craftsman of graphics or art or film. I'm more of an idea generator and manufacturer.”

Art Ideas Film Craftsman Generator

Author:Mike Mills

“L.A. is so isolated and unhip in a way; it gives you room to figure out who you are and explore more personal stuff.”

Way Giving Stuff Rooms Figures Who You Are Isolated Personal Stuff

Author:Mike Mills

“My graffiti really comes more from a May '68, sort of Situationist vibe than the hip-hop world. I think a real graffiti artist would find me a poser.”

Thinking World May Real Artist Hip Hop Hips Hops Find Me Graffiti Graffiti Artist Posers

Author:Mike Mills

“Over and over again, I'm trying to express or communicate these big and small struggles to the world, and really to myself.”

World Trying Bigs Struggle Communicate

Author:Mike Mills

“The littlest thing can have the strongest connection when you're grieving. Your Proustian, poetic nerve is turned up to ten.”

Ten Connections Grieving Poetic Strongest Nerves

Author:Mike Mills

“There is a drunkenness to grief, which is good.”

Grief Drunkenness

Author:Mike Mills

“To me it's like, every time I'm a director, like today, you're the captain of the ship, so you better dress like it. You're the host of the party.”

Today Party Directors Dresses Ships Host Captains

Author:Mike Mills

“Actors are pretending for you, but they're not lying. They are not putting on a guise instead of themselves. They are finding things inside that they have experienced.”

Lying Actors Findings Pretending Guise

Author:Mike Mills

“As a son of a man who pretended to be one thing for 33 years of my life and then was another thing, the questions of 'what is real' and 'what is not real' are very blurrily vivid to me.”

Men Years Real One Thing Son Vivid

Author:Mike Mills

“As someone who grew up in a house where there wasn't a lot of talking, I'm used to just looking at the world. And in general I often feel like I just don't understand what's happening. That everybody else does, but I don't quite get it.”

World Feels Doe Used House Talking Grew Grew Up Happenings

Author:Mike Mills

About the Author

Born: December 17, 1958
Known for: Composer
Quotes: 36

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Film Thinking Sadness World Believe Feels Firsts Grief Ideas People

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