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Renny Harlin

Renny Harlin Books

Film director

Renny Harlin is a renowned film director known for his work in action and thriller films. Born on March 15, 1959, he has directed several successful movies, including 'Die Hard' and 'Deep Blue Sea'. His films are known for their intense plots and exciting action sequences.

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“It proved to be pretty impossible to get funds for a feature film in Finland. It's still small, but the film industry was miniscule at that point in the early '80s.”

Stills Film Impossible Industry Features Fund 80s Film Industry Finland

Author:Renny Harlin

“You just never give up, no matter how hard the challenges are, and observe this world with a healthy dose of criticism and don't just follow the herd like somebody else might do.”

“You want to do something that shows some type individuality and talent and imagination - at the same time, you want to be truthful to the predecessors, because obviously the audience liked something about them and you have to replicate that experience to a certain extent.”

Want Shows Certain Imagination Audience Talent Type Individuality Individualism Truthful Predecessors Being Truthful Replicate

Author:Renny Harlin

“I feel like I learned very early on that your heroes are only as powerful as your villains. And I'm attracted to intelligent villains.”

Feels Powerful Hero Intelligent Villain

Author:Renny Harlin

“I think that villains who are just brawn, muscles and weapons are boring. So I always try to find intelligence in my villains and also a sense of humor whenever that is possible.”

Thinking Trying Weapons Boring Muscles Sense Of Humor Villain

Author:Renny Harlin

“I believe the important part of directing really is finding the right people for the right roles. Sometimes you go for what's expected, and sometimes you go against type because you think that'll really bring something different to the movie.”

People Thinking Believe Important Different Sometimes I Believe Roles Type Findings Expected

Author:Renny Harlin

“Just live in the moment and not be afraid to try things out and make mistakes.”

Trying Moments Mistake Making Mistakes Live In The Moment Just Live

Author:Renny Harlin

“When I follow my heart, usually the results are good.”

Heart Results My Heart

Author:Renny Harlin

“When I make decisions based on other circumstances, things don't necessarily go so well. So sometimes, even if something seems commercially tempting, I've learned that if it's not what's in your heart, it's probably not what you should do.”

Ifs Should Wells Heart Sometimes Seems Decision Circumstances I've Learned Tempting

Author:Renny Harlin

“In Hollywood, you tend to get pigeonholed to certain genres, and then when you try to do something different, it's not always so easy. Obviously, you don't want to keep repeating yourself, all the time. So, it's a constant struggle for every filmmaker and actor to find something that you can really feel passionate about. It's a profession like anything else.”

Trying Different Easy Struggle Passionate Profession Filmmaker

Author:Renny Harlin

“Sometimes you get involved in a film because you just love making movies and you want to keep working. Sometimes you're lucky enough to find something that you really care about. Therefore, now I'm emphasizing developing my own projects and writing my own screenplays, so that I can do exactly what I like to do.”

Writing Sometimes Enough Care Film Lucky Get Involved

Author:Renny Harlin

“A government institution called the Finnish Film Foundation funds filmmaking there, and I wrote several screenplays but never got any money. They were sent back to me, and they said that they were too commercial for them.”

Said Government Film Actors Institutions Foundation Movie Fund Filmmaking They Said Screenplays Finnish

Author:Renny Harlin

“Ford Fairlane was one of those movies that was so much fun to make that it was bound not to be a big hit.”

Bigs Fun Bounds Fog

Author:Renny Harlin

“I became a real Shell Motor Oil expert, and I did this 25-minute film. It turned out really well and, as a result, they offered me more work and lots of commercials to direct.”

Wells Real Film Results Minutes Direct Oil Experts Shells Motor Motor Oil

Author:Renny Harlin

“Eventually, in '84, we made a film for a little over a million dollars - with American actors that was shot in English - that was shown in Finland A little action film called Born American.”

Littles Made Action Film Actors Born Millions Shots Dollars Million Dollars Action Films Finland

Author:Renny Harlin

“I decided that, somehow, I had to get out of there and go to Hollywood. I had never been to America.”

America Decided Hollywood

Author:Renny Harlin

“I loved movies and went to see every movie I could in Finland.”

Author:Renny Harlin

“I did some film reviews for small papers in Finland and things like that to be able to keep living here.”

Able Film Paper Reviews Papers Finland

Author:Renny Harlin

“I loved cutting together simple commercials about margarine or soft drinks - all kinds of silly products - but I tried to make the commercials different.”

Kind Different Together Simple Cutting Products Drink Silly All Kinds Squash Soft Drinks

Author:Renny Harlin

“This was in '79. I got pretty restless there, sitting around with a lot of people sitting around smoking cigarettes and talking about films, but nobody really doing anything.”

People Film Talking Sitting Smoking Marijuana Cigarette Restless Sitting Around Smoking Cigarettes

Author:Renny Harlin

“In Finland, getting a university degree is the first thing that you expect your kids to do.”

Firsts Children Kids Degrees University Finland University Degrees

Author:Renny Harlin

“Several times we were stranded in strange places without any money and with our credit cards cancelled - trapped in a hotel that we couldn't check out of because we had no money to check out.”

Strange Credit Checks Cards Hotel Trapped No Money Credit Card Stranded Strange Places

Author:Renny Harlin

“There were a lot of people dreaming about making films, and they would finance maybe 6 films a year. Because they were funded by the government, the films sort-of had to deal with serious social issues - and, as a result, nobody went to see those films.”

People Years Dream Government Film Social Results Deals Issues Serious Finance Social Issues

Author:Renny Harlin

“I went out to some advertising agencies and asked if I could do anything.”

Ifs Advertising Agency If I Could Euthanasia Advertising Agencies

Author:Renny Harlin

“I was making films when I was about 12 years old - Super-8 films.”

Author:Renny Harlin

About the Author

Born: March 15, 1959
Known for: Film director
Quotes: 25

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