“I think when I was getting into directing, or wanting to be a director, when I was a teenager, the two films that really inspired me were Raising Arizona and Evil Dead II. And in the case of the former, I thought, "Wow. Why don't all comedies look like this?" And then as I started doing comedy, particularly when I started doing it on TV...” ThinkingLooksTwoFilmEvilCasesComedyTvsDirectorsInspiredFormerTeenagerWowArizonaEvil Dead Author:Edgar Wright
“Be yourself. Forget about whether you are male or female and just work hard to become a director who truly knows her craft and the direction she wants the film to go. People respect a director for her work regardless of her gender.” PeopleKnowsWantHardFilmForgetHard WorkDirectorsFemaleMalesGenderCraftsBeing Yourself Author:Mabel Cheung
“It's not that much of a difference. Basically, your job is the same as a film director. It's a triangle between creativity, money, and time. But they don't really change. You're ultimately trying to get the most creativity and time with the money that you have.” TryingJobsFilmDifferencesCreativityDirectorsTrianglesFilm Directors Author:Darren Aronofsky
“Every film had its own grammar. And it's your job as a director to basically figure out a language to tell a story.” StoriesJobsFilmLanguageFiguresDirectorsGrammar Author:Darren Aronofsky
“The only way I know as a director is to figure out what the film is about. And out of the theme and the sense of what the film is about, all those decisions start to make sense. But to find that truth within it, you have to limit your possibilities and limit your choices. That's where this visual language grows out of.” KnowsWayFilmChoicesLanguageGrowsDecisionFiguresPossibilityDirectorsLimitsMake SenseThemeVisuals Author:Darren Aronofsky
“I didn't even know what a film director was. To me, Charlie Chaplin was a goofy clown, and John Ford - what? Never heard of him.” KnowsFilmHeardDirectorsClownCharlieGoofyFilm DirectorsChaplin Author:Lloyd Kaufman
“There's music in my films but you seldom hear it. Very early I got the idea that the important things in films were people - the actors. They are the intermediary between the director and the audience. They make direct contact. People to people communication.” PeopleImportantIdeasFilmActorsAudienceCommunicationDirectorsDirectImportant ThingsContact Author:Frank Capra
“In theater, you're in charge of your performance, and at the end of the day you're the one who gets credit because you're in front of the audience doing it, and in film and TV it's the director who gets to decide when to cut to you on a line, which take he uses.” EndsUseFilmLinesAudienceCuttingFrontsTvsDirectorsPerformancesTheaterCreditThe End Of The DayAnd At The End Of The Day Author:Jonathan Groff
“I'm trying to avoid any more asshole roles, at least for a little bit. The main criteria for me when choosing a project is a good director. I just want to work with these guys that I admire because I do want to direct my own films one day, and I want to pick their brains to see what their process is like, and see what I can take from that.” WantTryingLittlesI CanFilmGuyBitsProcessMy OwnBrainRolesOne DayDirectorsProjectsLittle BitPicksDirectAdmireCriteriaGood Directors Author:Dave Franco
“Working with green screen, you really rely on the director in a way that you don't on different types of films.” WayDifferentFilmTypeDirectorsGreenScreensRely Author:Amy Adams
“I always have directors who are somewhat frustrated because they'll reference a beautifully obscure film from the '50s or '60s or '70s, and I've not seen it.” FilmDirectorsFrustratedObscure Author:Amy Adams
“[on editing of the films] There is always a question of time, and the director. I've worked with a lot of directors who don't mind my involvement. They appreciated it.” MindFilmDirectorsEditingAppreciatedInvolvement Author:Richard Gere
“If I had not been successful as a director, then I'm sure I would still be telling stories. I would have continued on 16mm or found a different medium through which to tell them. Maybe they would have been less glamorous than films, but I would continue to tell stories.” IfsHas BeensStillsDifferentStoriesFilmFoundSuccessfulDirectorsMediumsGlamorousTelling Stories Author:Pedro Almodovar
“When I think about directing a film, the thing that stops me short is wondering if I'm a natural at it the way I think you, and PTA, and Fincher are born directors. Maybe some people's talent is in understanding the ways that film communicates, without dialogue, without plot.” PeopleIfsThinkingWayFilmUnderstandingBornNaturalWonderTalentDirectorsCommunicateDialoguePlotPta Author:Edward Norton
“I want to keep working. I want to step away from young adult fiction. I want to do theater periodically - Farragut North reminded me how great it is. I started out in theater. I trained in theater and then I kind of fell into film and TV. I want to work with interesting artists, talented actors, talented directors, and talented scripts. Not necessarily leading roles.” WantKindFilmYoungArtistActorsInterestingFictionStepsRolesTvsDirectorsAdultsTheaterScriptsYoung Adult Author:Max Irons
“We've done a lot of films now about the IRA, we can move on from all that. I loved '71 because I think it showed a very honest trail and what it was actually like. It wasn't one-sided. I really respect ['71 director] Yann [Demange] for what he did. But we have done a lot of those things.” ThinkingDoneFilmMovingHonestDirectorsTrailsOne SidedIra Author:Saoirse Ronan
“I'm not imprisoned in any one medium. In films I use techniques that are not necessarily what other directors attempt. When I write novels I also use techniques which can run counter to those that a novelist would use.” WritingUseRunningFilmNovelDirectorsTechniqueMediumsNovelists Author:Philippe Claudel
“If a film is very clever and well-written, that's what gives you freedom as a director. Part of the freedom in directing, for me, is that I'm also the camera operator. That's the place where things are less rigid, where I can adjust as I go along.” IfsGivingWellsI CanFilmWrittenDirectorsCamerasCleverWell WrittenOperatorsVery Clever Author:Patrice Leconte
“I think that too often we, film directors, think that a big epic novel and feature film are the same. It's a lie. A feature film is much closer to a short story actually.” ThinkingStoriesBigsFilmLyingNovelDirectorsFeaturesShort StoryEpicFilm Directors Author:Pirjo Honkasalo
“It was never a deliberate decision to make films about the 'woman experience'. Having said that, we are all many things - for example I'm Igbo and Nigerian, a director, a filmmaker etc., but I feel what affects me the most, especially the way people/society view or treat me, is the fact that I'm a woman, and I'm fascinated by that.” PeopleWayFeelsSaidFactsFilmDecisionViewsExampleDirectorsTreatsFilmmakerEtcFascinatedDeliberate Author:Chika Anadu
“Nollywood is a genre, and not the entire Nigerian film industry. However none of the 'New wave' of directors in Nigeria would know what was possible without the Nollywood model, so I'm grateful to them for showing us that our stories are of interest to people other than Nigerians. I would describe myself as a filmmaker, period.” PeopleKnowsStoriesFilmInterestIndustryPeriodsDirectorsModelsGratefulWaveGenreFilmmakerNigeriaFilm IndustryDescribe Myself Author:Chika Anadu
“I believe that every director's films reflect their lifestyle.” BelieveFilmI BelieveDirectorsLifestyle Author:Takashi Miike
“We [Elbow] have had some luck with media syncs in film and on TV. We'd love to do a soundtrack with a really cool director.” FilmMediaTvsDirectorsLuckReally CoolElbowsSoundtracksSync Author:Guy Garvey
“When I see a short schedule, my question to the director is, are you really comfortable with this, or are you doing it to be a good boy? At the end, you only win the medal if the film is good, you don't win a medal if the movie is on time.” IfsEndsFilmWinningBoysDirectorsComfortableSchedulesMedalGood Boy Author:Guillermo del Toro
“In feature films the director is God; in documentary films God is the director.” FilmDirectorsFeaturesDocumentariesFilm DirectorsDocumentary FilmsFilm DirectingDirecting Film Author:Alfred Hitchcock
“Curiously, directing my own films have made me more tolerant and patient. I've always been an extremely impatient actor. Waiting around drove me nuts. But now I'm much more sympathetic to a director's struggle.” MadeFilmActorsWaitingMy OwnStruggleDirectorsPatientNutsImpatientSympatheticWaiting Around Author:Robert Redford
“Whatever I was able to do with those experiences certainly contribute to whatever I'm able to do as a director. The corruption in that is that most of what I acted in the last 10 years was to steal film school time from these guys. Those were the people I thought I could learn from as a director.” PeopleYearsAbleSchoolLastsFilmGuyDirectorsCorruptionStealingFilm SchoolSchool Time Author:Sean Penn
“I did 40 voices for Chris Wedge, the director of the first film, before coming up with the version we used. He was hard to please, I don't know why. I gave him really slow talking voices. then I thought perhaps Sid could be an Indian sounding sloth. To find out more about my character, I watched footage of sloths. I discovered that the food they store in their pouches rots and ferments and half the time they're drunk.” KnowsFirstsHardCharacterFilmUsedVoiceHalfTalkingPleaseDirectorsStoresVersionsDrunkIndianSlothWedgesSids Author:John Leguizamo
“I think you're peripatetic when you work in this industry. My husband and I are assuming the role of co-artistic directors at the Sydney Theatre Company in 2008. But as long as the film industry will have me, I will have it.” ThinkingLongFilmCompanyRolesIndustryDirectorsHusbandAssumingTheatreArtisticMy HusbandFilm IndustrySydney Author:Cate Blanchett
“I got a phone call from George Miller [the director] asking me to play this role. We sat down and he showed me on his computer a documentary-type montage sequence of real penguins swimming, in an Esther Williams synchronized sort of way, and doing things I have never seen them do. Then he explained his vision of the film, asked me to read the script and to voice the character. I was cast a little bit later, and he let me do the singing as well!” WayWellsLittlesRealPlayCharacterFilmBitsVoiceVisionRolesTypeDirectorsComputerLittle BitSingingLet MeAskingDown AndScriptsCastsPhonesSatSwimmingDocumentariesSequencePhone CallsPenguinsEsther Author:Brittany Murphy
“I like, as a director and a spectator, simple, direct, frank films. Nothing disgusts me more than snobbism, mannerism, technical gratuity... and, most of all, intellectualism.” FilmSimpleDirectorsDirectFrankDisgustingSpectatorsIntellectualismMannerismsGratuity Author:John Ford
“I was the enemy of the major studio. I believed in one man - one film. I believed one man should make the film. And I believed the director should be that one man. One man should do it - I didn't give a damn who. I just couldn't accept art as a committee. I could only accept art as an extension of an individual.” MenGivingShouldArtFilmIndividualAcceptingEnemyDirectorsMajorsStudiosDamnOne ManCommitteesExtensions Author:Frank Capra
“All film directors, even the ones using 3-D today, want you to look at what they chose.” WantLooksTodayFilmDirectorsFilm Directors Author:David Hockney
“I think Hollywood has gone in a disastrous path. It's terrible. The years of cinema that were great were the '30s, '40s, not so much the '50s...but then the foreign films took over and it was a great age of cinema as American directors were influenced by them and that fueled the '50s and '60s and '70s.” ThinkingYearsAgeFilmGonePathTerribleDirectorsHollywoodCinema Author:Woody Allen
“To seek out making films that are unique and insightful, boundary-pushing and genre-bending, and not films that fit into the neat, little boxes that people "want" (expect) women to be making. In some ways, I guess for me, any filmmaker should strive to be a good director first, regardless of their gender, race, sexual orientation etc.” PeopleWayWantShouldFirstsLittlesFilmRaceFitDirectorsUniqueStriveBoxesGenderBoundariesGenreFilmmakerEtcPushingInsightfulNeatOrientationBendingGood Directors Author:Rania Attieh
“Never give up. I do believe it is harder for female directors. I have been lucky to receive support from the Sundance Institute for my first film. I'm eternally grateful for their support. I think you need to be surrounded artistically and follow your intuition - always follow your intuition.” ThinkingNeedsGivingFirstsBelieveHas BeensFilmSupportLuckyDirectorsGiving UpFemaleHarderGratefulIntuitionNever Giving UpInstituteSundance Author:Sophie Barthes
“I probably complained more when I was younger. The movie industry can be frustrating but I think sometimes I could have been more helpful, approaching a film as a partnership rather than being critical of a director's ignorance. I wasn't sensitive to the fact that it's very hard to direct.” ThinkingHas BeensSometimesHardFactsFilmIgnoranceIndustryDirectorsDirectCriticalSensitiveHelpfulPartnershipFrustratingCould Have BeenMovie Industry Author:Val Kilmer
“Film's hard when you don't have any relationship with the director at all and you just show up. Then you really are just a gun for hire.” HardShowsFilmDirectorsGun Author:Philip Seymour Hoffman
“Sexism is real and it persists in film and television. I've seen female directors openly undermined by male cinematographers in front of the entire crew” RealFilmFrontsTelevisionDirectorsFemaleMalesSexismPersistCrewFilm And TelevisionCinematographers Author:Liz W. Garcia
“Well, I think there was a time when I first started that there was such a thing called 'a woman's film' and there were certain scripts that women would make. But I think that's changed a lot now. I think that if a woman director walks into a room with a script, it doesn't really matter what the subject matter is, or the genre is, so long as the financiers feel that the woman has the skills to make the film.” IfsThinkingFeelsFirstsWellsLongMatterFilmCertainWalksRoomsSubjectsChangedDirectorsSkillsScriptsGenreSubject MatterGenre IsFinanciers Author:Gurinder Chadha
“When characters are drifting away from the "correct road", or in fact from any road they were supposed to follow, they lose control, they find other goals...and possibly their real selves. All these moments of changes, of self-questioning, are like an engine to the films I make - that's where lie the dynamics I'm interested in as a director.” RealSelfMomentsCharacterFactsFilmLyingGoalLosesDirectorsEnginesQuestioningDriftingDynamicsReal SelfSelf QuestioningDrifting Away Author:Anne Fontaine
“I'm completely surrounded, not only my father, but also my three brothers, and Sergio, my husband, all four of them work in film. Some are writers, or directors, or cinematographers, all of them. I'm surrounded by men that make films, so much that at some point I felt there was no more room in the family for another filmmaker.For many years I was only working as novelist or writing screenplays for others to direct.” MenWritingYearsFilmThreeFatherFeltRoomsFourBrotherDirectorsHusbandDirectNovelistsFilmmakerMy HusbandScreenplaysCinematographersThree Brothers Author:Lucia Puenzo
“Me and Kirby are very collaborative and it changes from film to film. The first project we worked on together, Derrida, we co-directed. The last film Outrage, I was the producer and he was the director. This film was much more of a collaboration - he is the director and I am the producer - but this is a film by both of us.” FirstsTogetherLastsFilmDirectorsProjectsProducersCollaborationOutrageDerrida Author:Amy Ziering
“There are a lot of female directors in Lebanon but we can't really talk about a true film industry, it's still very small. But we do have a few female directors.” StillsFilmIndustryDirectorsFemaleFilm IndustryLebanon Author:Nadine Labaki
“I think the first film you do with your instincts because you haven't learned with another director or you haven't worked on other films, so you tend to do things your own way. I think what I learned the most was to take your time, to try to be less rushed into things and have some distance with what you're doing.” ThinkingWayTryingFirstsFilmHavensDirectorsDistanceInstinctTake Your Time Author:Nadine Labaki
“A director could be 20 years old and an actor 60, or vice versa; it doesn't matter. It's about connecting sensibility and energy together, and having a vision that goes together and anchors the film as you go along.” YearsMatterTogetherFilmActorsEnergyVisionDirectorsVicesSensibilityConnectingAnchorsVice Versa Author:Juliette Binoche
“Now there are three guys who directed "Twilight" films that had a gross of a gazillion dollars. All those "Hunger Games" guys, the "Divergent" guys. All those people. When they are looking for the next big director, they see they have a track record. So there's 20 people that spun off of "Twilight" that have more qualifications than any woman.” PeopleBigsFilmGuyThreeNextGamesRecordsDirectorsDollarsHungerTrackTwilightGrossQualificationsDivergentSpunTrack Record Author:Catherine Hardwicke
“I want make more records with my sister. I want to go on the road. I want to tour around the world. I want to continue to make great films and work with incredible directors that I respect and look up to.” WorldWantLooksFilmRecordsGoes OnDirectorsIncrediblesAround The WorldLook UpMy SisterGreat Film Author:Amanda Michalka
“I'm happy that my films were discovered by chance by foreign film festivals. That makes me realise more that there is a world outside Japan too. For me, it's an occasion to meet many people and to experience directly the response of international audiences to my films. But for me as a director, my attitude towards making films hasn't changed with the fame. I feel it's not good to change as a person anyway” PeopleWorldFeelsPersonsFilmChanceAttitudeAudienceChangedFameDirectorsResponseInternationalOccasionsJapanRealisingFestivalsMy AttitudeFilm Festivals Author:Takashi Miike
“After college I funded my short films with acting roles in film and TV. I learned my craft through the great opportunities British television gave me as a director.” FilmOpportunityActingRolesTelevisionCollegeTvsDirectorsBritishCraftsGreat OpportunityShort FilmsBritish Television Author:Justin Chadwick