“Well, I think one of the reasons Chicago became so popular as a filmmaker location is because New York had been used so many times that Chicago, I think, was rediscovered maybe in the late '60s, early '70s for a long time as a new location.” ThinkingWellsLongReasonUsedNew YorkLateLong TimeFilmmakerChicagoLocation Author:Richard Roeper
“I decided to be a filmmaker between my sophomore and junior years at Morehouse. Before I left for the summer of 1977, my advisor told me I really had to declare a major when I came back, because I'd used all my electives in my first two years. I went back to New York and I couldn't find a job. There were none to be had. And that previous Christmas someone gave me a Super-8 camera, so I just started to shoot stuff.” YearsFirstsTwoJobsUsedLeftStuffNew YorkSummerMajorsDecidedCamerasFilmmakerTwo YearsJuniorsAdvisorsSophomoreJunior Year Author:Spike Lee
“When I was a young man, my friends and I and all of us in New York were very influenced by French cinema. French cinema played an enormous influence on those of us who wanted to be filmmakers.” MenWantedYoungInfluenceNew YorkMy FriendsEnormousCinemaYoung ManFilmmakerFrench Cinema Author:Woody Allen
“If I was American, I think I'd live in New York, because I like that East Coast mentality. There's nothing wrong with Hollywood. If you want to be a big time filmmaker, you should go to Hollywood.” IfsThinkingWantShouldBigsNew YorkHollywoodEastFilmmakerMentalityCoastEast Coast Author:Danny Boyle
“When I was in New York I heard many people saying that the independent film industry was in big trouble. I was reflecting on this when I came home. Realizing that ever since I started filmmaking, people have being saying that. But somehow it keeps going. Filmmakers keep going. We need stories to make sense of the world and some people like me are driven to tell them. I have faith this will always be possible.” PeopleWorldNeedsStoriesHomeBigsFilmRealizingTroubleHeardNew YorkIndustryIndependentDrivenLike MeMake SenseFilmmakerKeep GoingHave FaithFilmmakingReflectingIndependent FilmFilm Industry Author:Andrea Arnold
“I went back to Jamaica after living in New York and started to work on experimental stuff and basically I grew as a filmmaker. I went to film school; I was a PA on a lot of projects and I worked so hard, you know, you're young and I learned from different mentors. And luck put me in the position to work with amazing people. One of my mentors by the name of Little X, who took me under his wing after I came out of film school and moved to New York. I worked in videos for Jay-Z, Pharrell to Busta Rhymes and Wyclef. I quickly realized how much I wanted to make films instead of music videos.” PeopleKnowsLittlesDifferentHardWantedSchoolFilmYoungNamesStuffNew YorkPositionGrewProjectsLuckMovedWingsVideoFilmmakerMentorRhymeFilm SchoolJamaicaAmazing People Author:Storm Saulter