- I'm fascinated by failure, and I'm fascinated by finality. William Shakespeare's historical plays are more universal than his comedies because they relate to the finality of life. Without finality, life would not be beautiful.
- [on Casino Jack (2010)] Kelly Preston is a remarkable human being and a great dramatic actress. It was a privilege as a director to tap into this part of her. Rarely do I make a kind of spiritual connection with my cast. Kelly was a wonderful exception. She is truly very special and I adore her.
- Generally in my [documentary] films like Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse (1991) or Picture This: The Times of Peter Bogdanovich in Archer City, Texas (1991), I try not to make myself a presence in the film.
- I'm very strongly in favor of the auteur theory.
- As a filmmaker I find it much more rewarding to work with actors who are classically trained. It's about the work and only the work.
- There's something unique about the United States, a sense of individual rights and freedoms, and a sense of social and civic responsibility that we contributed to so much of the world. We lost that mission in the 1980s and 1990s, when we entered a gilded age, and the culture of individualism became a culture of avarice.
- I always say be humble but be firm. Humility and openness are the key to success without compromising your beliefs.
- Simon Monjack had nothing to do with Factory Girl (2006). He filed a frivolous lawsuit against us... making bogus claims that we had stolen his script. He held us literally to hostage and we were forced to settle with him as he held our production over a barrel.
- Most people, 95% of people, are good people. It's the 5% who get seduced by power.
- I was very inspired by [documentary filmmaker] Les Blank's film Burden of Dreams (1982). I think what's unique about his film and the two I've made is that they're close examinations of filmmakers and how their own emotional experiences reflect in the material they're rendering, and vice versa - how that material sometimes colors their own lives.
- I think that narrative, fiction filmmaking is the culmination of several art forms: theater, art history, architecture. Whereas doc filmmaking is more pure cinema, like Cinéma Vérité is film in its purest form.
- There's been a vacuum with movies that people can relate to. There's been a paucity of dramas that people can relate to. I think audiences are clamoring to connect - particularly after 9/11 - with things that are genuine and real and I think documentaries are filling that need.
- I love the grandiosity of Hollywood movies, and even in independents, I love the canvas you can tell your story on. I love fiction filmmaking, you really feel like you're creating something.
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