Woodstock (1970)

Michael Lang: Self - Executive Producer of Woodstock Festival

Quotes 

• Interviewer : You're in the red?

  Artie Kornfeld, Music Promoter : Oh, the company? Financially, it's hard to think on those terms, when you're talking about something like this. Financially, this is a disaster.

  Interviewer : But, you look so happy?

  Artie Kornfeld, Music Promoter : I'm very happy.

  Micheal Lang, Exec Producer of Woodstock Festival : Look what you got there, man. You couldn't buy that for anything.

  Artie Kornfeld, Music Promoter : Sure. This is really beautiful, man.

  Micheal Lang, Exec Producer of Woodstock Festival : These people are communicating with each other. That rarely happens anywhere, anymore.

  Artie Kornfeld, Music Promoter : It's got nothing to do with money. It has nothing to do with tangible things.

• Interviewer : Are you in charge of the whole thing?

  Micheal Lang, Exec Producer of Woodstock Festival : Yeah.

  Interviewer : But, you got backers.

  Micheal Lang, Exec Producer of Woodstock Festival : Yeah. Partners and backers.

  Interviewer : Yes. Where are you gonna go from here? I mean, are you gonna do another one?

  Micheal Lang, Exec Producer of Woodstock Festival : If it works!

• Interviewer : About numbers, tell me, about how many do you expect?

  Michael Lang, Exec Producer of Woodstock Festival : Two hundred thousand.

  Interviewer : Two hundred thousand people here over the three days.

  Michael Lang, Exec Producer of Woodstock Festival : Right.

  Interviewer : Where will you put 'em?

  Michael Lang, Exec Producer of Woodstock Festival : We have contracted for land surrounding the area. Setting up camp grounds, water facilities, toilets, electric. food.

  Interviewer : What does it cost to put one of these things together?

  Michael Lang, Exec Producer of Woodstock Festival : A fortune!

• Interviewer : You have to make two million dollars to break even?

  Michael Lang, Exec Producer of Woodstock Festival : Well, if we are going to break even, you know. The point is that it's happened and it's working, you know.

  Interviewer : Yeah.

  Michael Lang, Exec Producer of Woodstock Festival : And that's enough for now.

• Michael Lang, Exec Producer of Woodstock Festival : Music has always been a major form of communication, only, now, the lyric and the type of music is a little bit more involved in the society than it was.

• Interviewer : If you could tell me that if I could run your voice over while this music's playing, what that music is saying, kind of, what that music's about?

  Michael Lang, Exec Producer of Woodstock Festival : It's about what's happening now. If you listen to the lyric and you listen to the, to the rhythm, and what's in the music, then you'll know what's going on with the culture. I gotta split on you.

  Interviewer : Great. Groovy. Thanks.

• Michael Lang, Exec Producer of Woodstock Festival : What you have here is this culture and this generation away from the old culture and the older generations, you know. And you see how they function on their own. Without cops. Without guns. Without clubs, Without hassles. Everybody pulls together and everybody helps each other. And it works! Its been working since we got here and its going to continue working. And no matter what happens when they go back to the city, this thing is happening and it proves that it can happen! That's what its all about.