10 Inspirational Filmmaker Quotes Dissected

10 INSPIRATIONAL FILMMAKER QUOTES DISSECTED

A commonality that all humans have is that we can all inspire and be inspired. Therefore we wanted to share some amazing quotes that have served to inspire and continue to be inspiring. These 10 Inspirational Filmmaker Quotes come from recognizable film directors and we hope they’ll serve to continuously inspire you in your filmmaking pursuits. We didn’t want to just give you the quotes, we also wanted to dissect them.

1) People have forgotten how to tell a story. Stories don’t have a middle or an end any more. They usually have a beginning that never stops beginning. –Steven Spielberg

DISSECTED: Don’t forget how to tell a story. Yes, the beginning of a film is crucial. After all, if the beginning isn’t well set up the audience will not stick around for what’s ahead as good as it may be. However, set up you beginning within an adequate time frame not dragging the film. Do what you must, but do it in an adequate time frame. Don’t drag on with unnecessary dialogue, shots and scenes.

Close Encounters Of The Third Kind is among many of Steven Spielberg’s most noted work. It has been deemed “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” by the United States Library of Congress and was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.

2) A story should have a beginning, a middle and an end…but not necessarily in that order. – Jean-Luc Godard

Jean Luc-Godard is a French-Swiss film director, screenwriter and film critic. He rose to prominence as a pioneer of the 1960s French New Wave film movement. His filmography is extensive and among his most notable work is his breakthrough and innovative first feature film, Breathless (À bout de souffle, 1960).

3) Don’t take no as a full stop, treat it like a comma. – Amma Asante

DISSECTED: “No” never killed nobody, but it sure can hurt your feelings. In time you’ll learn to not let it. You’ll eventually learn to appreciate no’s because they’ll thicken your skin and you’ll discover that after enough no’s there are yeses coming as well.

But before you can get to the yes or yeses you need to treat the no’s as a coma, that is, as a turning point. A definition on comma is “a minute interval.” That is, a temporary break, not a definitive or indefinite one. Yes?

Amma Asante is a British screenwriter, film director, and former actress. She wrote and directed A Way of Life.

4) Don’t wait for someone to green light your project, build your own intersection. – Tyler Perry

DISSECTED: This quote is self explanatory but let’s explore it by saying, DO! Do write your project, do direct it, do edit it. DO WHAT YOU MUST! It’s great if others are in with you, but it they’re not, the show must be put on.

Tyler Perry is an American actor, playwright, filmmaker, comedian and founder of Tyler Perry Studios. His films are many but among the most recognizable is Diary Of A Mad Black Women.

5) Trying to make a feature film yourself with no money is the best film school you can do. – Quentin Tarantino

DISSECTED: We wholeheartedly agree with this quote. Making a feature film, hands on, will teach you things about filmmaking that no four year degree from a film school ever could.

May we also add, if you’re just not yet ready for the feature film, check out why your first films need to be short films.

Quentin Tarantino is not only a film writer and director, but he is a film student and a film genius. Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction and Jackie Brown are absolutely must see Quentin Tarantino films.

6) My three Ps: passion, patience, perseverance. You have to do this if you’ve got to be a filmmaker. – Robert Wise

DISSECTED: Passion: strong and barely controllable emotion.
Patience: the ability to wait, or to continue doing something despite difficulties, or to suffer without complaining or becoming annoyed.
Perseverance: persistence in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success.

You got those? Then go make your film. You don’t? Then go make your film. You will have to learn them if you’re going to complete it.

Robert Wise was an American film director, producer and editor. He won Academy Awards for Best Director and Best Picture for both West Side Story and The Sound of Music . He also nominated for best film editing for the Orsen Welles’ classic film, Citizen Kane.

7) A lot of times you get credit for stuff in your movie that you didn’t intend to be there. – Spike Lee

DISSECTED: If you’ve ever created something masterful then you know this is true. It has a lot to do with preparation. You prepare for what you originally had in mind and you do it. Then you’ll end up noticing that some things that happened coincidently can turn out to be the best things. People I’ll credit you for being a genius but deep down inside you’ll know it happened coincidentally.

But so be it, take the credit. After all, you were bold enough to start the thing.

Spike Lee is a film director, producer, writer, and actor. His production company, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, has produced over 35 films since 1983. Do The Right Thing and Clockers are among the must see Spike Lee Films.

8) I really took filmmaking very seriously… It was an honor and then a crutch also, because at a young age, I was like, I guess I’m a serious filmmaker. I never set out to be a serious filmmaker. I just set out to make movies. – John Singleton

DISSECTED: Don’t take filmmaking so serious that you can’t see anything in your life beyond filmmaking. Life is just too short and sweet.

And…let’s add a quote to this quote as stated by legendary film director Alfred Hitchcock: “…It’s just a movie.”

For her work on Selma, DuVernay was the first black female director to be nominated for a Golden Globe Award.

9) You pray for rain, you gotta deal with the mud too. – Denzel Washington

DISSECTED: With all good things there will come not so good things. With all the love there will come hate. With all the notoriety there will come defamation. It’s okay, you’ll learn to deal with them.

Denzel Washington is a world renown actor whose career started in 1976, however, he did not make his directorial debut until 2002 with the critically acclaimed film, Antwone Fisher.

10) I intend to be making films until I’m an old lady. So, if God willing I get there, I need to create a paradigm for myself where I can make it regardless of whether or not they still like what I’m making. – Ava DuVernay

DISSECTED: As great of a filmmaker as you may be, there will certainly come a time when the powers that be will want to move on to explore new talent and leave you behind. Believe it, they will. This cannot be avoided, unless you establish mechanisms to where you become self reliant (i.e., distribution). Distribution is king, not content.

For her work on Selma, DuVernay was the first black female director to be nominated for a Golden Globe Award.

BONUS

There was always a part of me that wanted to be an old-time director. But I couldn’t do that. I’m not a pro. – Martin Scorsese

DISSECTED: We can’t think of but a handful of directors that have had the success of Martin Scorsese, but in his humility he’s pretty much stating: The guys that came before me, they’re the pros. They’re the ones that I owe it to for inspiring me and showing me greatness in simplicity.

Ultimately he’s saying, remember those that came before you. Don’t think that you’re more because of technical capabilities that exist today that didn’t exist some time back. If the technical capabilities that exist today existed then, what would Martin Scorsese say? The guys that came before me, they’re deities?

Martin Scorcese is a director, producer, screenwriter and film historian, whose career spans more than 50 years. His directed legendary films such as Taxi, Goodfellas, among many more.

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