Taika Waititi Quotes

I didn't make any money out of my art until I was in my 40s, but it preserved my sanity and my freedom.

You definitely want to do the little films. They're always going to be harder, but you don't do them to make money. You do them so you can see what you can make with the research that you have.

I've done a lot of collaboration over the years, but right now I'm enjoying writing by myself and just being me again for a while.

My greatest achievement is being able to write records that are real snapshots of what's going on in my life. I won't repeat myself for the sake of commerce, or to please other people.

We started Yes as a vehicle to develop everyone's individual styles.

My writing always came out of a very personal place, out of an attempt to stay sane.

More personal films, you could make them, but your budgets would be cut down.

For your own self-respect and sanity, your creative freedom, you have to be careful that you don't rely too much on other people's opinions of what you do because it can stunt and inhibit you.

'Wild Hope' just felt like such a selfish venture to me. It was a way for me to get out of my head, get some clarity on certain situations, and finally be a part of something that I was completely behind creatively and proud of.

Having reached a point in which I was so bitter and exhausted from being a quote unquote public figure, I wanted to return to a more childlike relationship to writing.

My priorities are: I need to be good; I need to be well within for my children to be well within; and then the creative process flows, organically and smoothly. I'm not looking to experience what I went through in the 'Livin' La Vida Loca' days again.

I'm really honored that Bon Iver gives me a platform to do whatever I want, but there's only so much time you can spend digging through yourself before you become insular. I'm not in a hurry to go back to that temperature.

I think writing really helps you heal yourself. I think if you write long enough, you will be a healthy person. That is, if you write what you need to write, as opposed to what will make money, or what will make fame.

The hardest thing is spending twelve hours a day accommodating the rest of the world, then going home at night and criticizing it. I would be curious about what I'd write if I didn't have to worry about offending.

I think to have done 'Titanic' would have been a tortuous experience altogether. I feel good about where my life is, now. I feel free and joyous and happy and more liberated than I have ever been.

I stumbled onto the best profession to heal my childhood: the only one that lets you release and express whatever is ugly and messy and beautiful about your life. We're in the business of creating human beings. The more we spew, and the more honestly we do it, the better. Try that on Wall Street.

The cool thing about those small-budget movies is that there's a tremendous amount of freedom the filmmakers have since there's less money at stake.

The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane.

Considering all that's happened in my life, I feel like I'm a pretty levelheaded person that has remained happy and not let my shortcomings overtake the better part of me. I'm fulfilling the things I wanted to fulfill, and I'm still sane.

I feel like my music at least allows me to release the other side of me, a more vulnerable and sensitive side.

Every now and then, as a composer and producer, it's important to write music for yourself.

I taught myself German and psychology. Learning about psychology really helped me understand myself and the others around me and it helped keep me sane.

I guess, in a sense, 'Audition' was a film that gave me an opportunity that I hadn't had up until that point. So that's definitely one that is important to me. Then there's 'Visitor Q' that kind of taught me that there are some kinds of films that can only be made as low-budget films that really wouldn't work as anything else.

The five directors in '5 Sundarikal' experimented, and it was a very personal exercise. Amal, Anwar, Aashiq, and Sameer have done things that they have never done before. Debutant Shyju has also made a beautiful film.

I don't think I would change anything. I think we've done a fairly good job of remaining sane and making the right decisions.