Steve James Quotes

Initially, I got into the business to do drama. I never really thought I would be doing sci-fi films.

I studied science and journalism at the University of Colorado and then got interested in experimental film there and started doing my own films.

I went back to film work after Dobie. I went back to film work after Dobie.

I didn't dream about being a director. I didn't know I wanted to do something with film until the summer between my sophomore and junior years at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia.

I moved to L.A. to write and direct. I had no intentions of being in front of the camera.

Being the son of a filmmaker, you are aware of a career as a director. You don't think of it as just movies, but as a life.

I want to venture into film more, and I think that a nice way to transition into doing that would be a documentary. I think it would be interesting to find one person that really fascinated me or maybe a band and travel with them, but I don't think I could do it like I used to do it.

I was always interested in film, but I never knew how to go about becoming a filmmaker.

I went to University College London and read English literature, then realised if you were interested in story and narrative, film was the way to go.

I considered going to film school; I took a course in film and was very interested in filmmaking as well as film writing.

I was raised on movie sets, and I decided for myself at a very young age that it was what I wanted to do.

I always loved movies as a child, and I love story. I got my degree in English. Film and story seemed, to me, the vector of the movie business. I really didn't know what 'the film business' meant, but I decided I wanted to be in it.

When I get done playing basketball, I'm definitely not going to be a rapper. I'm not going to be an old person who is focused on being a rapper.

I wanted to do journalism, as I was an idealist. Then, in my second year of journalism, I realized that in real life, things don't work the way you expect them to. I realized that I could express my ideas better through films.

I went to graduate school for directing at AFI in L.A., and I wanted to be a director.

I was born to make movies.

Whatever storytelling muscles you've developed as a documentary filmmaker will be extremely helpful as a narrative filmmaker.

When I was watching 'Sivaji,' I had no clue I will be a filmmaker; I had not even started making short films at that time.

In an alternative life, I would have loved to work in film - I love film.

Growing up it was always a dream. I just always thought as long as I worked hard that someone would take a look at me and know I could play in the NBA.

Documentaries are inherently instinctual; you're constantly moment to moment, determining what the best place for the camera is to tell the story, usually in service of natural lighting.

By the time I got to 'St Vincent,' I had shot so many scenarios I was ready for anything - I've shot kangaroos, I've shot dogs, cats, crowds, fight scenes, stunts, comedy, drama, handheld, dolly, helicopter, crane - I just felt that there was nothing I was unprepared for.

I want to do films that will make an impact and project me in a different way.

In Delhi, I got a chance to assist someone on a documentary film. Then I moved to Mumbai. This was before the satellite TV. One had to assist a director for years before being able to direct a movie.

I made lots of short films, about nine or ten short films. And then I made a television film called 'This Little Life.'