Michel Hazanavicius Quotes

I've been in charge all my damn life, but executive producing is teamwork. You're involved with every aspect of the production, from casting to locations, everything.

It's not a 'sexy' position, being the producer. You have to be very bossy. You have to be very aggressive.

Let me tell you about being executive producer. It is not a job, it's a title. Don't go around asking executive producers what they do because they don't do anything, alright?

A director is a choreographer, both politically and creatively.

I'm not real good at the administrative part of running a company.

I've already felt that I want to direct. Being an executive producer is like the best job in the world because you make all these executive decisions and then you leave the money to other people. You don't have to be on set and counting beans.

I've been on a lot of sets, and I've been around a lot of directors, and I've been working for many years now, but stepping in the shoes of being the decision maker and the guy that everybody is relying on at some point, yeah, it was challenging for sure. One thing is that you're responsible for a large group of people.

I do not need a producer. I need only a good production manager. I need only a man who will give me money.

In management terms, directing opera certainly prepares you for a film set: the magnitude of it, the experts in other fields that you have to call on. Both are massive ensemble jobs in which there's incredible pressure to get things done on time and on budget - so much so that making the wrong decision may be better than making no decision at all.

Where I get involved is that I have to sign off the money, yet when you have target one, two or three from your process I feel fine going after the No 1 target and, if it's not to be him, then number two or three.

I've been told that I might make a good producer because I am very Type A, and I'm kind of a control freak, so I've been told that that might translate well into producing, so I would certainly be open to trying my hand at that.

A budget is not an issue. I mean a budget is used if you need more weeks or more time or more elements, but the creative process is exactly the same. In some instances you become more of a boss when you are doing a small movie. So that is not so relevant. The only thing is that the bigger a movie is in terms of budget, is that there are more people giving opinions.

You only decide once how to dedicate the surplus.

Every dime spent is a political decision made.

Don’t tell me what you value. Show me your budget.

If you don’t have the budget, you can’t get anything done. That’s why bureaucrats are always fighting about budgets.

A big part of the job of being a showrunner is, in my way of thinking, being a good communicator because there's really no other way to have hope for getting what you want, at the end of the day.

I've organized everything for my family since I was little. I know how to delegate and budget. I solve people's problems.

Budgets reflect our priorities, who we are as a nation, what we're going to put first, and emphasize and invest.

In my experience, the most effective professionals in business and government have the ability to get things done. They're trained to work with multiple stakeholders, to understand how to identify a problem, devise solutions, to compromise and work well with others.

I always feel that the best kind of producing - and frankly, it has to do with what I like to do - is you're the big-picture person.

Budgets are matters of priority and prioritizing. It's a high priority.

As an actor, I was often shielded from the big-picture decisions. But as a producer, I experience all the conversations where there's pushback or a difference of opinion.

Directing? It's an appealing thought, but as far as I can tell, it's a lot of work. Producing is easier. You can tell someone else what to do and then go home.

I'm surprised sometimes at the responsibilities you have as a director.