Steven Spielberg Quotes

I was not the producer of 'Vaanaprastham' earlier. The first producers backed out when they became doubtful about the monetary benefits. I do not blame them. But as an actor, I wanted to make the film. So, I told Shaji sir that I would produce the film. It was only then we started shooting.

I don't think I'll ever be a producer who's into taking the meetings and fighting the big fights with studios. I really don't like that part. I'm much more interested in the material.

Market forces impose certain rules before a film can actually get made.

With 'The Last Picture Show,' Peter Bogdanovich brought the script to the company that made it. They liked it, and they gave him the money he needed to make the film. He cast it with the actors that he thought were right for the parts. Now, it's the reverse.

I've talked about this a lot, but 'The Witch' took four years to finance because there were certain compromises I wouldn't make.

I think one of the main reason's Rick Rosenthal and Whitewater PIctures decided to 'get in bed with me' on 'Fat Kid' was because I came in with a strong business plan as well as a creative vision on how to make the film.

There's been a slow death in a way. On the positive side, there are films getting into the Academy Awards that wouldn't have, but on the negative side, financiers are now dominant and making all the decisions. I can't count the ways a director's vision is compromised.

Pre-preproduction is the tenuous time before a project is greenlit; before the studio commits to spending real money. This is the most vulnerable period for any film because it's the time when your project is most likely to be put into turnaround. That's film-speak for killed off.

Nobody ever starts out to make a mediocre, commercial film. You always think it's going to be something. And then, once you're done with your shooting, you have no control. You're just done, as an actor.

It's hard to get personal films off the ground, and it's hard developing them.

You know, the people who do indie film and decide who gets those little budgets? They're mean, man. They're cold and very cool-oriented.

Substantially fewer films will be produced over the next year or two. And a significant portion of the production costs of the reduced slate will be borne by hedge funds and other investment groups.

I get involved with projects based on three parameters - the script, the actors involved and the director.

I've been in the game long enough to know what elements you have to package together to get a movie into production.

Studios never put pressure. They know the kind of films I want to make.

There are only so many movies you can direct. And yet there are movies that I want to make sure make it to the screen in as honest a way as possible.

As a director, my job is to spend money, and the producer's is to save money. Masoom, Bandit Queen and the first Queen Elizabeth have been my most uncompromised films.

The first time I did a big American film, I was surprised by all the different financiers who came to the set and told the director what to do.

'Private Benjamin' was the first movie I produced, and I produced it for practical reasons.

There's a long history of people who spent that $300,000 on their first film and weren't quite ready, and then they never did it again 'cause they were out of synch with where they were, and they would never raise that money again.

I have been working on one film at a time. One film recovers a little cost and that helps me move on to the next one.

I've seen it happen with other directors. Sometimes there's a period where, if they're lucky, they get the financing where they can make two films in a year.

You see, I believe a producer's job today is as important as that of a director.

I will direct films be it my own productions or outside. It's not like I am here only to direct Salman.

The usual key to getting films made seems to be a producer's terrier-like determination not to let it go. Unfortunately, such producers often seem prone to sinking their claws into mediocre projects.