Mike D Quotes

What's my dilemma here? Am I making entertainment or am I making art? What am I saying? At the end of the day, cinema is entertainment for millions of people, but for me it's expression.

I don't personally do movies for myself and a faction of very cerebral cinephiles - I do it for everybody and wish for the largest amount of people to relish whatever they find they can relish in.

I don't think you're selling out by allowing the masses to love your art. The only curse is that, when you get so big, sometimes people forget to look at the music.

My goal was never to sell many records.

I continually marvel at people who can make films that reach five hundred million people. How do you do that? Everybody's different - I don't know how that works.

I definitely feel sorry more people don't get to see my films. They aren't inaccessible, and if people got the chance to see them, I know they'd like them.

The people follow what the media say. So if you said that Bruno Dumont is fantastic, it follows that more people would go to see my films. I have no wish to remain on the sidelines. I have no wish to make films that are only seen by bohemians in London and Paris.

I don't want to just sell out shows to young girls who like my movie franchise. I want to sell tickets because people respect me.

At the end of the day, successful box office just means that more people saw what you did and liked it, and that to me is the most important thing. That a lot of people saw it and liked it.

Hey, I didn't make a big deal out of Hotel California. The 18 million people that bought it did.

If the choice is between doing something supercool and having no one hear it and doing something equally cool and tricking people into putting it on the radio, I don't think the second option is some big sellout.

Dealing with those personalities and the people who run this music thing has been most challenging. It's hard to really communicate things to people who run a business yet forget the nature of the business. They only look at the bottom line and the financial return, you know, they forget what it is they're packaging. It's art.

It's awesome when people respond to your movie and love it.

I never, in anything I've ever done, tried to get you to like it. I was never going to succeed at that. That's not the way most entertainment is made. Most entertainment is trying to get you. It's tested, like toothpaste.

Forty-five million people hit that button for 'In These Streets.' When you find out you have that kind of popularity, you better use it. It's called responsibility.

The best pop songs are the ones that show that person's personality. It's harder to do those singles because the stars, moon and sun have to align and the audience have to be ready, but it's worth waiting for it.

Films are not meant to be watched only by fans but by everyone. Fans are those who like what we do. When we do things that only they like, then we are becoming their fans.

It's that experienced eye that knows what the public loves and how to create that Hollywood magic that drives pop culture.

I look at it like this: you may only sell 20,000 to 100,000 albums. But those albums are going to be heard by future doctors, lawyers, judges, firemen, etc. Those albums are being sold to the right people that move society. They're interested in what you have to say.

I am really happy with the appreciation 'Baahubali' is receiving. Its success proves that if you back the right content, it can travel across the country and the globe.

No matter how big or new they are, I always look for the intention of the filmmaker first. Their intention has to be in the right place.

You can make serious pop, you know? There was a time when the best movies were the most popular, and I keep thinking that can happen again.

Sometimes critics disagree with the audience, and that's fine. I make movies for the audience. I guess I hope that the critics like it, but on the other hand, I just really want the audience to like it.

Bands speak for us in this inevitable way that you can't get anywhere else because it is this perfect balance of artistic expression and popular culture.

Our goal is to focus on the unique points of view of our show creators but make shows that have broad appeal.