Jason Blum Quotes

You can't make two films at the same time.

I've always juggled a lot of projects because at least half the projects you do get shelved. So you have to do a lot of things in order for things to move forward.

I think the toughest thing is to describe what a producer does because they basically do everything. They follow a project from the start through the rest of its life and, along the way, are a part of every single aspect of its growth. It's tremendously enriching, though, because you get to know and live with the movie in its entirety.

Studios are an assembly line. They can be a very good assembly line. As a producer, you concentrate on one project at a time. As an executive, you're in charge of a slate.

When you're making an independent film, it's like this actor plus this actor equals this funding, this financing. Pull this actor out, this actor is still here but this money's gone. It's this frightening puzzle mosaic that is the world of independent film.

I actually signed on to do 'On the Road' before we started on 'Tron,' but we were in flux for a while, just sort of playing the waiting game, trying to get the right budget and the right cast.

We started getting the script to different people and we were in the business of trying to fund it so we could get it off and running, and all the characters and sets designed and everything.

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.

When you're making an independent feature, there are so many difficult stages. One, just writing the script is difficult on its own. Then, when you get it to a place where you're happy with it, great - but then you need to find persons who are willing to produce it, who like the script.

Production is not an easy game and I would want to be prepared with the right team, script, etc before getting into it.

If I'm directing actors, I learn about acting that way. If I'm acting, I learn about directing that way. Producing is just something that's come about because there's projects I find interesting that I would like to help get done.

When I did 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off', I had the idea on Monday and the following Tuesday it was in budget at Paramount. I couldn't walk.

It takes a long time to get a film made.

You can act in five, six, or seven films in the time it takes to direct one film.

I'd always intended to make 'Far North' straight after 'The Warrior.' We had the rights to the short story, the script was in development, and I knew where I wanted to shoot it. It just took a long time getting the script together and raising the finance.

I usually have one project I'm focusing on but often have many other projects in the back of my mind for several years.

Making a film, setting it up and getting it cast and getting it together, is not an easy thing.

Most of the top actors and actresses may be working in ten or twelve films at the same time, so they will give one director two hours and maybe shoot in Bombay in the morning and Madras in the evening. It happens.

Making a movie is a lot of problem solving.

Most people don't really understand what it takes to get a film made, and the struggles .I think anyone who makes a film goes through their own set of struggles.

Each one of my movies becomes easier to get off the ground.

On Lock, Stock, we didn't know where the money for shooting the next day was coming from.

That's the other thing about working on movies, the commitment is years. That's one thing that's so frustrating about the process is that it goes on and on and on for years.

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

Earlier in my career, I needed to be the writer, casting director, set designer, leading man, and producer. I've been eliminating a lot of those jobs. I'm an executive producer right now. I still get to pick the best screenplays.