Mark Duplass Quotes

You can make a really good film for under a million dollars, like 'October Baby,' or under a half million, like 'Hardflip.'

That's my advice for indie filmmakers: Marry a supermodel.

It proved to be pretty impossible to get funds for a feature film in Finland. It's still small, but the film industry was miniscule at that point in the early '80s.

For most of my films, I've had to go out and start shooting before I could get the rest of the funding. That was the case with 'Hoop Dreams,' 'Stevie' and 'The Interrupters:' We started them quietly out of Kartemquin Films, only really going to funders once we had something to show and a firm idea of what the film might be.

The financing of my films has always been international.

The way financing for independent movies goes is great. You get the money from the guy who's actually doing the distribution in France. You say, "Do you want a piece of this movie?" And he's got to sell this movie to get his money back. That's the brains of it; that's the genius of this financing. "You want Germany? Give us a million dollars and you've got Germany."

It's just hard to get an independent film made.

As far as acting in films, there is not much out there that is very interesting to do. The ones that are interesting to me are independent films and they have trouble raising money. With people putting their money into blockbusters, there is not much left for the independents.

The studios don't finance anymore, they get outside funds.

My partner, Beth Alexander, and I want to produce smaller films, but commercially viable films that will enable me to make the kinds of movies I want to make.

Thank God for small movies and filmmakers who can make movies for not $8 million. Thank God for $8,000 movies.

Most of my movies are indies. The best scripts I can find are independent films. But I love big-budget movies, I love craft services!

Many people came out and said, 'Boy I'd love to make a film that way.' Well, borrow some money, get some people together - you can get people to work for nothing, just treat them right, treat them as human beings, not stars, give them all an equal share, make them feel a part of what they're doing. There's no big secret to it.

It's very difficult to raise money, especially in the United States, for independent movies.

I suppose the real cult things now are independent films made for a million pounds.

Coming from the industry and maintaining contacts with producers and directors, I am very well aware that costs associated with movie production are a major factor in determining where films get made.

Every film is hard to fund.

The film, even when we were making it in that budget range, which was really a coup - we got it made because we pitched it to the studio head, Joe Roth.

You can get money and make a really cheap movie. You can, from independent financers who are just giving you money to support artists. This is what was happening in the '90s, and I was very fortunate to be a part of that.

When I was looking for financing while making 'Hellraiser,' I wish there was a studio like Project Greenlight Digital Studios behind me.

You can spend an extraordinary amount of time raising independent money to do a movie for very little means. I've done it with 'Pawn Sacrifice.'

It's great to make strong, powerful films, but in terms of people wanting to finance them, it's also very difficult.

'Shotgun Stories' and 'Take Shelter'... I was willing to make those with no money and no time. With 'Mud,' I just wanted to protect it until I could have the resources. It's a real tricky movie.

Gian Luigi Polidoro and his girlfriend had written this script, it was an American comedy, and they decided I was the guy to play the part. I was young, they offered me the lead in the film, and I said, "Sure, I'll do it." And I'm telling you, there is a movie waiting to be made about the making of a movie like that, particularly at that time in New York. I mean, we shot all over the streets of New York without permits. We would literally grab a shot and run. But Rent Control... I think the total cost was $100,000, and to this director's credit, I think it looks like $200,000.

I was still making movies so it wasn't as if I were working in a bar, but they were independent films that couldn't find distributors.