Masi Oka Quotes

The filmmaker is really important to me: it could be their first film; it's not just about their reputation, but I have to really believe in them.

A big part of filmmaking is gathering a group of people you can work with.

I used to once believe that the script is the most important thing, but now I also believe that the kind of people you are working with also matters a lot, and moreso, to see how the film will be promoted.

I think a director is hugely responsible for the fate of a film, so if it does well, he should be appreciated. As an actor, I can only perform well or choose to work with a good director in a good film.

Nobody sets out to make a bad film.

It's only human and natural that an actor should see the film in terms of his own part, but I, as a director, have to see the film as a whole. He must therefore collaborate selflessly, totally.

That's what I learned most about directing on my own - you've got to build a family, a filmmaking family.

It's not about the script: it's about who the director is and who the other people in the cast are. Because you can look at a great script and execute it in a very sophomoric way, and you can look at an OK script, and you can execute it in a very sophisticated way and come out with something really good.

I often meet directors who want to cast me as the protagonist, but if the rest of the characters are not strong enough, the film is bound to fall flat on a creative level.

I think that, again, filmmaking is the director's medium in the end, and the best thing a producer can do is stay out of the way and support the director one hundred percent.

Everything is always against you when making a movie, and if you don't have a solid blueprint that the entire team can get behind and understand and then execute, then you're going to be lost on the set.

The success of a film is always a combination of many people's efforts.

I've worked with Terrence Malick, Werner Herzog, Olive Stone and David Gordon Green, and Damien Chazelle on 'First Man.' When you have someone at the helm like that, they're gonna make something great.

One of the greatest compliments anyone could ever give a director is, 'Everybody was in the same show.' That's something I think about constantly.

I've realised that to make a successful film, you have to be with a unit which is happy and positive from the beginning.

The filmmakers have a story they want to tell, and they go get the material they need for it. The film either exceeds or fails to meet up to their expectations or it's different.

There is certainly no formula of making a successful film, but there are means to make a sensible film.

What matters is whether the audience likes the film or not. Everything else is secondary.

Over the years, I have realised that it takes a great team for a film to succeed.

I always try to develop a good relationship with the director on any film and make sure that we want the same things and we're talking about the same ideas, and that gives me great protection.

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

I think the success of any movie is dependent upon it being a singular vision.

The nature of filmmaking is that there are so many people involved in it, so many fingers in the pie, that part of the talent of a director is to try and get your personality through in the movie.

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.

When I begin a film, I want to make a great film. Halfway through, I just hope to finish the film.