Debra Granik Quotes

I do like the whole idea of going to a location to shoot a movie, and there is a start date and a finish date, and a lot of special things happen within those weeks.

I like going on location for films.

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.

'You Can Count On Me' took 20 days to shoot, and we had 50 days to shoot 'Margaret.'

The process of making a movie has expanded in terms of effort and time for the director, doing commentaries for the DVD for example, finishing deleted scenes so they could be on the DVD, and doing things like a web blog.

Making a movie is a long, dull process. There's a lot of waiting around.

This one, even though it called for San Francisco, I think they wanted to initially shoot part of the film up here, you know get the exteriors and then go back to L.A. We really fought to get it up here and I think Paramount was really pleased.

Every single day of making a movie is going to bring new problems.

There are two phases to a movie. First you shoot the movie, and then you make the movie. Generally, post-production is longer than filming.

It was important on The Shipping News to have my house far enough away from each location so I had this time in the morning to think about my shots and still remain open to surprises once I got to the set.

The next movie I do is not going to be in school.

When I did that first movie, it was the introduction to all the set-up time and the waiting time that's endemic in motion pictures, and the repetition.

Inherently, making a movie is tough because there's so much anticipation when it happens - even if everything goes well.

When you're working on a film, it's not theater; you don't have a few weeks of rehearsal. A lot of times you are showing up on set, and you've never been to the place; you've never met the other actors you're working with.

Movies are in a much longer production conversation before an actor is even involved. I always thought of actors as the last piece of the puzzle - so you're a tool.

It takes a long time to get a film made.

It's nice when you're working in Hollywood and there's a movie you'd like to see that no one is making anymore. You make it yourself.

You do need to edit yourself as you shoot because you have fewer options in a smaller movie. In other words, when I'm shooting a big movie, and I got an 85 day shooting schedule or more, then I'm saying I have enough time to shoot option A and B and C and D for every scene.

They're talking about a movie I don't want to hold to that because in this business you can talk about things for years before they get done - god knows if the financing would happen.

The average development time for a Hollywood movie is nine years. Nine years for a studio film. And a lot of what you do is abstract.

The first year we actually did a lot of night shooting and the writers weren't even allowed on location.

The organization that it takes to make a movie like 'Star Trek' is amazing, intimidating and fascinating.

If I heard somebody else say, 'I worked on a movie for five years', I'd be like, 'What? How could it take that long? What were you doing?'

We shot 'Skateland' in the end of 2008, in Shreveport, Louisiana just between the border of East Texas and Louisiana - and we shot 'Battle: Los Angeles' at the end of 2009, also in Shreveport. So I know a lot about Shreveport.

Making a movie is a lot of problem solving.