Nia Long Quotes

Let's face it, making movies is all risk. Most of the time, batting average-wise, the reward does not outweigh the risk.

Well, we are not doing that film actually. At least I am not at the moment, but we are making an effort to get it done; I don't know whether we'll get the financing for it. The old story we had it, it fell out of place and this and that.

Pre-preproduction is the tenuous time before a project is greenlit; before the studio commits to spending real money. This is the most vulnerable period for any film because it's the time when your project is most likely to be put into turnaround. That's film-speak for killed off.

The great thing about being a producer on a project is that you get to see the ins and outs of every piece of the puzzle. There are so many elements involved in every aspect of a film's development that I don't think the average person is aware of, which is, I guess, why the whole process is referred to as movie magic.

And in movies you must be a gambler. To produce films is to gamble.

With movies, it always feels like such a long shot getting it made.

There's a long history of people who spent that $300,000 on their first film and weren't quite ready, and then they never did it again 'cause they were out of synch with where they were, and they would never raise that money again.

Film-making, in itself, is such a risky, costly-yet-uncertain business that despite being wealthy, 90 percent of people don't become producers.

Filmmaking involves a lot of money and hard work, which should not be wasted, though nobody knows which film will be a hit.

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

To make great movies, there is an element of risk. You have to say, 'Well, I am going to make this film, and it is not really a sure thing.'

I don't think any actor has the luxury of knowing exactly what scripts are going to turn out well and what ones aren't. It would be wonderful to have that particular skill, and maybe people like Tom Cruise have it more than most, but you go into each project hoping that a good, if not great, film will come out the other end.

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 test audience holds a great deal of power in the process of filmmaking in the United States.

I have always tried to make profitable films because people's offices shut down if films fail, and I will do everything to avoid that.

As a director, you've got to have quite a few projects going because you never know which one will actually come together with the financing and get the green light.

I think you get in trouble if you make experimental big studio films.

Film is the most expensive, highest risk industry in the world.

In Australia, they set up a special fund to kick films off. It was quite an enlightened sort of move. You could go to this government bureau with scripts and and get finance for films.

If a movie doesn't even have financing yet, they'll do a table read for it at a casting director's office with actors, for the producer and the writer, just to hear if the movie is working.

Nowadays, to get a movie greenlit, you have to make an incredible effort.

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

India needs better producers than screenwriters. No producer wants to invest in out-of-the way scripts.

You just can't make any movie and it will be good now. This is a really a difficult time to be in films.

You have to pace yourself. As a producer, you start with a concept and shepherd it through the script to the delivery of the film. It's a very long journey for an hour and 40 minutes of movie.