Robert A. Heinlein Quotes

Basically, movies come down to economics, and they're always too expensive. From a producer's point of view, an actor is either going to make him money or save him money.

But what's interesting is now - and not only in horror, but across the board - the studios basically only make B pictures with A budgets. That's the biggest difference.

Trying to convince Warner Bros. to make a $30 million 'Veronica Mars' movie just wasn't going to happen, for understandable reasons.

The fact is, it's hard to release movies.

In big movies, interests are not aligned between those above the line and the financier, because above the line gets paid whether the movie works or not. The financier only makes money if the movie works, and that fundamentally sets up a contentious relationship.

I root for 'Spawn' and every other comic-book movie. I hope all of them are successful because, any time one fails, it makes it that much harder to get one made.

At the end of the day, it's a business; people want to make money. That's the intention with every film. It happens for some movies. For others, it doesn't.

Even after I had just done Twilight, which made $400 million at the worldwide box office, I could not get financing for three or four projects that I really loved and I thought people would love because they didn't fit some studio or investor's model of thinking, "This will definitely make money." It's a business and a film does potentially cost millions of dollars, and they have to think that they're going to get their money back somehow.

The only economic paradigm that movies have ever known is capitalism. There were no church sponsors or state patronage. The idea was that if you'd pay to see it, we'll make it for you.

Anyone who has an imagination can write a book - it's cheap to do - but movies are big money.

Market forces impose certain rules before a film can actually get made.

The bottom line of Hollywood is money.

Unless a Western's made money - doesn't matter who made the money, doesn't matter what the subject is - if the last one didn't make any money, you can't make another one for a four-year period. Westerns more than any genre.

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

I'd love to have done 'John Carter.' I'd love to work for the Disney Corporation.

I really want to do a sci-fi movie.

When so much money is involved in these movies, someone somewhere is going to try to screw you.

The way Hollywood works, you're never sure if their first thought is to make a great film and honor the material or just another business property.

The major media companies are significantly reducing their financial commitment to the motion picture sector.

Hollywood executives believe that money is both the be-all and end-all to the moviemaking process.

The major studios don't differ very much from one another as they all operate under essentially the same principles and pressure.

We make movies for the cineplex. They're designed for wide release. They're designed to be seen by a lot of people and eventually make money.

When I first came to Oregon, the annual amount spent on production was $1 million to $1.5 million. By the time 'Leverage' was done, there had been over $100 million in production that year.

There is no guaranteed formula. And that's one of the interesting things about filmmaking. You could put $115 million in, and it doesn't guarantee success.

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