James Ivory Quotes

A film takes a lot of time, and yet not enough to share with the people you're making the movie with, I think.

I want to make my own films from my own scripts based on stories I want to tell, but they take time to put together.

As a director, you try to find what is creative.

I have stories that I'd like to maybe one day consider directing, but you need a lot of time to write and put it together.

I love filmmaking, and I love the process. And I would rather do nothing else. It's a privilege to be able to paint such big pictures, so to speak.

One day I had an idea for a movie. Everything came after that.

More often than not, the experience of shooting the movie has been disappointing and the end product has been a mere shadow of what I hoped it would be. But immersing myself in the story - that's what I like best of all.

I knew that I'd end up directing because I'm so hands-on with my films.

I've been directing more and more the last few years, I find it an enjoyable challenge.

I want to direct, I want to be part of something creative, something with quality.

I enjoyed directing, and I really found that it was a great new field to try my hand in.

To make personal movies that you are the author of, is quite a difficult thing. It takes a lot of stamina.

I don't understand the whole testing-numbers thing. It is not how I want to make movies.

See, a painting is much cheaper than making a film. And photography is, you know, way cheap. So if I get an idea for a film, there are many ways to get it together and go realise that film. There's really nothing to be afraid of.

I'm not looking for a challenge, necessarily. I'm looking to make a really great film.

I think each movie-making process is a very exhausting and satisfying and fulfilling experience for me.

That's the joy of making a movie: watching all the elements come together.

As a filmmaker, I'm a collaborator first.

You can't just express yourself and it becomes a movie. You have to get beyond that.

To get the film in your head on the screen, first you have to take it out of your head and explain it to everyone who is working with you. This will take work and planning.

I became passionate about filmmaking. The thrill to make something out of nothing and to go out there to see whether it will work or not attracted me.

I really wish it would only take two hours to make a two-hour movie.

Writing is fantasizing about what your film will be like. Shooting is reality. And the post-production is recovering the idea you had.

A lot of filmmaking is all about filtering out the bullshit.

The only way you can learn about making films is by making them, by putting your stamp on the thing.