Paul Haggis Quotes

You make a movie that is about what you want it to be about and let people have their reaction to it.

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.'

If you just love movies enough, you can make a good one.

I wanted to make a film as an artist, and it's going to have to find an audience, you know. I don't know how big the audience will be.

The Weinsteins believe in test screenings. I don't. I don't think good films are made that way. Call me crazy, but I'd like to think you need a singular vision to make good art.

I want to make movies that I want to see, and what I miss and I'm not seeing.

I don't pay much attention to the press. My films always get good reviews and bad reviews. I just try to make the best film I can.

It's dangerous to think too much about how a film will be received. Filmmaking is not a popularity contest. Some would disagree.

When you're working on a movie you always hope that people will go for it and enjoy what you're doing.

You have to make films you feel strongly about. And then hope you can find the audience.

When I sit down to write, I don't think, 'OK, what is the next David O. Russell film I can write, or what is Harvey Weinstein going to want to buy?' Or even, 'What are filmgoers going to want.' I try to think, tell a good story. Just do what you do.

I really want to do film, but I want to do the right film. The truth for me is that I'm really driven by stories. So there are stories I want to tell, and if it's a good story then I want to do it, whatever genre it is.

I don't make movies because I think audiences will want to go see them.

I want to entertain people, whether it be with a comedy, a drama or a movie. An idea's an idea.

I make movies for me and posterity. I'm more scared of history than I am of the studio.

As a director, you never think about how an audience would respond. You can think about that, but you will never change what you're going to do.

Hollywood is a film industry, a film business. I don't approach my career in that way. I see it as 'art,' and I become involved in films that ring my bell.

It's not about choosing a specific genre; that's not how I go about deciding what movies to make.

For me, I was entirely focused on 'Episode VIII' and having this experience, and now I'm just thinking of putting the movie out there and seeing how audiences respond to it.

I would never make a film because I think it's going to be a box-office success.

'The Lobster,' at some point, was my most accessible film. Then I made 'The Killing of a Sacred Deer,' which turned out to be not as accessible as 'The Lobster.' It was the film I wanted to make and the story I wanted to tell.

Those of us who make films try to make something that we're feeling and that we would like. Then we just hope an audience responds the same way. It's very important to have the electrical circuit made, but I don't have control over how people feel when they flip the switch. So the whole idea of marketing research and test screenings is just foreign to me.

I make films, and I hope that people come to see them. If they don't, I pay a big price. But I can't make decisions where I would change my own standards or my own taste in order to court the public in some way.

I was never interested in being powerful or famous. But once I got to film school and learned about movies, I just fell in love with it. I didn't care what kind of movies I made.

Making a movie like 'Felony' is hard work because you're really putting your own ideas on the screen. You can't hide behind some other person's script; you're saying, 'This is my brain, and I want you to know what I think'.'