Film Community Quotes

In the '80s, I can't say that Amy and I were aware of an independent film community. We could only get a certain amount of money for our pictures, which made them low budget movies, but they were distributed through studios.

I spent a lot of time with both [Laurence Fishburn and Keanu Reeves], obviously, on the Matrix trilogy. Worked a lot, on a day-to-day level, with Laurence Fishburne. And then we'd bumped into each other through the film community for years and years.

When I stepped out from doing films and had a dark period, I never did anything dark on a set, so I never made enemies on a set. I never was a bad girl on a set; I always considered films a really sacred space, so when I had my problems, I had them very much away from the film community.

Don [ Handfield] was actually one of the first guys I met in town back in '94. He was an actor and a writer and all this stuff.

I think when you work on a Woody Allen film the actors become a real company, probably more than on any other film.

I'm never there enough to really keep up with what's going on in the Australian film industry. I just try and be part of it as much as I can.

I've enjoyed living in New York for the last 10 years, where there's a real film culture, with the Film Forum and Lincoln Center.

This award is meaningful because it comes from my fellow dealers in celluloid.

If I'm not working, I really have nothing to do with it - I'm not hanging out and mixing with film people. Not that I have anything against film people; they're some of the best people around and some of the worst people around, just like in any business... they just gesticulate a little bit more.

A lot of my friends are people who do horror films: Wes Craven, John Carpenter, Stephen King.

Martin Scorsese was being given an honorary doctorate, and one of the tutors asked if there was a student film he particularly liked. He mentioned our film. There was a dinner after the final show just for the tutors, but I was smuggled in to meet Scorsese over dessert.

Festivals are where I see other peoples' films, where we talk, where I get to learn what was working about the film, I get to have a discussion with viewers... and people who enjoy reading films - I enjoy reading other peoples' films, and what discussions can come of that.

I'm so grateful to be part of the Sundance family.

I am fairly embraced by the Hollywood community, and I love making movies and I love acting, but I'm not real crazy about the Hollywood system. So the fact that they embrace me is a shock to me because I tell them to kiss my ass all the time. I don't understand why they haven't thrown me out on my ear. The other thing is I don't participate much. I have very few friends within the movie community. I hang out with some guys I've known forever. They're all broke and eat me out of house and home. But I stay home mostly and I don't go to the parties. Maybe that preserves me.

You see, the people that have a point of view and have an opinion and have some intellect are dangerous in the film community - they're dangerous.

Having a child is the polar opposite experience of the awards season experience. The awards-season experience requires you to be out in the community, in the heart of the community, at the nucleus of the film community in a really committed way for about a six-month period of time. Having a child requires you to nest, to be in your home, and to create and make your home and environment that is one that is potentially very welcoming and nurturing for a child.

I have an idea about building almost like a studio for some of the best Tropfest filmmakers, so they can come together and support and be given space and resources they need to tell great stories year around, so it's not just about the festivals. You know, the sky's the limit with this thing, and I'm still making it up as I go along.

The thing I find about the movie industry is that 99 percent of the people are absolute scum. They're horrible people, they really are. Very nasty killer rabbits who hate movies. But the other 1 percent are really the greatest, most wonderful people in the world.

It's difficult for one filmmaker to criticize another. That's a job best left to critics.

This January, Kevin Costner will be honored by the Palm Springs International Film Festival for his contribution to film. This gives Costner just two months to make a contribution to film.

It's always a bit overwhelming when you arrive on set and everyone's new, but you soon become a big family. I find the hardest thing about acting is that you have to say goodbye to everyone at the end of a shoot.

The whole idea of a festival to me is that filmmakers get to interact. You see someone strolling, you get to meet them and tell them you like their work, you admire their story.

The thing about that too is that we had the same extras everyday. It was such a community. It was like a microcosmic little town. We were like all little towns people with extras and a crew.

It was like a frat house for film geeks, the Pad O' Guys. That's what being at UCLA afforded me. So when one of us had some success - in this case, my pal Fred Dekker - he would reach down the ladder and help me up a rung, give my work to his agent to pass around to see if anyone liked it.

As independent filmmakers, we are actually deeply dependent on each other. The Spirit Awards are a public expression of those bonds, the intricate set of relationships and histories that we filmmakers depend on to make our most personal work.