Film Festival Circuit Quotes

As a filmmaker, you just make the movie you want to make, and you sort of put your faith in the distributor to make sure the right people see it.

A lot of movies are made, but because they come to film festivals and your movie doesn't get bought by a studio or a distributor, your movie doesn't get seen.

I think I should have made 'Dead Silence' as an independent movie.

I think my home is in that sort of the part of cinema that's disappeared is where I lived, that sort of mid-budget you know, drama. I suppose that's what I am known for.

That's the thing with independent cinema: They all get good reviews, and they don't make money. Some of them are good. Some are great. And some are terrible.

I would love to do a big studio movie, just because they're going to put the money into distributing it. A lot of times you do these little movies, you love them and they never get seen by anyone.

Usually the films that I do are released theatrically in foreign markets. In the U.S., they're either picked up as HBO premier films or Showtime first-runs. In today's market, in America, you need at least $50 million for your budget to go to the big show, and I'm not quite there yet. But keep watching - maybe someday I will be.

I started doing independent films. My first one was 'Miss Bala,' which was very well-received at film festivals.

Sometimes success is just limited to festival circuit.

I've always been interested in showing our films to international audiences. The easiest way is through the festival circuit, a big marketing platform for films that aren't big enough to be in the mainstream race.

I think the art film, or the auteur-driven film - and not only foreign, but domestic films following that path - can get a small share of the box office. And I think that small share may open up a little bit.

The really cool thing is all about being able to take your movie around and show it. It puts you in direct contact with people who are like-minded and interested in similar things. I think the film festival circuit has certainly helped to foster the community.

'Brothers McMullen' would not be picked up for theatrical distribution now.

Ultimately, making movies, if you don't have a big star, it's hard to do. Or if it's not a star director.

You know, independent films have been institutionalized, practically. Every studio has got a boutique arthouse label. There's like, 18 different independent film-financing funds. In fact, I think the children of those films are getting made. A more interesting question is whether those films are going to get seen and appreciated.

A lot of the young people make beautiful films or big films or are able to finance them, but they can't get anyone to distribute them, they can't get anyone to see them, so they go to these thousands of film festivals. So I still believe that even though a young kid might be able to make a masterpiece or something that changes the direction of cinema, the issue of how to get it to people is still not solved.