As a screenwriter I'm often writing in genres where there have been thousands of movies; whereas when I direct movies they tend to be in between genres. They tend to have a little bit of a genre to them, but they're really about the people, and they're people we haven't met before.

John Sayles

Categorized in : People Littles Writing

I've always felt like I was on the margins. Once upon a time that's what independent used to mean.

John Sayles

independent once-upon-a-time mean

To this day, I get rewrite offers where they say: 'We feel this script needs work with character, dialogue, plot and tone,' and when you ask what's left, they say: 'Well, the typing is very good.'

John Sayles

plot character needs

We just said, 'Okay, you're in the movie. Bring what you would bring for a three-day weekend and I hope you like the way you look in it because once you're on camera, that's your wardrobe.' But it worked; it worked and we were very surprised.

John Sayles

weekend cameras three

I like to act. I work for scale. I don't have an acting agent. I'm in the book.

John Sayles

agents acting book

If you write a movie for Roger Corman, it's going to get made. You saw it almost the next day.

John Sayles

roger next-day writing

I probably wouldn't have done as many as I did in one year, which I did when I was trying to raise money.

John Sayles

done trying years

The hardest thing about movies is doing take 12, 13, and 14, and finding new ways to do the same lines. So the early takes are actually easier and I think there's more surprises in them.

John Sayles

lines way thinking

For me the writing, when I'm going to direct it myself, is really just the first draft, and I don't change it very much; I only change it on average about two lines per movie.

John Sayles

writing average two

I certainly grew up seeing more movies and television than I read books, but when it came time to do the thing itself you don't have to hire a lot of people to sit down and write a book, so that was the story-telling medium that was available to me.

John Sayles

writing book people

I figured, 'When is that ever going to happen again?'. So I basically set out the opposite way movies are made; I set out with a budget first. I said, 'What can I do well for $40,000?'.

John Sayles

opposites way firsts

I see very small movies being financed by crowdfunding. If you're a well-known actor or celebrity of some sort, you can probably raise between one and two million. I don't have that kind of cult [following].

John Sayles

actors kind two

I never thought about being a writer as I grew up. A writer wasn't something I wanted to be. An outfielder was something to be. Most of what I know about style I learned from Roberto Clemente.

John Sayles

outfielders style grew-up

I take more jobs when I need more money, if I'm investing in films. I take fewer when I don't. Or if something really good comes along, I usually find a way to do a good job on it in the time that I've got.

John Sayles

investing jobs needs

I think I got spoiled and that writing a short story and getting it published, or writing a novel and getting it published, you pretty much get to do the first, second and third draft yourself without a whole lot of interference.

John Sayles

stories writing thinking

I've always got five or six things that would either make a good feature or TV show. And you just never know. You go and you pitch and it may be exactly what they're looking for, or they may stop you after two sentences and say, "Oh, we've already done something just like that."

John Sayles

tv-shows done two

There were not fifteen people in the story department and twenty-five producers and stuff. And Roger had produced 1,000 movies and directed a couple of hundred, and their comments were always very, very specific.

John Sayles

couple twenties people

Well, acting is cheap; I knew all these actors who weren't in the Screen Actors Guild yet, and it happened that they were all just about thirty years old.

John Sayles

actors acting years

I don't have a social agenda. I just don't choose to ignore what's in front of me.

John Sayles

agendas fronts social

I'm never at a loss for new projects.

John Sayles

new-projects projects loss

It's a mixed crowd at the dogs - black, white, hispanic - but to Walt they all look like Jackie Gleason. Heavyset guys with big plans and polyester souls.

John Sayles

guy dog white