I originally wanted to be F. Scott Fitzgerald, but failed. Whit Stillman More Quotes by Whit Stillman More Quotes From Whit Stillman Some critic complained about how many small films are released in New York... it annoyed me. Those small films that are lucky to get two weeks are often my favorite films of the year. Whit Stillman newsmallmelucky A lot of people in the film industry are fatalists who think a worthwhile film will always achieve its destiny, and the films that aren't worthwhile won't. It's all sort of pre-determined, etc. And I don't think that's true at all. Whit Stillman truethinkdestinypeople So much of selling a film in the industry is about creating a fulcrum where all the pressure comes to bear, and something seems suddenly valuable and approved by an audience. It's amazing how people could pick up tons of films on the cheap, but they don't because they wait until everything is laid out for them. Whit Stillman waitamazingpressurepeople Oddly, in a sense, I still have more confidence as a director than my ability as a writer. Somehow, directing is just really easy. It's just about being really honest about how you feel about what you're seeing. Whit Stillman feelyouconfidenceeasy One of the downsides of money is if there's no money, there are very few real jerks who are attached to your project. And if there is money, you do attract some very difficult, unhelpful people. Whit Stillman youmoneyrealpeople Coming out of university, one of my obsessions was that in the novels I was reading, they seemed to be portraying a world that had a social fabric. People knew each other in 'War and Peace.' They went to all the same balls. These were societies with tightly wound, woven, social textures. Whit Stillman warpeacepeopleworld I don't think there's anything cliche feminine about Jane Austen. And, anyway, her earliest champions were Sir Walter Scott and the Prince Regent. Whit Stillman herchampionsanythingthink Sometimes, people who are very fastidious about what they're going to do in their work are not very fastidious in their private life. I'm like that. I love it when people do really nice things around me, but I don't have time to do it for myself. It's very hard for me to even buy a new pair of trousers. Whit Stillman myselfworklovelife When you're doing the work, film and TV are exactly the same. TV is just film in reduced pieces. Whit Stillman doingjustyouwork Making a show is such a long process. You go through a TV production house that will commission scripts, and if they like what you've written, they take it to a network and sell it to them. It has always felt very far away from something that's actually real. Whit Stillman youfar-awayhouselong I have to embrace the fact people find me divisive, but I find it remarkable. I was very disturbed by the hatred 'Damsels in Distress' received. Whit Stillman findmehatredpeople My biggest false steps have actually been when I tried to do very different projects. I found I was getting people saying, 'Why does Whit Stillman think he can do a film about blacks in early '60s Jamaica? Or the Chinese and the cultural revolution?' Those were the two biggest failures I had getting off the ground. Whit Stillman sayingthinkrevolutionpeople The usual key to getting films made seems to be a producer's terrier-like determination not to let it go. Unfortunately, such producers often seem prone to sinking their claws into mediocre projects. Whit Stillman producerkeygodetermination The dull externals of the screenwriter's working life are well known: We are the people taking up too much table space at cafes. Whit Stillman too-muchspacelifepeople Paris is a Roach Motel for top American journalists: They check in, having won the plum foreign posting, but never leave. Whit Stillman americanleaveneverparis Happy is the small business that can hire additional employees besides the proprietor; rare is the indie-film enterprise that can be happy in this way. The norm is an unpaid principal with no employees between productions. Whit Stillman be-happybusinesshappyway What I like and find liberating in dialogue comedy is that the characters, and what they say, are not me. These are fleeting thoughts and observations and not presented as truths but as something that illuminates the character and the dynamic between the characters. This kind of dialogue is thesis and antithesis - and we never get to a synthesis. Whit Stillman thoughtsmecomedycharacter In Mexico, wealth and poverty live next to each other and are cordial with each other - in my experience. Whit Stillman livewealthpovertyexperience I didn't realize how limiting an R rating is. I made 'Disco' as a cautionary tale for 14- and 15-year-old girls, and those girls were not allowed to see the film by their parents. Whit Stillman realizeparentsseedisco I'm not sure what my material would have been if I'd have started earlier. I probably would have started with 'Damsels in Distress' kinds of films because that's the kind of comedy I was writing in college. So I didn't really have any life experience to work off of. Whit Stillman comedyexperienceworklife
