The way I came to think of it is: Tony was an ultimate searcher and a seeker, but if you are really always seeking and always curious, then you can get lost. He had this tattoo that he got late in life that said in Greek ‘I am certain of nothing.’ That sounds very Zen, but it’s also a little sad.

Morgan Neville

When you're writing a story or an actor playing a role, you should never think of your characters as heroes or villains. You have to think of them as people first.

Morgan Neville

hero writing character

You always want to make the best film you can. If anything I feel more relaxed after the Oscar. I feel like I have a chance to just tell the stories I want to tell and it's actually been really nice.

Morgan Neville

nice stories want

I feel like there's a randomness in real life that too many Hollywood movies just shave off. It feels too intentional, and life just isn't that intentional. I like popcorn movies. I like entertaining movies. But, I feel like I could do something more in the real world.

Morgan Neville

randomness real world

One of the challenges was to make a cinematic movie about literally talking heads and to try to make it feel like something you want to see in a theater.

Morgan Neville

challenges trying talking

Buckley and Vidal were both stand-ins for what was happening on the streets of Chicago and the streets of America. I mean, they're representing these two different camps that are at war in the streets. And they're at war with their words. And each was looking for a knockout.

Morgan Neville

war two mean

The show with Buckley and Vidal was happening live. There was no editing. There was no delay. So they were aghast. How America reacted is sort of the most interesting thing because as these debates progressed, the ratings were going up. So people began to program these sort of point-counterpoint setups, where two people with opposite sides would come on.

Morgan Neville

editing opposites two

If the Olympic Spirit is about overcoming every hurdle and accepting no limits, then I think Samsung is a great ambassador for these values.

Morgan Neville

great think limits overcoming

Maybe this is my left-wing conspiracy theory, but the right has re-branded itself as kind of the everyman party: Who's the person you'd rather have a beer with? The Republican Party, even though it's a party of incredible wealth and corporate interests, has hidden behind this everyman quality.

Morgan Neville

you wealth quality beer

If I told my 14-year-old self that I'd be hanging out with Keith Richards talking about records, my head would've exploded.

Morgan Neville

head hanging self talking

You make documentaries because you love doing it; it's the only sane reason to make documentaries.

Morgan Neville

doing you reason love

The easiest way to subjugate a people is to erase a culture. I've seen it in war zones.

Morgan Neville

war culture people way

I love Memphis, and just being there affects one's outlook.

Morgan Neville

just being being-there love

I came up in left-wing political writing. My first job out of college was working as Gore Vidal's fact checker.

Morgan Neville

job political college writing

I am a big believer in the power of journalism; it's a heroic pursuit.

Morgan Neville

i-am big journalism power

There was no model how to make a documentary production company work. I figured it out as I went along.

Morgan Neville

make how company work

I always tell aspiring documentary filmmakers, 'You have to go into it because you love it; if you go into it for the money, you're an idiot.' The number one prerequisite is you have to be intensely curious. If you love learning and trying to make people figure out what makes people tick, it's the best job in the world.

Morgan Neville

best learning money love

Everyone feels entitled to their own facts.

Morgan Neville

everyone own entitled facts

The presidential and vice-presidential debates are those rare moments when people come together, but to even call them debates is a stretch because they're played by such negotiated rules, and they're so over-rehearsed.

Morgan Neville

rules moments together people

They don't make people like Gore Vidal and William F. Buckley anymore.

Morgan Neville

anymore make like people

Now, you watch cable news, and you know what everybody's going to say before they open their mouth.

Morgan Neville

mouth know you news