Whatever storytelling muscles you've developed as a documentary filmmaker will be extremely helpful as a narrative filmmaker.

R. J. Cutler

Categorized in : You Will Whatever Storytelling

I will say this: I think 'Big Brother' is the biggest snooze known to mankind.

big-brother will think brother

Living in L.A. keeps me in my car a lot, and I'm constantly flipping back and forth between the following Sirius/XM Radio stations: NFL Radio, MLB Radio, POTUS, MSNBC, CNN, and Fox News.

back me news car

Reality television has borrowed so much from the world of politics, whether it's alliances or voting or the kind of strategizing that's done. Anything like that came from politics well before it came from reality television.

voting politics reality world

It's my approach as a filmmaker always to go in, not with a thesis or preconceived notion, but with curiosity and questions and inquiry. So in some way, I'm always surprised. I'm always finding paths of engagement.

finding go curiosity way

Belushi was one of my very first heroes. At a time when film, television, and music were undergoing tectonic shifts within American culture, he was at the center of it all. At that moment, he had the number one show on television, the number one film at the box office, and the number one record on the charts.

moment music time culture

I was watching 'The September Issue' in the back of a theater in New York, and I thought, 'I know I really can do this with actors.'

new thought back know

If ever we deserved a candidate at this moment in our culture, that candidate is Donald Trump.

candidate donald-trump moment culture

Throughout the day, I frequently use my iPhone to check 'Deadline Hollywood' and my Twitter feed, as well as the 'Daily Beast,' the 'New York Times,' 'Metsblog,' and 'Thejetsblog.'

iphone daily new day

I record the following shows on a daily basis and watch them when I have the time/inclination: 'The Daily Show,' Rachel Maddow, 'Hardball,' 'The Colbert Report,' 'The O'Reilly Factor,' David Letterman.

them show watch daily

If I had to name my favorite media personality, it would be a tie between Jon Stewart and Trey Parker/Matt Stone. Honest, wise, funny, and right. Sam Sifton was right up there when he was writing food criticism for the 'New York Times.'

personality wise food funny

I always find myself gravitating toward stories of transformation, and one of those periods is teenage life. When teenagers are figuring out who they are and have one foot in childhood and the other in adulthood - I think that's a really mythic moment to tell stories about.

myself moment childhood life

Feature filmmaking is a very powerful medium. It has a hold on me now.

now me filmmaking powerful

No matter how much you've done before, you wonder if there will be a light at the end of this particular tunnel. It's the nature of the beast, and it's a part of what compels us. Every movie is a new lesson you learn making your way through it.

you nature light way

I discovered the theater when I was in the first grade.

first-grade discovered first theater

I grew up on Long Island, and from as early as I can remember, as far back as first grade, I had two real passions - one of them was putting on plays, and the other was journalism. I was directing plays and editing school papers from first grade on, all the way through college.

journalism remember long school

Directing plays lacked the immediacy and connection to real world events that journalism offered; journalism lacked the drama, theatricality and subjective storytelling of theater. It wasn't until I had the idea of making a documentary film about the 1992 presidential campaign that these two passions came together in 'The War Room.'

journalism together war world

I first thought about doing a project about Anna Wintour and 'Vogue' when I read an article in 'New York Magazine' about the Metropolitan Museum Costume Institute Ball, the annual fundraising gala that Anna oversees. It created such a fascinating portrait that I couldn't help but be compelled.

portrait new doing thought

I think the biggest challenge we faced in making 'The September Issue' was the fact that people in the fashion world are very suspicious of cameras. They're used to a camera being the enemy, something that is prying and looking to catch you in a compromising position, something that's judging you.

you fashion people world

With 'If I Stay,' I want you to feel that the whole story is being told from a larger, spiritual point of view. So the beginning is very theatrical.

feel beginning you spiritual

I'm very curious to know what it's like, death - I always say to my wife, 'I wonder if we'll have the 'New York Times' when we're dead.'

dead new wife death