David Yates

“I like to create an atmosphere where actors feel safe enough to take risks. I certainly don't believe in being a macho bully; I'm not interested in frightening good work out of people. It's bollocks.”

John Waters

“Some call me director, producer, filmmaker. I prefer to call myself pube-king.”

Richard Linklater

“I've always liked the minds of criminals, they seem similar to artists. ”

Warren Beatty

“Movies are fun, but they’re not a cure for cancer.”

Richard Attenborough

“I do care about style. I do care, but I only care about style that serves the subject.”

Jason Reitman

“I don't want to make films that give you the answer. If there is a message to my films - and I hope there isn't - it's to be open-minded.”

John Cassavetes

“The most difficult thing in the world is to reveal yourself, to express what you have to. As an artist, I feel that we must try many things - but above all we must dare to fail. You must be willing to risk everything to really express it all.”

László Benedek

Hal Ashby

“I was a kid looking for something but I didn’t know what. The movie business seemed like a terrific thing to get into, because that’s where the money and the fun was at.”

Carol Reed

“I give the public what I like, and hope they will like it too.”

Darren Aronofsky

“To me, watching a movie is like going to an amusement park. My worst fear is making a film that people don't think is a good ride.”

Karel Reisz

Leo McCarey

“I love when people laugh. I love when they cry, I like a story to say something, and I hope the audience feels happier leaving the theater than when it came in.”

Frank Darabont

“A director shouldn't get in the way of the movie, the story should.”

Gillian Armstrong

“I think it's actually very tough out there for Australian films. If you think of the Australian film awards, say, 15 years ago, we were voting for... you know, we'd see 24, 25 major feature films that we'd be voting for best picture. I think now it's something more like eight.”

Denys Arcand

“From my point of view, I’m always the same guy and I make the films the same way from the same budget, often with the same crew. I take all my films seriously and work so hard on them, and then they heap abuse on me. Why? I’m the same person.”

Alfonso Arau

Pedro Almodóvar

“I also wanted to express the strength of cinema to hide reality, while being entertaining. Cinema can fill in the empty spaces of your life and your loneliness.”

Charlie Chaplin

“Life is a tragedy when seen in close-up, but a comedy in long-shot.”

Frank Capra

“My advice to young filmmakers is this: Don’t follow trends. Start them!”