Roger Ross Williams Quotes

People like me in the entertainment industry can contribute to social change through our work.

When I started Participant, I felt that the movie business was ripe for a company that dealt with big issues in a systemic way. I was a little surprised that nobody had done it before. But to most people, entertainment is escapism.

Films can't change the society; they can simply open the space for the discussion which can lead to social change and can start new forms of social activism.

Neither one of us believe that you can fix the culture from within by just throwing money and people at the system. There has to be a systemic change within the system.

Hollywood is full of very liberal people, but it still has an infrastructure that needs to be broken.

People need to start to think about the messages that they send in the movies.

Actors are agents of change. A film, a piece of theater, a piece of music, or a book can make a difference. It can change the world.

I really think that movies are the most popular form of story telling ever and have such a huge impact on culture when they do. So I really want to be a part of those movies that say something good to a lot of people.

Wouldn't it be grand if we thought that theater could have that impact on the political life of a country?

Teach For America was built on the idea that our best hope of reaching 'One Day' is to have thousands of alumni use their diverse experiences and ideas to effect change from inside and outside the education system.

Change happens from the bottom up - all of us as individuals deciding that we will and we do have an impact.

I have seen how effective language attached to policies that are mainstream and delivered by people who are passionate and effective can change the course of history.

There's no how-to guide for how to change the world. But it's easy to get hung up by misconceptions about what it takes to make an impact.

Pop culture is a reflection of social change, not a cause of social change.

We need to stop objectifying our women in what we call our second religion... Our films. And our TV shows.

Using political tools to change social conditions won't work.

The best thing I can think of would be to create a union between something as beautiful and powerful and wonderful as Hollywood films and a criticism of the status quo. That's my dream, to make such a German film.

For to change the norms, the very foci of attention, of a cultural system is a difficult task - far more complex than that of changing an individual's attitudes and interests.

Law is downstream from culture. By the time you make a law about something, you're reacting, not acting. I'd rather shape the culture.

My role as an artist is not to make changes [in society] but to inspire changes.

There are very few African Americans who have had as much impact on American society as Bill Cosby.

I'm used to my films having little effect on making the world a better place.

You have to get an individual who's willing to actually struggle with the system to change it. As long as you have people who - to make substantive changes, to make infrastructure changes.

You can live within the institutions and work hard to change them.

Film is a tool of change.