Dee Rees Quotes

If you write, produce and direct, you own things and see them through to the end.

I honestly never wanted to direct. It was only when I started to work on 'Alexander the Great' that I realized I had to direct. I saw something so specifically in my mind, I could not leave it to someone else.

I want to write and direct and kind of do my own thing.

I grew up with a concept of cinema as a directorial thing, meaning the director is allowed to sail the ship. Not a dictatorial thing.

I always say I want creative control. A lot of people don't think about that. And that's what every artist should think of - being creative and not just a puppet.

The director is the ultimate creative arbiter of what's going to happen. And as a director myself, you really appreciate collaborating with people who are trying to help you find what you need and what you want.

When you direct a movie, you're basically looking at a story, the way you want to look at it. You bring that director's vision, and I'm totally open for that.

I made 'Batman' the way I made every other film, and I've done it to my own satisfaction - because the film, truly, is exactly the way I wanted it to be.

'Independent' means one thing to me: It means that regardless of the source of financing, the director's voice is extremely present. It's such a pretentious term, but it's auteurist cinema. Director-driven, personal, auteurist... Whatever word you want.

Everything I've ever written, I had a very distinct vision of what I wanted it to look like. But, other directors never do it that way.

As a director, you never think about how an audience would respond. You can think about that, but you will never change what you're going to do.

In Europe, the director is the king: it's his vision. It's an auteur tradition.

I like to control my films from beginning to end, to write them the way I want.

I am not really interested in only showcasing my life or work but plan to produce, write and create work that is solely my vision.

When I get to make a movie, I really try to make it on my own terms.

Any time you turn off and let someone else make any artistic decision for you, you make a mistake.

I didn't come to Hollywood to be subservient to anyone else's vision.

I do believe that there are auteurs, in the sense that there are filmmakers with very strong voices and their voices are communicated on to the screen without a lot of compromise.

I love to work. It's the idea of having someone else tell you how to make your film or how to sell it - that's the part I can't really deal with. I would rather do 1,000 things that are work than deal with one thing that's a political problem.

As a writer, as a creator, I'm giving you my experiences. But just take what I give you. You ain't got to pry beyond that.

I've always said to people that auteurism is nice, but it's hypothetical, and gradually you learn how much or how little influence different directors had.

I guess I created LeRoy Neiman. Nobody else told me how to do it. Well, I'm a believer in the theory that the artist is as important as his work.

You gotta make the movie you want to make.

All the films I do, I write the scripts, I direct.

All the director wants is their idea of the movie to be believed in.